Murrieta Marine Among Missing in Chopper Disappearance in Nepal

Photo of Huey via Flickr, Creative Commons

A crewman from Riverside County is reported to have been among the troops who were on a USMC helicopter that disappeared while carrying out humanitarian duties in Nepal.

Six U.S. Marines and two Nepalese soldiers were aboard the UH-1Y Huey reported missing early Tuesday morning.

One of the missing crewmen was identified by a Los Angeles NBC affiliate as Eric Seaman of Murrieta.

Defense Video and Imagery Distribution, a private company specializing in public relations for U.S. military units deployed overseas, also identified Sgt. Juan J. Alcarez of Yucca Valley among the missing. Alcarez is a crew chief for Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 469, which is based at Camp Pendleton.

The helicopter was reported missing hours after a magnitude-7.3 earthquake struck midway between the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu and Mount Everest at 11:50 p.m. Monday. This followed the magnitude-7.8 quake of April 25, which is reported to have killed more than 8,000 people.

The helicopter disappeared as it was delivering aid to survivors and evacuating casualties to Kathmandu, according to a statement by Joint Task Force 505, which is overseeing the U.S. contributions to the relief operation.

The search for the missing helicopter was continuing Wednesday.

-- City News Service contributed to this report