Sailor’s body recovered in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan -- One of two U.S. sailors missing in Afghanistan since last week -- a 30-year-old father of two from Kingman, Ariz. -- has been confirmed dead and his body recovered, a NATO spokesman said Tuesday.

The search continues for the other missing sailor, said Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale, a spokesman for NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

In violence today, Afghan officials say a packed bus hit a roadside bomb in the south, killing 25 passengers and wounding 20. A spokesman for the Nimroz provincial government, Nazir Ahmad, said the packed bus was traveling this morning on a main highway headed toward the capital of Kabul when it struck the explosive around Delaram, a volatile area near the borders of Helmand and Farah provinces.

The two Navy personnel went missing Friday in the eastern province of Logar, after an armored sport utility vehicle was seen driving into a Taliban-held area. The Taliban have said they killed one of the two men in a firefight, captured the other and are holding him in a "safe place" where he will not be found.

In a statement, the NATO-led command said the body was recovered Sunday after an extensive search and that the coalition "holds the captors accountable for the safety and proper treatment of our missing service member."

NATO officials were unable to say what the men were doing in such a dangerous part of eastern Afghanistan.

The sailors were instructors at a counterinsurgency school for Afghan security forces, according to senior military officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The school was headquartered in Kabul and had classrooms outside the capital, but the instructors were never assigned anywhere near where the body of the sailor was recovered, the officials said.

The Pentagon identified the dead sailor as Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin McNeley, 30, of Wheatridge, Colo., and the missing sailor as Petty Officer 3rd Class Jarod Newlove, 25, of Renton, Wash. The Pentagon listed Newlove's whereabouts as unknown and is not confirming he was captured.

Jim Kerr, a Colorado legislator from the Denver suburb of Littleton, said McNeley was his wife's nephew. McNeley was from Colorado but moved to Kingman in 2004, three years after he joined the U.S. Navy. His mother, Sharon Wood, lives in Kingman and his father is a fire official in Encinitas, Calif.

Kerr told The Denver Post that McNeley, a noncommissioned officer and father of two young sons, was due to return to the United States in August.

Dozens of people were in attendance in May 2009, when the Kingman chapter of the Patriot Guard Riders sent McNeley off on his deployment. Richard Tromba, who was captain of the Patriot Guard Riders at the time, said McNeley was special.

"He had a sense of duty," Tromba said Tuesday. "He was a very insightful, charismatic and wonderful young man and his family has a great loss and so does this community."

Tromba recalled his 5½ year-old son glued "army and navy guys" and a tank in a shoe box that he presented as a gift to the departing McNeley. He said he was impressed that McNeley spent extra time with his son, making certain he expressed his gratitude.

Tromba and current Patriot Guard Riders captain Loren Larson said the group stands ready to assist in any way possible, including the staging of a memorial ride. Both noted, however, that the group respects the wishes of family members and will not organize any activity until requested by McNeley's direct family.

The only other U.S. service member in Taliban captivity is Spc. Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho, who disappeared June 30, 2009, in Paktika province, also in eastern Afghanistan. That area is infiltrated by the Haqqani network, which has links to al-Qaida. Bergdahl has since been shown in Taliban videos online.

New York Times reporter David Rohde was kidnapped in Logar province while trying to meet a Taliban commander. He and an Afghan colleague escaped in June 2009 after seven months.

Hundreds of fliershave been distributed throughout Logar province where NATO troops were stopping and searching vehicles. NATO has offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the surviving sailor's location.

Reporter Dave Hawkins contributed to this report.