The remains of a U.S. soldier who went missing during military exercises in Morocco have been recovered from the Atlantic Ocean, the Army announced Sunday. A second soldier remains missing.
The remains were identified as those of 1st Lt. Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., a 27-year-old Air Defense Artillery officer. According to NPR, a Moroccan military search team found Key in the water along the shoreline at approximately 8:55 a.m. local time on May 9, within roughly one mile of where both soldiers reportedly entered the ocean.
Key and a second soldier were reported missing on May 2 after going on a recreational hike while off duty near the Cap Draa Training Area outside Tan-Tan, a region the Moroccan military describes as characterized by mountains, desert and semidesert plains. The two fell off a cliff around 9 p.m. Their disappearance came during African Lion, an annual multinational military exercise held in Morocco.
The search-and-rescue operation that followed involved more than 600 personnel from the United States, Morocco and other military partners, deploying frigates, vessels, helicopters and drones. A U.S. defense official told the Associated Press, on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, that a U.S. contingent remained in Morocco after the war games ended Friday to provide command and control and to continue search and rescue operations. Search efforts for the second soldier are ongoing.
Key was assigned to Charlie Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command. He entered military service in 2023 as an officer candidate and earned his commission through Officer Candidate School in 2024. He later completed the Basic Officer Leader Course at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. His decorations include the Army Achievement Medal and Army Service Ribbon.
African Lion 26 is a U.S.-led exercise launched in April across four countries, Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana and Senegal, with more than 7,000 personnel from over 30 nations. Since 2004, it has been the largest U.S. joint military exercise in Africa. In 2012, two U.S. Marines were killed and two others injured during a helicopter crash in the southern Moroccan city of Agadir while participating in the same exercises.
