Marine recruit found dead Tuesday on Parris Island identified, investigation ongoing
The Marine recruit who died Tuesday morning at Parris Island after apparently falling from a balcony was identified Thursday by the U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot.
Pvt. Anthony Munoz, 21, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was found dead around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, the MCRD press release said. Munoz apparently fell from a balcony, according to Beaufort County Coroner David Ott.
Munoz was assigned to Lima Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, Marine Corps Recruit Station spokesperson Capt. Philip Kulczewski said. Munoz graduated from Lawrence High School in 2018, according to Kulczewski. The Lima Company was in its first day of training, Kulczewski said.
The Naval Criminal Investigation Service is handling the investigation.
Parris Island is one of only two recruit stations in the country and an average of 19,000 recruits train there every year. Munoz marks at least the eighth trainee death at the recruit depot since 2000 and comes just three months after another trainee, Pfc. Dalton Beals, died from heat exhaustion during the “Crucible” training exercise in June. The Crucible is a rigorous 54-hour exercise at the end of a 13-week training program. It involves a 9-mile hike and is the final hurdle for recruits before graduation. 911 calls obtained by the Island Packet in June suggest that there were two other recruits suffering from heat injuries on the day of Beals’ death.
An autopsy for Munoz had been scheduled for Thursday morning at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Autopsy results can take eight to nine weeks, or longer, according to Beaufort County Coroner David Ott.
