July 30 (UPI) — The U.S. Navy on Tuesday announced the death of a sailor who went missing earlier this month after going overboard in the Arabian Sea.
Aviation Electronics Technician 2nd Class Slayton Saldana, 24, went missing July 17 while aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. The Navy believed he went overboard.
Attempts to find him on board failed, and a sea search, involving the USS Abraham Lincoln, the guided-missile cruiser Leyte Gulf, Patrol Squadrons 10 and 40, and the Spanish guided-missile frigate Méndez Nunez failed to locate him. Officials called off the search July 19.
The Department of Defense said Saldana’s death was under investigation.
Saldana was attached the Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 5, part of Carrier Air Wing 7, assigned to the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group.
The strike group deployed from Naval Station Norfolk, Va., in April, and has been operating since May in the U.S. Central Command when tensions rose between the United States and Iran.
Saldana, from Manassas, Va., joined the Navy in 2015.
