The United States Army has confirmed the recovery of the remains of a second soldier who went missing in Morocco earlier this month, bringing to a close a large-scale multinational search operation that had mobilised more than 1,000 military and civilian personnel across a rugged stretch of Morocco's southern coastline.
The soldier was identified as Specialist Mariyah Symone Collington, 19, of Tavares, Florida. Her remains were discovered on 12 May in a coastal cave near Cap Draa, a rocky headland in the Tan-Tan province of southern Morocco, approximately 500 metres from where she was last seen. Moroccan Royal Armed Forces transported her remains by helicopter to the Moulay El Hassan military hospital in Guelmim. Collington had joined the Regular Army's Delayed Entry Program in 2023, began active-duty service in 2024, and had been stationed in Ansbach, Germany, since February 2025, serving as an air and missile defence crew member. She had been promoted to specialist just days before the incident.
Collington and 1st Lieutenant Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., a 14A air defence artillery officer whose remains were recovered on 9 May, had gone on an off-duty recreational hike on 2 May when they fell from a cliff in the area. The two were participating in African Lion 26, a large annual US-led military exercise. The search effort, which covered more than 21,000 square kilometres using air, naval, and artificial intelligence assets, was conducted jointly by US and Moroccan forces. Both soldiers' remains have since been flown back to the United States on a military aircraft. The circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation.
African Lion is the largest US joint military exercise on the African continent, held annually in Morocco and, in its 2026 edition, extended to Tunisia, Ghana, and Senegal. This year's exercise, which began on 27 April, involved more than 7,000 personnel from over 30 nations and is designed to strengthen coordination between US forces and their NATO and African partner nations. The exercise has not been without tragedy in the past — in 2012, two US Marines were killed and two others injured in a helicopter crash near the southern Moroccan city of Agadir during the same exercises.
The deaths of Collington and Key underscore the physical dangers that can accompany large-scale exercises held in Morocco's challenging terrain, even during off-duty hours. Both soldiers were young and early in their military careers, and their loss has prompted expressions of condolence from US Army Europe and Africa, which noted their service and dedication.