A military service member was found dead in a parking lot outside the Pentagon on Tuesday, whose death is now the subject of an ongoing investigation.
Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said the service member was found deceased in their vehicle in the Pentagon’s north parking lot, Fox News reported.
Ryder said the service member was discovered by Pentagon police officers responding to “a call requesting a welfare check on a military service member” that came around 3:30 p.m.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing, Fox reported, and a cause of death has not been released. The individual’s name has also not been disclosed.
Arlington County Emergency Medical Services responded to the scene and confirmed the service member was dead, Fox reported.
The death comes after a separate Navy investigation into three suicides in one month while assigned to the USS George Washington, which was being overhauled at Newport News Shipbuilding.
The three sailors’ suicides in April 2022 were unconnected, the investigation concluded, while pointing out that the ship’s mental health system is “overwhelmed.” The investigation also found that an “inability to acclimate” to life in the military and “life stressors” contributed to the three sailors’ suicides.
The Navy also recently had four sailors assigned to Naval Station Norfolk die by suicide over a span of four weeks in late 2022.
“We remain fully engaged with our sailors and their families to ensure their health and well-being, and to ensure a climate of trust that encourages sailors to ask for help,” said Chris Wyatt, spokesperson for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center, where the four sailors were assigned.
“Leadership, chaplains, psychologists, and counselors, are providing support and counseling to MARMC’s grieving workforce and for anyone in need of help,” Wyatt said.
This was a breaking news story. The details were periodically updated as more information became available.
