Staff Sgt. Jonathan Lane pictured in undated photos released by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division in July 2023, was reported missing last year and taken into custody in April 2024. The 12th Combat Aviation Brigade soldier has been charged with multiple offenses including desertion, an Army official said. (U.S. Army)
GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — A U.S. soldier who disappeared from his Bavaria base and turned up at a military hospital under a false name is now accused of a range of criminal offenses, an Army official said this week.
Staff Sgt. Jonathan Lane, 31, a helicopter repairer assigned to the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade at U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach, was charged Thursday with one count each of attempted voluntary manslaughter, child endangerment and desertion, V Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Josh Camara said.
Lane was reported missing June 27, 2023, after he failed to show up for duty. Four days earlier, he had tried to access Ramstein Air Force Base and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center under the name David Hersher. Ramstein is about 125 miles west of Lane’s duty station.
No details about the other charges were immediately available. Camara referred further questions to the 7th Army Training Command in Grafenwoehr.
Lacey Justinger, a spokeswoman for the command, said Tuesday that she could not provide additional information, citing privacy regulations.
Lane is being held in pretrial confinement in the U.S., Justinger said. His court martial will likely take place at Rose Barracks in Vilseck at a yet-to-be-determined date.
“The Army will ensure Staff Sgt. Lane receives the due process he is entitled to under the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” Camara said.
Lane was initially spotted June 23, 2023, in his vehicle at brigade headquarters at Katterbach Kaserne, the Army Criminal Investigation Division said previously.
Later that day, wearing a blue T-shirt and portraying himself as a civilian, he attempted to access Ramstein Air Base, part of the Kaiserslautern Military Community.
Staff Sgt. Jonathan Lane, who was assigned to the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade at U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach in Germany, is charged with attempted voluntary manslaughter, child endangerment and desertion. (U.S. Army)
He was last seen at 3:18 p.m. entering a gate at nearby Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. Army officials at the time declined to say whether he received treatment at the hospital, citing medical privacy rules.
Lane’s car was found abandoned two days later near Urbach in the state of Rheinland-Pfalz, about two hours north of Ramstein, the CID said. His last known location was the main train station in Koblenz on June 29.
U.S. Army Europe and Africa announced his disappearance July 4, 2023. Notices were hung in military post offices in Germany seeking the public’s help in locating him.
On April 5, the CID announced that Lane had been caught with the help of German police near the southwestern city of Trier, agency spokesman Thomas Hamilton III said that day. No further details were provided.
The CID investigation remains open, Camara said.
If convicted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Lane faces a maximum of three years in prison for desertion, 20 years for attempted voluntary manslaughter and eight for child endangerment, Justinger said.
