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Fort Wayne native among four killed in Marine Corp aircraft crash

Capt. Matthew Tomkiewicz was killed Friday along with three other Marines when their Osprey crashed during a training exercise in Norway.
II Marine Expeditionary Force
/
via Marine Corps Times
Capt. Matthew Tomkiewicz was killed Friday along with three other Marines when their Osprey crashed during a training exercise in Norway.

Twenty-seven-year-old Capt. Matthew J. Tomkiewicz was among four Marines, who died when their Osprey aircraft crashed Friday night in a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle during NATO exercise. All four were assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261, Marine Aircraft Group 26, 2d Marine Aircraft Wing stationed on Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina.

According to a statement from the U.S. Marine Corp, Capt. Ross A. Reynolds, 27, of Leominster, Massachusetts; Gunnery Sgt. James W. Speedy, 30, of Cambridge, Ohio; and Cpl. Jacob M. Moore, 24, of Catlettsburg, Kentucky were also killed in the crash.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but rough weather conditions were reported Friday night.

Norway’s military said the Marine Osprey was reported missing Friday night when it did not make a scheduled arrival at the Arctic Circle municipality Bodø.

The civilian Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Northern Norway launched a search and rescue operation. Norway’s military says “discoveries were made from the air” south of Bodø, but “due to the weather conditions, it has not been possible to enter the site from the air.”

In a statement, Gov. Eric Holcomb said “Janet and I send our sincere condolences to Captain Matthew Tomkiewicz's family and friends, especially in the tough days ahead. We ask all Hoosiers to surround the family with love and never-ending appreciation for all Captain Tomkiewicz gave to our state and nation.”

Tomkiewicz joined the Corps in 2015 and was one of the pilots of the downed Osprey, according to the II Marine Expeditionary Force statement.

Rebecca manages the news at WBOI. She joined the staff in December 2017, and brought with her nearly two decades of experience in print journalism, including 15 years as an award-winning reporter for the Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne.
The Associated Press