Body of 2nd Sailor Swept Away in River Found

The body of a second sailor killed last week during a Navy training exercise at Camp Pendleton was found Monday morning, the Navy announced.

The Navy identified the dead man as Juan A. Montoya, 30, a petty officer 1st class from Maywood, Ill. His body was found Monday near the Del Mar boat basin jetty.

Montoya and fellow sailor Anthony K. Thompson, 24, of Camden, Ark., were washed out to sea as they attempted to cross the rain-swollen Santa Margarita River on Wednesday night.

The body of Thompson, who had returned from the Persian Gulf 2 1/2 weeks before his death, was found last Thursday on a nearby beach. Montoya’s whereabouts were unknown until Monday.

Montoya and Thompson, with five other members of Beachmaster Unit 1, were attempting to cross the river about 10:15 p.m. Wednesday in two High-Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicles, or Humvees, when both vehicles became trapped in the wet sand. Four sailors traveling in one of the new Jeep-like military vehicles scrambled to the roof and made it safely to shore.

Montoya, Thompson and a third sailor were trapped atop the second Humvee for about 30 minutes when a surge of water knocked them off. The third sailor made it to shore, but Montoya and Thompson were swept away.

The river was unusually rough and swollen because of rains, Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Smallwood said in an earlier interview.

“It just kind of took them by surprise,” he said. “The river is usually just a trickle. But they were operating at night and couldn’t tell it was so high.”

The ground search for Montoya had continued over the weekend and was about to be called off when his body was found Monday morning, the Navy said.

The beached Humvee was salvaged from the Santa Margarita River bed Saturday.