© 2024 MICHIGAN PUBLIC
91.7 Ann Arbor/Detroit 104.1 Grand Rapids 91.3 Port Huron 89.7 Lansing 91.1 Flint
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Sailors with ties to Michigan, Ohio and Illinois among missing in USS McCain collision

USS John S. McCain
Public Domain
The USS John S. McCain is a Navy destroyer that collided with a merchant ship near East Asia Monday.

Sailors from Michigan, Illinois and Ohio are among ten who are missing after a U.S. warship collided with an oil tanker off Singapore Monday. 

April Brandon of Oakland County was told that her son, Ken Smith, is missing. She was visited by two officers Monday.  

Brandon says her 22-year-old son grew up in Novi, Michigan, but moved to Norfolk, Virginia, as a teen with his father.

Illinois U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis says Logan Palmer's mother told him that her son is missing. Davis says Palmer comes from a "patriotic family" in the Decatur, Illinois, area.

And The Columbus Dispatch reports that an Ohio man, 21-year-old Jacob Drake, is also among the missing. Drake's family was informed Monday but is is waiting for further word from the Navy.

Five other sailors were injured in the collision, which was the fourth accident involving a U.S. warship this year.

Admiral Scott Swift announced Tuesday that some bodies have been found in a flooded compartment of the destroyer. The Navy says it'll keep searching for the ten missing sailors until the probability of discovering them "is exhausted."

The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting.
Emma is a communications specialist with the digital team at Michigan Radio. She works across all departments at Michigan Radio, with a hand in everything from digital marketing and fundraising to graphic design and website maintenance. She also produces the station's daily newsletter, The Michigan Radio Beat.
Related Content