HAGATNA, Guam — The search for an Indiana airman missing on Guam has covered more than 1,000 nautical miles, and Air Force officials said Friday they will refocus the search area.
HAGATNA, Guam — The search for an Indiana airman missing on Guam has covered more than 1,000 nautical miles, and Air Force officials said Friday they will refocus the search area.
Airman Alec Dye, from Mooresville, Indiana, was reported missing by a companion Monday at Tarague Beach, north of Andersen Air Force Base, the Pacific Daily News reported.
The search continues as officials also try to identify human remains found Thursday in the area where Dye went missing.
Dye’s disappearance is still under investigation, but 36th Wing Commander Brig. Gen. Andrew Toth said authorities don’t suspect foul play.
Military officials say the search for Dye, an airman deployed to Andersen from the 2nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, will continue as long as resources are available.
The search so far has included about 180 federal and local officials and dozens of volunteers.
Dye and the unidentified person who reported him missing were at the beach Monday.
“From that point forward, we think that he went into the water, but he was not actually seen going into the water,” Toth said. “The report from the individual was that he was going to go swimming.”
The subsequent search turned up a T-shirt and a pair of shoes officials believe belong to Dye.
“Our search, now, has now refocused onto the Tarague Beach area and the Tarague Beach basin,” said Capt. Jim Pruett, sector commander at the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Guam.
Toth said the search has extended inland and into the water from the shoreline at Tarague Beach.