Airman 1st Class Joseph Miele climbs the radar tower at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, in 2017. Now a staff sergeant, Miele went missing from Aviano Air Base in Italy. The 32-year-old didn't show up for work July 23, 2024, base officials said the following day. (Alan Quevy/U.S. Air Force)
AVIANO, Italy — A search is underway for a missing American airman after he didn’t show up for work at Aviano Air Base on Tuesday, according to officials.
Staff Sgt. Joseph Charles Miele of the 31st Fighter Wing was reported missing by his unit Tuesday night, Staff Sgt. Heather Ley, a wing spokeswoman, said Wednesday.
Miele, 32, is a radar tech assigned to the 606th Air Control Squadron, which specializes in air surveillance, control and communications.
He is a resident of San Quirino, a small town near the base, Italian news service ANSA reported Wednesday. Searchers have not yet found Miele’s car, a gray Opel Astra with license plates DH471AS, according to media reports.
Notification about Miele’s disappearance was given to area hospitals, and the prefecture of Pordenone was asked to help with the search, Italian news outlets reported.
No information about the last confirmed sighting of Miele was immediately available Wednesday.
Miele was last seen Monday at work, Ley said.
The Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations is leading the probe into Miele’s disappearance in coordination with local law enforcement, she added.
