A 25-year-old US Army soldier, 1st Lt. Marciano Parisano, was found dead off-base on the banks of the Chiquito River near Comayagua, Honduras, authorities said Tuesday. Parisano's body was discovered on Saturday by a local resident, roughly five miles from Soto Cano Air Base, where he was stationed, CBS News reports. Honduran police found a damaged cell phone at the scene that allegedly belonged to Parisano. Officials say suspects in the case have been identified, and they have ruled out robbery as a motive. Stars and Stripes reports that Parisano was on a "liberty pass," a pass typically issued for service members to be away from their duty station for short leisure periods.
The Honduran National Police are leading the investigation, with assistance from the US Embassy and the US Army Criminal Investigation Department. Parisano served as a UH-60 Black Hawk pilot with the 1st Battalion, 228 Aviation Regiment. He graduated from West Point in 2023 and later attended aviation training in Alabama. He earned the rank of First Lieutenant in November 2024 and Soto Cano was his first assignment.
Parisano's "contribution to our team is immeasurable," US Army Col. Daniel Alder, the commander of Joint Task Force-Bravo, said in a statement. "He will be deeply missed by all who had the privilege to know him and serve with him." JTF-Bravo is the military's primary expeditionary task force in Central America, with missions including countering drug trafficking and providing disaster relief. The US military says more than 500 American service members are based at Soto Cano, along with hundreds of American and Honduran civilian personnel. (This content was created with the help of AI. Read our AI policy.)
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