All 4 U.S. soldiers missing in Lithuania found dead, Army says

All four U.S. soldiers who had been at the center of a recovery mission in Lithuania for a week after their armored vehicle sank in a body of water have been found dead, the Army said. The fourth soldier’s body was recovered Tuesday, a day after the three other soldiers were found, the Army said in a statement.

The soldiers’ identities were being withheld pending notification of their next of kin, the Army said in a statement. All of the soldiers were assigned to the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division and were permanently stationed at Fort Stewart in Georgia.

The soldiers went missing last Tuesday while conducting a mission to repair and tow an immobilized tactical vehicle. The incident is being investigated by the Army and Lithuanian authorities.

The soldiers’ submerged armored recovery vehicle was found by the Army and Lithuanian authorities Wednesday. The Army said the vehicle was removed from a peat bog early Monday morning. In an update from over the weekend, the Army said the vehicle was under at least 15 feet of water, clay-like mud and silt.

Hundreds of service members from the Army, U.S. Navy and the militaries of Lithuania and Poland helped in the effort to bring the 63-ton M88A2 Hercules armored recovery vehicle to the surface, the Army said. Lithuanian civilian agencies also contributed to the effort, with the Army calling the unstable ground conditions around the submerged vehicle an “engineering challenge.”

Excavators, pumps and several hundred tons of gravel and earth were moved to the search area near Pabradė, close to the Lithuania-Belarus border, to pull up the vehicle.

Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, the commanding general of the 3rd Infantry Division, said in a statement Monday that the soldiers who died in the incident were family.

“Our hearts are heavy with a sorrow that echoes across the whole Marne Division, both forward and at home,” Norrie said. “We stand in grief with the families and loved ones of these extraordinary ‘Dogface Soldiers’ during this unimaginable time.”

Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda expressed his condolences to President Trump and the U.S. on social media.

“@realDonaldTrump, Lithuania mourns together with the American nation,” Nausėda said on social platform X. “Please accept my heartfelt condolences, as well as those of the Lithuanian people, to you, the loved ones of those who lost their lives, and all the people of the United States of America. During this difficult time, our thoughts and prayers are with you.”

Where is Lithuania located?

Lithuania is located northwest of Belarus, the country led by Alexander Lukashenko, a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Lithuania, like its northern neighbor Latvia, joined NATO in 2004. Southwest of Lithuania are the Russian province of Kaliningrad and Poland, another NATO member.

The Baltic Sea is located to the west of Lithuania.