The search for Airman Jose Antonio Rivera Lynch was suspended on July 30, two days after he went missing in the Timor Sea. The U.S. Navy has identified
a sailor who went missing during a training exercise while onboard the USS George Washington in the ocean north of Australia. On Thursday, July 31, USS George Washington spokesperson, Lieutenant Commander Mark Langford, confirmed in an email to PEOPLE that it was "with a heavy heart" that the search for the sailor had been suspended as of Wednesday, July 30. It comes after the U.S. Navy announced that they had responded to reports of “a possible sailor overboard” in the Timor Sea, in a Monday, July 28
release.
The missing male has now been identified as
Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Launch/Recovery Equipment) Airman Jose Antonio Rivera Lynch IV, per a
release posted online and obtained by PEOPLE, alongside a photograph of the sailor.
The aircraft carrier is currently operating in the Timor Sea as part of the multinational
Talisman Sabre 25 exercise organized by Australia and the U.S., per
USNI News.
"After more than 45 hours of continuous search and rescue efforts covering roughly 2,200 square miles, the U.S. Navy and Australian Defence and Australian Border Forces suspended search efforts in the Timor Sea on July 30," the release shared on Friday, Aug. 1, stated, noting that the search had involved multiple U.S. Navy vessels.
The release confirmed that the search for the missing sailor involved "U.S. Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 12, Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 77, HSM 51, Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Robert Smalls (CG 62) and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Shoup (DDG 86)." "Fixed wing aircraft attached to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, two P-8 Poseidon aircraft and patrol boat from the Australian Defence Force, Australian Defence Vessel (ADV) Cape Otway, and an Australian Border Force Dash-8 aircraft [also] assisted in the search," the post added.