Photo: ABDEL MAJID BZIOUAT / AFP / Getty Images
The remains of Specialist Mariyah Symone Collington, a 19-year-old U.S. Army soldier from Taveres, Florida, have been recovered in Morocco. The U.S. military announced Wednesday (May 13) that Collington's body was found near where she and another soldier, First Lieutenant Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., reportedly went missing during a recreational hike on May 2.
The two soldiers were in Morocco for African Lion, an annual multinational military exercise. According to a report from CBS News, it's believed one fell into the water during the hike, and the second jumped in to try and save them. The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces transported Collington's remains to Moulay El Hassan Military Hospital in Guelmim, Morocco.
Collington served as an air and missile defense crewmember with Charlie Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command. She joined the Regular Army in 2023 and was promoted to specialist on May 1, 2026. Her awards include the Army Service Ribbon.
The search operation involved over 1,000 personnel from the U.S. and Morocco, using advanced technology like unmanned aerial systems and thermal sensors. The circumstances of the incident are still under investigation, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa.
African Lion 26, which began in April, involves over 7,000 personnel from more than 30 nations and takes place across Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana, and Senegal. ABC News reports that this is not the first tragedy during these exercises; in 2012, two U.S. Marines died in a helicopter crash in Agadir, Morocco.