Fort Drum officials: Missing soldier found dead Corporal Hayden Harris (Source: Fort Drum) By 7 News Staff | December 20, 2020 at 10:19 AM CST - Updated December 20 at 5:37 PM
WATERTOWN, N.Y. (WWNY) - Fort Drum officials say Corporal Hayden Harris, a 20-year-old soldier who went missing between Thursday and Friday, has been found dead.
U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command says foul play is suspected.
In a release, post officials did not say where Harris’ body was discovered, but indicated that an investigation is ongoing. That investigation includes the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, the Sussex County, NJ Prosecutor’s Office, and the Byram Township, NJ Police Department, along with federal investigators.
Hayden Allen Harris Photo provided by Fort Drum.
Dec 19, 2020
UPDATED: Hayden Allen Harris, a soldier from Fort Drum who was missing since Thursday, has been found dead, according to Army officials.
Harris, 20, was reported missing on Thursday and was confirmed dead on Sunday. Fort Drum issued a press release on Sunday confirming his body was found.
Army officials say the investigation into Harris s death is ongoing and foul play is suspected.
“We are devastated,” said Brigadier General Brett Funck, Acting Senior Commander, Fort Drum & the 10th Mountain Division.
“It was well known here that Corporal Harris was a great Soldier, and as we share our grief with his friends and Family, I hear again and again how he was also - and most importantly - a really wonderful, caring person. His death is a tremendous loss for his loved ones, this Division and our nation,” he said.
FORT DRUM â An argument between two Fort Drum soldiers swapping their vehicles with each other apparently led to one of them being shot to death in a wooded area in northern New Jersey.
First Assistant Prosecutor Gregory Mueller told the New Jersey Herald that the body of Cpl. Hayden A. Harris, 20, was found on Saturday in a wooded area in Byram Township, Sussex County, N.J., and a fellow soldier was taken into custody in connection with his death.Â
Pvt. Jamaal Mellish, 23, remains in the custody of Fort Drum Military Police.
Cpl. Harris was meeting with Mellish âfor some type of vehicle exchangeâ in Watertown when the meeting escalated, according to the New Jersey newspaper.
By TERI WEAVER | syracuse.com | Published: December 20, 2020 SYRACUSE, N.Y. (Tribune News Service) Hayden Harris, a soldier who went missing from Fort Drum in recent days, has been found dead, U.S. Army officials confirmed Sunday morning. “We are devastated,” said Brigadier Gen. Brett Funck, acting commander for Fort Drum and the 10th Mountain Division, said in a statement. It wasn’t immediately clear where Harris was found. An investigation is ongoing, Army officials said. Harris, 20, was promoted from specialist to corporal following his death. Harris was last heard from between 8 p.m. Thursday and 6:30 a.m. Friday, according to Fort Drum’s public affairs office. He was headed to Watertown “for some type of vehicle transaction and has not been seen since,” an Army statement said.