The last missing U.S. soldier in Lithuania has been found dead, marking the end of a weeklong search for four service members. Their armoured vehicle was pulled from a swampy training area, the U.S. military announced on Tuesday.

On Monday, the bodies of the other three soldiers were recovered after U.S., Polish, and Lithuanian forces worked together to dig out the M88 Hercules vehicle from a peat bog at the large Gen. Silvestras Ukauskas training ground in Pabrade. The names of the four soldiers have not been made public as family notifications proceed. However, the Army did announce the identities of the three soldiers who were retrieved on Monday. Pfc. Dante D. Taitano, 21, of Dededo, Guam; Sgt. Edvin F. Franco, 25, of Glendale, California, and Sgt. Jose Duenez Jr., 25, of Joliet, Illinois, was among them.

The Army stated that soldiers from the 1st Armoured Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, went missing along with their vehicle a week ago during a tactical training exercise. "This past week has been devastating. Today our hearts bear the weight of an unbearable pain with the loss of our final Dogface Soldier," Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, 3rd Infantry Division commander, said in a statement Tuesday. "Though we have received some closure, the world is darker without them." Around Pabrade, six miles (10 kilometers) west of the Belarusian border, hundreds of Lithuanian and American soldiers and rescuers engaged in the search through the dense woods and marshy area. It took days to remove the 63-ton (126,000-pound) armoured vehicle from the bog after it was found on March 26 submerged in 15 feet (4.5 meters) of water. The Lithuanian armed forces provided military helicopters, planes, drones, and search and rescue teams.

They also brought extra excavators, pumps, other heavy construction machines, technical experts, and several hundred tons of gravel and soil to assist with the recovery. Navy divers worked through thick mud, clay, and sediment in complete darkness to reach the vehicle on Sunday evening and attach steel cables for its removal. When only three of the four bodies were found, they started searching the bog area for the fourth. The commander of US Army Europe and Africa, Gen. Christopher Donahue, expressed gratitude to the US allies for sending troops and equipment to aid in the search and recovery. "I can't say enough about the support our Lithuanian Allies have provided us. We have leaned on them, and they, alongside our Polish and Estonian Allies and our own Sailors, Airmen and experts from the Corps of Engineers, have enabled us to find and bring home our Soldiers," Donahue said in the statement. "This is a tragic event, but it reinforces what it means to have Allies and friends." 

Around 3,500 soldiers from the brigade were sent in January to various locations across Poland and the Baltic states for a nine-month mission. This deployment is part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, which aims to support NATO allies and partners in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. "This loss is simply devastating," said Norrie, the 3rd Infantry Division commander. "We are wrapping our arms around the families and loved ones of our Soldiers during this difficult time."