Bodies of Three Missing U.S. Soldiers Recovered in Lithuania

Four soldiers disappeared last week while conducting a mission; search continues for fourth.

By Joseph Pisani

March 31, 2025 12:37 pm ET

U.S. soldiers attended a Holy Mass in Vilnius, Lithuania, for the missing soldiers.

The bodies of three U.S. Army soldiers who went missing last week in Lithuania have been found. One soldier remains missing.

The four soldiers disappeared early March 25 while conducting a mission to repair and tow a vehicle. The armored recovery vehicle they were in, a 63-ton M88 Hercules, was found a day later in a bog, 13 feet underwater and encased in more than 6 feet of mud. The U.S. Army said the vehicle was pulled out Monday morning after days of digging mud and draining water.

To pull out the vehicle, the U.S. Army said divers from the U.S. Navy hooked steel cables to the sunken M88 Hercules. It took two hours to pull out.

The U.S. Army didn’t release the names of the dead soldiers. The search for the fourth is continuing. The cause of the accident is being investigated by the U.S. Army and Lithuanian authorities.

The soldiers, who were part of the First Armored Brigade Combat Team, Third Infantry Division, were in the Lithuanian city of Pabradė, which is near the border of Belarus.

“Today is a very sad and tragic day,” said Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, commander of the First Armored Division. “However, search and recovery efforts are not complete—they will continue until we bring all of our Soldiers home.”

U.S., Lithuanian and Polish forces are helping in the search.

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