An investigation has been launched after three United States Marines were mysteriously found dead in their car parked at a gas station in North Carolina over the weekend, authorities shared.
Deputies with the Pender County Sheriff’s Office were responding to a report of a missing person when they found the Marines on Sunday at 9 a.m. at the Speedway convenience store in Hampstead. The gas station is located 30 miles south of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.
Deputies observed the men in their car and that they were unresponsive and called emergency medical services to assist them. However, they were all pronounced dead the same day, the sheriff’s office noted in a press release.
The men have been identified by the U.S. Marine Corps 2nd Marine Logistics Group as Marine Corps Lance Corporal Tanner J. Kaltenberg, 19, from Madison, Wisconsin; Marine Corps Lance Corporal Merax C. Dockery, 23, from Pottawatomie, Oklahoma; and Marine Corps Lance Corporal Ivan R. Garcia, 23, from Naples, Florida.
The cause of their death is not yet known.
The Associated Press spoke with Sgt. Chester Ward of the Pender County Sheriff’s Office. He said the department had received a missing person report for one of the three marines, resulting in the deputy's initial discovery.
Ward noted that no drugs were found in the privately owned vehicle, and the department does not “suspect anything as far as foul play in that matter.”
“There does not appear to have ever been any threat to members of the community,” the press release said.
An investigation into their deaths has been launched, but the sheriff’s office noted it was awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine the causes of death.
According to First Lt. Raymond Fullbright of the 2nd Marine Logistics Group, the marines were motor vehicle operators with the Combat Logistics Battalion 2, Combat Logistics Regiment 2, and 2nd Marine Logistics Group at Camp Lejeune.
“My deepest sympathy and condolences are extended to (their) family, friends, and colleagues,” Brig. Gen. Michael E. McWilliams, commanding general of the 2nd Marine Logistics Group, said in a statement. “Our focus is providing the necessary resources and support to those impacted by their tragic loss as they navigate this extremely difficult time.”
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