All four missing US soldiers confirmed dead after massive recovery effort in Lithuanian bog

Four missing U.S. soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division have all been found and confirmed to be dead, an Army spokesperson said, completing a week-long, all-hands search effort by U.S. and Lithuanian forces. Searchers found the fourth and final missing soldier Tuesday, about 24 hours after the first three were recovered when crews pulled their M88 Hercules from a deep bog in a Lithuanian swamp.

The four soldiers disappeared March 25 when their M88A2 armored recovery vehicle vanished after being dispatched to repair and tow another immobilized tactical vehicle during an exercise at the Pabradė training ground. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the fourth soldier’s recovery in a tweet.

In the week since the tank-like armored vehicle disappeared, U.S. Army and Lithuanian forces mobilized a search effort which quickly grew to hundreds of soldiers from the U.S., Lithuania and Poland, local experts with ground penetrating radar, Lithuanian search dogs, and a special U.S. Navy dive team from Commander Task Force-68 in Rota, Spain.

The M88A2 — among the largest tracked vehicles in the Army’s armor arsenal — was swallowed by the swampy peat bog on the Pabradė grounds. Why the huge vehicle ended up off of established roads was unclear and Army officials have said investigations of the accident are underway. Officials have said the M88A2 may have been encased in mud and black pond waters as deep as 15 feet, though reports have varied on that depth.