The U.S. Navy successfully located a sailor who went missing 12 days after leaving his station, the service confirmed.
Culinary Specialist Seaman Sergio Valoura departed the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln on May 30 and never returned for his assigned duties. Personnel aboard the ship conducted a search but were unable to find Valoura, and subsequently informed the Navy Criminal Investigative Service and local authorities, a Naval Air Forces spokesperson told Navy Times in an emailed statement.
“USS Abraham Lincoln leadership is thankful for the professionalism of NCIS and LAPD in ensuring Seaman Valoura’s safety and well-being,” the spokesperson said.
NCIS agents spotted Valoura on June 11 in Glendale, California, and afterward helped transfer him June 16 to Naval Medical Center San Diego for a full medical evaluation.
Valoura, who enlisted in the Navy on July 12, 2023, trained at Recruit Training Command Great Lakes, Illinois, and Naval Technical Training Center Detachment in Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia, before joining the Abraham Lincoln on his first assignment.
The Abraham Lincoln returned to its home port of Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, on Dec. 20, 2024, after a five-month deployment in the Middle East. During the deployment, the carrier assisted in the deterrence of Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Valoura is currently safe and back in the custody of his command, the NCIS said in an emailed statement.
The Navy did not provide any information regarding the circumstances of the sailor’s disappearance.
Valoura is the second sailor to be reported missing in May.
Naval Station Norfolk sailor Angelina Petra Resendiz, 21, was found dead on June 9 in a wooded area in Norfolk, Virginia, two weeks after she disappeared from her barracks in Miller Hall on base.
A sailor has been placed in pretrial confinement in connection with Resendiz’s death.
Riley Ceder is a reporter at Military Times, where he covers breaking news, criminal justice, investigations, and cyber. He previously worked as an investigative practicum student at The Washington Post, where he contributed to the Abused by the Badge investigation.
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