By The Associated Press
SHELTON, Mason County —
The Army says a soldier who vanished during a parachute training operation has been found dead in a heavily wooded area of Mason County.
Maj. Timothy C. Chavis, a 1st Special Forces Group spokesman, said a local rescue team helping in a 10-hour search for the man discovered the soldier’s body around 10 p.m. Friday.
He said the soldier was part of the special forces unit based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord who jumped from a plane at noon with other service members.
Chavis said he believes the training was a routine exercise but that he can’t release other information until the end of an investigation. Earlier reports said the man was forced to deploy a reserve parachute during the exercise.
The soldier will not be identified until a day after family members are notified, Chavis said.
Q13 Fox News reported Friday night that about 110 people were searching in a 6-mile diameter circle of rough terrain and timber using night-vision goggles.
“With this area, he could be hanging in a tree,” Mason County Sheriff’s Office Chief Criminal Deputy Ryan Spurling told Q13. “We don’t know if he’s injured or not. We don’t know if he’s alive and trying to come back. We don’t know if he’s mortally injured.”
A search party made up of Mason County deputies, military personnel, tribal officials and others set up a command post in Shelton.
