The U.S. Army on Sunday identified the soldier whose remains were recovered from the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Morocco as 1st Lt. Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., a 27-year-old Air Defense Artillery officer assigned to the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command.
Key was one of two American soldiers reported missing on May 2 after they fell from a cliff during an off-duty recreational hike near the Cap Draa Training Area outside Tan-Tan, Morocco. Both had been participating in African Lion 26, the massive annual multinational military exercise.
A Moroccan military search team found Key along the shoreline at approximately 8:55 a.m. local time on May 9, within roughly one mile of where both soldiers were believed to have entered the ocean.
The body of one of two U.S. soldiers who went missing during a training exercise in Morocco last week was recovered Saturday, as U.S. and Moroccan forces continued a large-scale search for the second soldier, military officials said Sunday. https://t.co/PC8dQahXlK
— Stars and Stripes (@starsandstripes) May 10, 2026
The search for the second missing soldier has not stopped. A U.S. contingent remained in Morocco after the African Lion exercise officially ended Friday, maintaining command-and-control and search-and-rescue operations alongside Moroccan forces.
The Associated Press reported on the recovery and identification, citing a statement from U.S. Army Europe and Africa:
The remains recovered in the Atlantic Ocean were identified as 1st Lt. Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., a 27-year-old officer whose military occupational specialty was 14A, Air Defense Artillery. Key was assigned to Charlie Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command.
According to the Army statement, a Moroccan military search team located Key along the shoreline at about 8:55 a.m. local time on May 9, within approximately one mile of the location where both soldiers were believed to have entered the ocean after falling from a cliff during a recreational hike while off duty.
Search efforts continued for the second soldier, and a U.S. contingent stayed in Morocco after the African Lion exercises concluded to keep command-and-control operations and the search going. The two soldiers had been reported missing on May 2 after taking part in the exercise. Key entered military service in 2023 as an officer candidate, earned his commission through Officer Candidate School in 2024, and later completed the Basic Officer Leader Course at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Key’s identification brings a measure of closure for one military family while another still waits. The Army has not publicly identified the second missing soldier.
Army recovers, identifies one of two soldiers missing in Morocco https://t.co/LibHHHLJaC
— Task & Purpose (@TaskandPurpose) May 10, 2026
The scale of the search effort reflects how seriously the U.S. military and its partners have treated this incident.
Earlier reporting from the Associated Press and an official statement from U.S. Africa Command described the scope of the multinational response:
More than 600 military personnel from the United States, Morocco, and other participating nations were involved in the search near Morocco’s Cap Draa Training Area outside Tan-Tan. The effort covered coastal and open-ocean areas and included maritime vessels, aviation assets, helicopters, drones, divers, shoreline teams, canine crews, and surveillance support over a difficult stretch of coastline.
AFRICOM confirmed on May 3 that two U.S. service members participating in African Lion 2026 had been reported missing near Cap Draa on May 2, and that an active search-and-rescue effort was underway with U.S., Moroccan, and partner support. African Lion 26 itself was launched in April across Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana, and Senegal, involving more than 7,000 personnel from over 30 nations. The exercise is the largest U.S. joint military exercise in Africa, giving the search immediate multinational resources even after the training schedule ended.
🇺🇸🇲🇦 A U.S. soldier died, and another is still missing, during African Lion, one of the largest multinational military exercises ever held on the continent, in Morocco.
1st Lt Kendrick Lamont Key Jr went missing near a cliff on May 2. His body was recovered off the coast of… pic.twitter.com/gr6paUuaWU
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) May 11, 2026
First Lt. Kendrick Lamont Key Jr. was 27 years old and serving his country thousands of miles from home. The military community now honors his memory while holding out hope that the search still underway will bring answers for the family of the second soldier who remains missing off the Moroccan coast.
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.
