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Report says that three US Marines who were missing in the crash of an Osprey aircraft have been declared dead.
The marines involved in the crash on Saturday have been identified by Pentagon.
They are 1st Lt. Benjamin R. Cross, 26, of Oxford, Maine; Cpl. Nathaniel F. Ordway, 21, of Sedgwick, Kan.; and Pfc. Ruben P. Velasco, 19, of Los Angeles, Calif.
The MV-22 Osprey went down off Australia’s east coast.
The Australian navy found the wreck on Monday, one day after a search and rescue effort for the final three missing Marines aboard the plane was suspended.
The rescue effort saved 23 of the 26 service members who were on the plane when it went down on Saturday, in what the Marines called a “mishap.”
The Marines have said the cause of the crash is under investigation.
The Osprey had taken off from the USS Bonhomme Richard, an amphibious assault ship.
The wreckage was located in Shoalwater Bay off Queensland by the HMAS Melville, a Royal Australian Navy survey ship, shortly after the Melville arrived to help in the search effort.
After the discovery, a diving team was sent to the area and landed on the Melville; Minister for Defense Marise Payne said the divers would “conduct remotely operated underwater vehicle operations.”
The Osprey was part of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is based in Okinawa, Japan.
“‘The loss of every Marine is felt across our entire Marine Corps family,’’ Pentagon said in a release. (NAN)
