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Three U.S. Marines were found dead inside a parked car at a gas station in a coastal North Carolina community over the weekend, authorities said.
The Pender County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were responding to a report of a missing person when they found the three Marines at about 9 a.m. Sunday at a Speedway convenience store on U.S. 17 in Hampstead, about 30 miles south of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.
The men were unresponsive when they were found in a privately owned car and medical authorities pronounced all of them dead the same day.
Their causes of death weren’t immediately clear. Sgt. Chester Ward of the Pender County Sheriff’s Office told the Associated Press that the department had received a missing person report for one of the three Marines.
No drugs were found in the vehicle and Ward said the department does not “suspect anything as far as foul play in that matter.”
“There does not appear to have ever been any threat to members of the community,” the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office said it was investigating further and is waiting on autopsy results to determine the causes of death.
The U.S. Marine Corps identified the three men as Marine Corps Lance Corporal Tanner J. Kaltenberg, 19, from Madison, Wisconsin; Marine Corps Lance Corporal Merax C. Dockery, 23, from Pottawatomie, Oklahoma; and Marine Corps Lance Corporal Ivan R. Garcia, 23, from Naples, Florida.
The men were motor vehicle operators with the Combat Logistics Battalion 2, Combat Logistics Regiment 2 and 2nd Marine Logistics Group at Camp Lejeune, according to First Lt. Raymond Fullbright, of the 2nd Marine Logistics Group.
“My deepest sympathy and condolences are extended to (their) family, friends, and colleagues,” said Brig. Gen. Michael E. McWilliams, commanding general of 2nd Marine Logistics Group. “Our focus is providing the necessary resources and support to those impacted by their tragic loss as they navigate this extremely difficult time.”
The 2nd Marine Logistics Group is assisting local authorities and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
Contributing: Associated Press
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