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Navy suspends search and rescue efforts for missing USS John S. McCain Sailors

Posted at 9:35 AM, Aug 24, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-24 09:38:22-04

SINGAPORE – The U.S. Navy has suspended search and rescue efforts for the USS John S. McCain Sailors who went missing after the ship collided with a merchant vessel on August 21. One missing Sailor’s remains have been recovered and identified.

Ten Sailors were reported missing after the collision.

Ships and aircraft from the Republic of Singapore Navy, Singapore Air Force, Singapore Maritime Port Authority, Singapore Police Coast Guard, Royal Malaysian Navy, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, Indonesian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force spent more than 80 hours searching an approximately 2,100-square mile area east of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.

U.S. Navy and Marine Corps divers continue search and recovery efforts inside flooded compartments in the ship.

Divers have recovered the remains of one Sailor — Electronics Technician 3rd Class Kenneth Aaron Smith, 22, of New Jersey. Smith’s mother tells News 3 he grew up in Michigan and then moved to Hampton Roads as a teenager, before joining the Navy.

Still missing are:

  • Electronics Technician 1st Class Charles Nathan Findley, 31, from Missouri
  • Interior Communications Electrician 1st Class Abraham Lopez, 39, from Texas
  • Electronics Technician 2nd Class Kevin Sayer Bushell, 26, from Maryland
  • Electronics Technician 2nd Class Jacob Daniel Drake, 21, from Ohio
  • Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Timothy Thomas Eckels Jr., 23, from Maryland
  • Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Corey George Ingram, 28, from New York
  • Electronics Technician 3rd Class Dustin Louis Doyon, 26, from Connecticut
  • Electronics Technician 3rd Class John Henry Hoagland III, 20, from Texas
  • Interior Communications Electrician 3rd Class Logan Stephen Palmer, 23, from Illinois

Remains were found by the Malaysian Navy on Monday were determined not to be one of the missing McCain Sailors.

The collision is still under investigation.