A Marine who fell overboard from the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima on Feb. 7 has been declared dead after exhaustive search-and-rescue efforts were unsuccessful, the service announced.
Rescue efforts for Lance Cpl. Chukwuemeka E. Oforah, 21, were suspended on Feb. 10, three days after the Marine went overboard in the Caribbean Sea, II Marine Expeditionary Force officials announced.
Oforah, of Florida, was an infantry rifleman assigned to 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, the service announced. He graduated from Marine Corps Recruit Depot-Parris Island in February 2024 and was deployed with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit at the time of his death.
“We are all grieving alongside the Oforah family,” Col. Tom Trimble, the 22nd MEU commanding officer, said in a release. “The loss of Lance Cpl. Oforah is deeply felt across the entire Navy-Marine Corps team. He will be profoundly missed, and his dedicated service will not be forgotten.”
A massive multi-branch search effort ensued on Feb. 7 after a man overboard was declared, according to the release.
Five U.S. Navy ships, a rigid-hull inflatable boat, surface rescue swimmers from the Iwo Jima and 10 aircraft from the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force joined the search efforts, according to the announcement.
The Iwo Jima is currently deployed to the Caribbean, where it was recently involved in transporting captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
The incident is currently under investigation.
J.D. Simkins is the executive editor of Military Times and Defense News, and a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War.