German workers found the remains of a U.S. soldier in the bottom of this dry lock on the Main-Danau canal in Bamberg, Germany, last week. The body was identified as Spc. Nikson Joseph Audry, assigned to Company A, 173rd Brigade Support Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. Audry had been reported missing from his unit in October 2008. (Dan Blottenberger/Stars and Stripes)
BAMBERG, Germany — U.S. Army officials have identified the soldier whose body was pulled from the bottom of a river lock in Bamberg last week, nearly two years after he was reported missing.
Spc. Nikson Joseph Audry, assigned to Company A, 173rd Brigade Support Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, had been reported missing from his unit around Oct. 26, 2008, according to an Army news release issued Thursday.
Audry, of Massachusetts, was 39 years old when he was last seen on Oct. 27, 2008, U.S. Army Europe spokesman Maj. Daniel Meyers said Thursday.
The unit declared Audry absent without leave on Oct. 28, 2008.
The exact cause or any other details surrounding Audry’s death were not certain, but Meyers said he suspected the soldier had drowned.
The Army has yet to get autopsy results, Meyers said.
German workers doing maintenance on the dry lock said they found Audry’s skeletal remains April 14 in the Main-Danau canal.
Jakob Kolbersberger, who manages the work site, said the workers had been cleaning large, grated drainage holes in the bottom of the lock when they found the remains.
The body still had Audry’s identification tags and fragments of American clothing, Kolbersberger said Tuesday.
Audry is survived by his wife and 10-year-old daughter, according to Meyers. The Army took a week to release Audry’s identity because they had difficulty finding his next of kin, officials said.
Stars and Stripes’ Marcus Klöckner contributed to this story.
