THE body of one of two US soldiers who went missing last week during a training exercise in Morocco has been recovered, the US Army announced.
The army identified him as 27-year-old 1st Lt Kendrick Lamont Key Jr, a platoon leader and air defence artillery officer from Richmond, Virginia.
A Moroccan military search team found Key’s body in the water along the shoreline within about a mile of the cliffs where both soldiers went missing on 2 May.
US and Moroccan forces are using ground, air and maritime assets to continue their search for the other missing soldier.
Brig Gen Curtis King, commanding general of the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, said in a statement that the army is mourning the loss of Key.
“Our hearts are with his Family, friends, teammates, and all who knew and served alongside him,” King said.
“The 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command Family is grieving, and we will continue to support one another and 1st Lt. Key’s Family as we honor his life and service.”
Both soldiers were participating in African Lion 2026, an annual joint military exercise designed to strengthen operations between US forces, Nato allies, and African nations.
African Lion is the continent’s largest annual joint military exercise, and is hosted across Morocco, Ghana, Senegal and Tunisia.
The soldiers had been hiking with a group to view the sunset when one fell into the ocean, the BBC’s US partner CBS News reported, citing a preliminary report.
The other service members in the group then used their belts to form a human chain in an attempt to rescue the soldier, the report said, according to CBS. When that failed, another soldier jumped into the ocean to try to save their colleague, who did not know how to swim, CBS reported.
That soldier was immediately hit by a wave, prompting a third to jump in after them both, CBS reported. The third soldier was able to make it back to camp on their own after failing to rescue the first two, officials said according to CBS.
It’s not clear whether Key was the soldier to first fall in, or the second who attempted to rescue the first.
His body was transported to a nearby morgue and will be repatriated to the US, the army said.