Marine Corps officials have identified Lance Cpl. Armando Ortiz Canseco as the Marine who went missing from a ship off the southern coast of California last week. The 21-year-old Marine from Minnesota was declared dead on June 27 following a 43-hour search by Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard personnel, ships and aircraft.
Ortiz Canseco was reported missing on the morning of June 25 while he was serving aboard the amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage ahead of integrated training between the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group, Corps officials said.
Search and rescue personnel searched about 2,400 square miles for Ortiz Canseco, using three surface ships and 12 aircraft, according to the Navy.
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But after being unable to locate him, the Navy switched to recovery operations on the evening of June 26, a Marine Corps news release says. He was declared dead the following day.
The circumstances of how he went missing are under investigation, the Marine Corps news release says.
“On behalf of the Marines and sailors of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, I extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Lance Cpl. Ortiz Canseco,” Col. Richard Alvarez, commanding officer of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, said in a statement. “He earned the title of United States Marine and served his country with honor and commitment. We mourn alongside his family, and we remain committed to bringing him home.”
Ortiz Canseco enlisted in the Marines on April 3, 2023, and attended the Corps’ West Coast boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California.
He went on to the School of Infantry – West to train as a rifleman before being assigned to 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, and later transferred to 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, both at Camp Pendleton, California.
His military awards include the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.
“The loss of Lance Cpl. Ortiz Canseco is felt deeply across our entire Navy-Marine Corps team,” Capt. Gary A. Harrington, commodore of Amphibious Squadron 7, said in a statement. “The amphibious Navy exists to fight alongside the Marine Corps, and a loss to the Marine Corps family is a loss to our own. We are a resilient force, and we continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in support of Lance Cpl. Ortiz Canseco’s loved ones and our ongoing recovery operations.”
