Officials have identified a Florida sailor who died after going missing at sea last week while stationed on the USS Mason in the Red Sea.
The service member was named in a statement from the Department of Defense on Saturday as 34-year-old Oriola Michael Aregbesola, an aviation machinist’s mate 2nd class.
Aregbesola went missing in the water on Wednesday “while conducting operations,” U.S. Central Command said in its own statement on Friday. Further details about the incident were not provided.
He was assigned to the USS Mason and deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations as part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group intended to deter increased hostilities in the region sparked by the Israel-Hamas war, defense officials said.
Aregbesola died from a “non-combat”-related injury, according to Saturday’s statement.
It remains under investigation.
