The U.S. soldiers had been at the center of a recovery mission in Lithuania for nearly a week after their armored vehicle sank near the country's border with Belarus.

Sgt. Jose Duenez Jr., 25, was married and the father of a 1-year-old son. Duenez was an M1 Abrams tank system maintainer and had served more than seven years in the Army. He and three others died when their armored vehicle sank in a bog.

Sgt. Jose Duenez, Sgt. Edvin Franco and Pfc. Dante Taitano were recovered Monday from a peat bog. The fourth soldier's identity has not yet been released.

The soldiers were in a vehicle that became trapped in a bog during a training mission last week. A fourth soldier was still missing.

Still grieving from the immense loss, Georgia Franco shared the final texts she received before the U.S. Army discovered her husband's remains in a Lithuania peat bog after he went missing during a training mission near the border of Belarus.

A fourth U.S. Army soldier, who together with three others went missing in Lithuania last week when their vehicle sank in a peat bog, has been found dead, U.S. and Lithuanian officials said on Tuesday.

A soldier from Los Angeles County is among the four killed by a training exercise in Lithuania last month. This video aired on the KTLA 5 News at 3 on April 1, 2025. Details:

One of the four U.S. soldiers killed during a training exercise in Lithuania last week is from Joliet, Illinois. The soldiers’ armored vehicle sank in an area of wetlands a week ago. A friend of Jose Duenez Jr.

The recovery of the fourth soldier ends a weeklong search for four U.S. soldiers whose armored vehicle was found submerged in a Lithuanian peat bog.