July 25 (UPI) — Three Marines were found dead over the weekend inside a car parked at a North Carolina convenience store, authorities said Tuesday as they investigate the deaths.
The sheriff’s office for Pender County said in a release on Facebook that officers responding to a report of a missing person Sunday night found the three men deceased inside the vehicle at a Speedway convenience store in Hampstead, N.C., an unincorporated community located just north of Wilmington.
Little information about the deaths was made public, including how they died, but the Pender County Sheriff’s Office said there does not appear to be any threat to the larger community.
“This is an ongoing investigation,” the sheriff’s office said.
The deceased were identified as Marines from the 2nd Marine Logistics Group at Camp Lejeune in a press release.
The three men were named by the Marine Corps as Lance Cpl. Tanner J. Kaltenberg, 19, from Madison, Wis.; Lance Cpl. Merax C. Dockery, 23, from Pottawatomie, Okla.; and Lance Cp. Ivan R. Garcia, 23, from Naples, Fla.
All three were motor vehicle operators, the sheriff’s office said.
Brig. Gen. Michael McWilliams, commanding general of 2nd Marine Logistics Group, offered his condolences in a statement to the family, friends and colleagues of the deceased.
“Our focus is providing the necessary resources and support to those impacted by their tragic loss as they navigate this extremely difficult time,” he said.
