Rescuers have retrieved the body of a second American soldier who went missing this month in Morocco, where they had been participating in joint military exercises, the U.S. Army Europe and Africa said in a statement on Wednesday.
American and Moroccan forces retrieved the body of the soldier, Specialist Mariyah Symone Collington, 19, of Taveres, Fla., from a coastal cave on Tuesday, the Army said. It was less than a week after the military announced that it had recovered the remains of another soldier, First Lt. Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., of Richmond, Va., from waters off the coast of southwest Morocco.
The two soldiers went missing on May 2 near the Cap Draa Training Area along the Atlantic Ocean. They had been in Morocco for African Lion 2026, a large military exercise held annually by U.S. forces, NATO countries and African nations.
Specialist Collington’s remains were recovered from the cave less than half a mile “from where both soldiers reportedly entered the ocean,” the statement said.
The incident is under investigation, the Army said.
Ocean conditions, the coastal terrain and the challenges accessing the cave had complicated search and recovery operations, it said.
A U.S. military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters, said this month that the two soldiers were on an evening hike at a training range, and at least one of them was believed to have fallen off a cliff into the sea.
A second U.S. military official said that on the day of their disappearance, military personnel had created a human chain to try to rescue the troops but a large wave swept at least one of them into the ocean.
Specialist Collington, who had recently been promoted, served as an air and missile defense crew member assigned to the 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment based in Ansbach, Germany. She began active-duty service in 2024 and completed basic training at Fort Sill, Okla.
She was “an outstanding soldier whose unwavering enthusiasm and positive spirit uplifted every environment she entered,” Capt. Spencer Grider, a commander in the regiment’s 5th Battalion, said in the Army statement.
The search effort for the two soldiers used ships, ground teams and reconnaissance drones. The remains of the two soldiers were transported to the United States from Morocco aboard a U.S. Air Force plane, the Army said.
About 5,000 personnel from more than 40 countries were scheduled to participate in the African Lion exercises in Morocco from April 27 to May 8.
Christine Hauser is a Times reporter who writes breaking news and features.
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