July 30, 1999
Web posted at: 9:46 p.m. EDT (0146 GMT)

From CNN Military Affairs Correspondent Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Army has released the names of the U.S. soldiers killed in the crash of an Army DeHavilland RC-7 reconnaissance plane on July 23 in a remote, mountainous region of southern Colombia.

The seven person crew included, five U.S. Army personnel:

--Capt. Jose A. Santiago
--Capt. Jennifer J. Odem
--Chief Warrant Officer 2 Thomas G. Moore
--PFC. T. Bruce Cluff
--PFC. Ray E. Krueger

Sources say the two Army captains, one male, one female, were piloting the plane at the time of the crash. Only four of the seven aboard the plane have been found.

Pentagon officials say all evidence points to an accident in which the plane flew into the side of a heavily forested mountain. No evidence points to hostile fire as a cause of the crash.

The soldiers were assigned to the 204th Military Intelligence Battalion, Ft. Bliss, Texas, and were on a counter-narcotics surveillance mission.

The remains of two of the crew members are scheduled to be brought to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, about 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning, where a positive identification will be made.

Secretary of the Army Louis Caldera is scheduled to be at the base when the remains arrive.

A memorial service for families and friends is scheduled to be conducted at Ft. Bliss on Monday, August 2, at 2 p.m. local time (4 p.m. EDT).

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