U.S. Air Force officials from Andersen Air Force Base have confirmed that the human remains found at Tarague Beach on Thursday belonged to the missing airman military personnel have been searching for since Monday.
Capt. Joel Banjo-Johnson, chief of 36th Wing Public Affairs at Andersen Air Force Base, confirmed the identify of the remains as Airman Alec Dye.
Dye went missing Monday and was last seen at Tarague Beach.
Related: Humans remains found during search for Barksdale airman missing in Guam
"We have lost a valuable member of our Air Force family," 36th Wing Commander Brig. Gen. Andrew Toth said in a press release. "Airman Dye will be missed by members of his unit and all who had the opportunity to serve with him. Our thoughts and prayers during this time of loss continue to be with his family, friends and co-workers."
Dye, from Mooresville, Indiana, was an airman deployed to Andersen from the 2nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.
Dr. Aurelio Espinola, the island's chief medical examiner, told Pacific Sunday News yesterday afternoon he had positively identified the remains using military dental records.
Espinola described the remains as "all bones."
When Pacific Sunday News reached Espinola yesterday, he was at his home and said he could not provide a name at that time because the information was left at his office.
He also said he hasn't completed the autopsy because the calcium in the middle ear of the skull needs to be removed first -- a process that is expected to take five days. The removal of the calcium would allow Espinola to determine if there was bleeding in the middle ear, which would indicate the individual had drowned.
Espinola said, based on the bones he's examined, there were no signs of trauma.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Andrew Toth, center, is flanked by Air Force Col. John Dunks, left, and Coast Guard Capt. Jim Pruett, as he speaks to the media near the front gate of Andersen Air Force Base in Yigo, Friday. The three officers spoke on the status of missing Air Force Airman Alec Dye, who was reported missing since Monday, and about the human remains found in the same general vicinity where Dye was reportedly last seen.
Photo Credit: Rick Cruz/Pacific Daily News
He added there's a possibility marine animals had gotten to the body prior to the remains being found, which would explain why only bones were left.
At a news conference held Friday at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam, military officials said at that time the search for Dye would continue since the remains had yet to be identified
Banjo-Johnson said this morning that the Air Force has concluded the search.
The full circumstances of Dye's disappearance are being investigated, though 36th Wing Commander Brig. Gen. Andrew Toth said foul play isn't suspected.
Since Dye's disappearance, more than 180 people had joined in the search effort, from federal and local agencies as well as dozens of volunteers, Toth said at Friday's press conference.
Toth said Dye was last seen at Tarague Beach, Monday, where he was reportedly with one other person.
"From that point forward, we think that he went into the water, but he was not actually seen going into the water," Toth added. "The report from the individual was that he was going to go swimming."
Toth said the person who was with Dye is the same person who reported the airman missing.
Following the report that Dye was missing, search crews were deployed to comb the area.
Toth said a search of that area turned up a pair of shoes and a T-shirt that search officials believe belonged to Dye.
Capt. Jim Pruett, commander of U.S. Coast Guard Sector Guam, said at the press conference that surface and air crews had searched more than 1,000 square nautical miles of the area.
Toth said the search had covered the Tarague Beach shoreline, extending both inland and into the water.
On Thursday, search crews found human remains near Tarague Beach "in the same general vicinity" where Dye was reportedly last seen.
Toth said the remains were found on the shoreline by security forces patrolling the area Thursday morning.
He said they were found about 15 feet from the waterline within the high-tide surf.
Those remains were taken to Guam Memorial Hospital so medical examiners could identify the body.
Toth said the Air Force had been in consistent contact with Dye's family and providing them with updates on the search.
Tarague Beach, Toth explained, is a "very wide, open beach area," much like other beaches in Guam. He said there's a very shallow inner reef that extends several hundred yards from the shore and drops off into deeper water.
Toth added there's a designated swimming area marked off with buoys and ropes.
He said Tarague Beach is a "very popular recreation area" for Andersen personnel and that it's not uncommon for people to camp overnight in the area.
However, he added, most people who spend the night at the beach remain on shore rather than enter the water. He said although the area does have lights, it's dark enough at night to justify restricting swimming to daytime hours.
