The family of a Navy sailor with ties to Fort Benning now know he has died, officials said.
Ten sailors were killed when the USS John S. McCain collided with a merchant ship on Aug. 21 near Singapore, the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet confirmed Sunday after recovering all 10 bodies.
John “CJ” Hoagland III’s family previously told TV station WRBL they were trying to stay hopeful but realistic about the search for the 20-year-old and nine other sailors.
The sailors went missing during a collision between their guided-missile destroyer and an oil tanker off the coast of Singapore, the U.S. Navy said in a news release. Authorities suspended the search Thursday in the 2,100-square-mile area east of the Straits of Malacca.
Hoagland worked as an electronics technician.
Hoagland’s mother, Cynthia Kimball, lives at Fort Benning near Columbus with her husband. She told news station KTRK that her son had served on the ship since October 2016.
The family is originally from Killeen, Texas. Hoagland is married, according to his Facebook page.
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