CALIFORNIA — The U.S. Marine Corps Monday reported a Marine from New Braunfels, Texas, was among those presumed to have been killed during a training exercise Thursday off the coast of Southern California.

What You Need To Know

  • 9 presumed dead in training exercise off Southern California coast Thursday

  • Among them Lance Cpl. Guillermo Perez, 20, of New Braunfels

  • Amphibious assault vehicle took on water and sank

  • 7 others rescued

The body of 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Guillermo S. Perez, of New Braunfels, was recovered. The remains of the eight others have not been located but they are presumed dead. They are:

Pfc. Bryan J. Baltierra, 19, of Corona, California; Lance Cpl. Marco A. Barranco, 21, of Montebello, California; Pfc. Evan A. Bath, 19, of Oak Creek, Wisconsin; U.S. Navy Hospitalman Christopher Gnem, 22, of Stockton, California; Pfc. Jack Ryan Ostrovsky, 21, of Bend, Oregon; Cpl. Wesley A. Rodd, 23, of Harris, Texas; Lance Cpl. Chase D. Sweetwood, 19, of Portland, Oregon; and Cpl. Cesar A. Villanueva, 21, of Riverside, California.

A GoFundMe has been set up to pay for Perez's funeral arrangements.*

Seven others were rescued, two of whom were last reported as having been stabilized in a hospital.

According to the Marine Corps, the people involved were attached to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which operates out of Camp Pendleton.

They were headed back to a Navy ship in an amphibious assault vehicle when they started taking on water about a half-mile from San Clemente Island, which is located off San Diego.

Other assaults vehicle responded but personnel were unable to stop the 26-ton vehicle from sinking.

“The assumption is that it went completely to the bottom,” Lt. Gen. Joseph Osterman, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Unit, said. 

An intense search involving helicopters and boats ranging from inflatables to a Navy destroyer ensued.

The sunken craft, one of 13 involved in the exercise, is designed to be buoyant. They have been in use since 1972 and have been continually refurbished.

This is the third time in recent years that Camp Pendleton Marines have been injured or died in amphibious assault vehicles during training exercises.

In 2017, 14 Marines and one Navy sailor were hospitalized after their vehicle hit a natural gas line, igniting a fire that engulfed the landing craft at Camp Pendleton.

In 2011, a Marine died when an amphibious assault vehicle in a training exercise sank offshore of the camp.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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