Two mysteries unfold on Outer Banks, involving missing soldier and body washed ashore
UPDATE: Authorities say the body that washed up on the Shackleford Banks is that of Spc. Enrique Roman-Martinez of Chino, California, and his death has been ruled a homicide. His body was identified with dental records. No cause of death has been given.
Two investigations are underway on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, involving the whereabouts of a missing Fort Bragg soldier and the identity of a body found on a Shackleford Banks beach.
The National Park Service has not said if the two cases are related.
On Tuesday, Cape Lookout National Seashore released a statement saying 10 days of ground and aerial searches had found no sign of Spc. Enrique Roman-Martinez, 21, of Fort Bragg, who went missing while camping at the park.
“Very few clues have been discovered,” the release said. “In the absence of additional clues, active search operations have been suspended. ... Enrique Roman-Martinez is still a missing person and our investigation will continue in hopes of gaining further information of his whereabouts.”
The same news release noted park rangers found “partial” human remains washed up on Shackleford Banks over the weekend. The remains have been turned them over to a medical examiner’s office for identification, the park said.
A cause of death has not been released.
The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command is also investigating, the park told McClatchy News on Tuesday.
Roman-Martinez was last seen around midnight May 22 at a campsite on the South Core Banks, one of the islands that make up Cape Lookout National Seashore, the Criminal Investigation Command said in a Facebook post.
“His phone and wallet were found at the campsite and he was last seen wearing blue shorts and no T-shirt,” the post said.
Officials said last week that nothing indicated Roman-Martinez had gone swimming alone.
The waters off North Carolina’s beaches are home to everything from great white sharks to venomous snakes. However, deadly rip currents that pull swimmers out to sea are among the greatest dangers.
The unidentified body was found during a period when rip currents were blamed for multiple rescues made along the North Carolina coast, reported WWAY. A 29-year-old North Carolina man drowned on Friday, while trying to save his son and wife from rip currents off Topsail Beach, McClatchy News reported.
This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 2:38 PM with the headline "Two mysteries unfold on Outer Banks, involving missing soldier and body washed ashore."