{"id":580,"date":"2026-05-11T20:05:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T20:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=580"},"modified":"2026-05-11T20:05:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T20:05:44","slug":"remains-of-us-soldier-who-went-missing-during-military-exercises-in-morocco-have-been-recovered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=580","title":{"rendered":"Remains of US soldier who went missing during military exercises in Morocco have been recovered"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><strong>CASABLANCA, Morocco<\/strong> | The remains of a U.S. soldier who went missing during military exercises in Morocco a week ago were recovered in the Atlantic Ocean, the army said Sunday. Military teams were still searching for a second missing soldier.<\/p>\n<p>The remains were those of 1st Lt. Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., a 14A Air Defense Artillery officer who was one of two U.S. soldiers who fell off a cliff during a recreational hike in Morocco while off duty. He was 27 years old.<\/p>\n<p>The two were reported missing May 2 after participating in African Lion, an annual multinational military exercise held in Morocco.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA Moroccan military search team found the Soldier in the water along the shoreline at approximately 8:55 a.m. local time May 9, within roughly one mile of where both Soldiers reportedly entered the ocean,\u201d U.S. Army Europe and Africa said in a statement.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The two went missing around 9 p.m. near the Cap Draa Training Area outside Tan-Tan, a terrain characterized by mountains, desert and semidesert plains, according to the Moroccan military.<\/p>\n<p>Their disappearance triggered a search-and-rescue operation involving more than 600 personnel from the United States, Morocco and other military partners. The operation deployed frigates, vessels, helicopters and drones.<\/p>\n<p>Search efforts will continue for the missing second soldier, a U.S. defense official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity as they were not allowed to speak publicly on the issue.<\/p>\n<p>The official said a U.S. contingent remained in Morocco after the war games ended Friday to provide command and control and to continue search and rescue operations.<\/p>\n<p>Key was assigned to Charlie Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, the army said. His decorations include the Army Achievement Medal and Army Service Ribbon.<\/p>\n<p>He entered military service in 2023 as an officer candidate and earned his commission through Officer Candidate School in 2024 as an Air Defense Artillery officer. He later completed the Basic Officer Leader Course at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, according to the statement.<\/p>\n<p>African Lion 26, is a U.S.-led exercise launched in April across four countries \u2013 Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana and Senegal \u2013 with more than 7,000 personnel from over 30 nations. Since 2004, it has been the largest U.S. joint military exercise in Africa.<\/p>\n<p>In 2012, two U.S. Marines were killed and two others injured during a helicopter crash in Morocco\u2019s southern city of Agadir while taking part in the exercises.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=574\">Aurora Sports Notebook: Rangeview inducts latest class into Athletics Hall of Fame<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=576\">NTSB gathering details on Frontier Airlines evacuation after plane hit and killed person in Denver<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=578\">Trump says Iran ceasefire is on \u2018life support\u2019 and proposes gas tax pause as strait stays closed<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CASABLANCA, Morocco | The remains of a U.S. soldier who went missing during military exercises in Morocco a week ago were recovered in the Atlantic Ocean, the army said Sunday. Military teams were still searching for a second missing soldier. The remains were those of 1st Lt. Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., a 14A Air Defense [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,136,67,137,135,245,242,243,63],"tags":[687,688,689,690,691,256],"class_list":["post-580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","category-nation-2","category-nation","category-nation-and-state","category-no-apple-publish","category-ntl-galley","category-recent-headlines","category-trending","category-world","tag-1st-lt-kendrick-lamont-key-jr","tag-african-lion","tag-atlantic-ocean","tag-casablance-morocco","tag-u-s-army","tag-u-s-military"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Remains of US soldier who went missing during military exercises in Morocco have been recovered - Denver Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=580\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Remains of US soldier who went missing during military exercises in Morocco have been recovered - Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CASABLANCA, Morocco | The remains of a U.S. soldier who went missing during military exercises in Morocco a week ago were recovered in the Atlantic Ocean, the army said Sunday. 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