San Diego-based Marine dies after being lost at sea as new details emerge

A 21-year-old US Marine stationed in San Diego has been declared dead after vanishing during a training exercise off the Southern California coast, officials said.

Lance Cpl. Armando Ortiz Canseco, of Minnesota, was officially declared deceased on June 27, 2026, according to a statement from the US Marine Corps.

Canseco disappeared in the early morning hours of June 25 from the amphibious transport dock ship USS Anchorage, triggering a massive search-and-rescue effort involving the US Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Air Force. Despite the multi-agency operation, the young Marine was not found.

Officials said crews searched approximately 2,400 square miles using three surface ships and 12 aircraft.

Authorities said on June 26 the active search and rescue operations turned into recovery operations, with officials declaring him deceased on Friday and identifying the Marine on Monday.

“On behalf of the Marines and Sailors of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, I extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Lance Cpl. Ortiz Canseco,” Col. Richard Alvarez, the commanding officer of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, said.

“He earned the title of United States Marine and served his country with honor and commitment. We mourn alongside his family, and we remain committed to bringing him home.”

Capt. Gary A. Harrington, the commodore of Amphibious Squadron 7 said Canseco’s loss was being felt “deeply across our entire Navy-Marine Corps team.”

“The amphibious Navy exists to fight alongside the Marine Corps, and a loss to the Marine Corps family is a loss to our own.”

Canseco enlisted in the marines in April 2023, followed by recruit training, becoming a rifleman, eventually joining 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment at Camp Pendleton, in Southern California.

He was also a decorated member of the military, being awarded the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.

Ortiz Canseco was assigned to the USS Anchorage during training with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit and the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group, per the release.

On Sunday night, loved ones and family members held a vigil for him at Oak Grove Lutheran Church in Richfield, praying for a miracle he would come home to them.

Officials have said very little about what happened. The circumstances surrounding Canseco’s death are currently under investigation.