Missing Marine Declared Deceased After Disappearance During Training

A 21-year-old U.S. Marine has been officially identified and declared deceased following his disappearance from an amphibious warship during a training operation near Southern California last week.

Lance Corporal Armando Ortiz Canseco, an infantryman hailing from Richfield, Minnesota, was aboard the USS Anchorage when he went missing in the early hours of June 25, 2026. His death was confirmed by the military last Saturday.

As the Navy transitions to a recovery operation, Ortiz Canseco’s family is demanding transparency and more information regarding the circumstances leading to his disappearance.

The event unfolded around 1:00 a.m. local time, during integrated training exercises alongside the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit and the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group.

Following his disappearance, a large-scale search-and-rescue mission was initiated. This effort, covering approximately 2,400 square miles of the Pacific Ocean, lasted 43 hours and involved multiple ships and 12 aircraft from the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.

Unfortunately, after an extensive search yielded no results, the U.S. Navy converted the mission to a search-and-recovery operation on Friday evening, officially declaring Ortiz Canseco dead the next day.

Back in Minnesota, Ortiz Canseco’s family and friends are engulfed in grief and frustration. They held a community vigil at the Oak Grove Lutheran Church in Richfield, expressing their anguish over the lack of information from the Pentagon. Many questions remain unanswered, particularly about how a Marine could vanish from a secure naval vessel.

While the military has extended its condolences and pledged to support his family, official statements have not clarified whether the incident was due to an accident, equipment failure, or some other cause. They have only indicated that an investigation is ongoing.

Ortiz Canseco joined the Marine Corps on April 3, 2023, completing his initial training at the School of Infantry–West. Stationed at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, he served first with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, before moving to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment.

Throughout his service, he earned the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon. Leaders from both the Marine Corps and Navy have issued statements mourning his loss, emphasizing that it is felt deeply across the entire naval community, while also vowing to support his family during the ongoing investigation.