The U.S. Army announced on Monday that a second drill sergeant had been discovered dead at Fort Jackson in South Carolina in a little more than a week.
According to a news release from U.S. Army Garrison Fort Jackson, Staff Sgt. Zachary L. Melton, 30, was discovered unconscious inside his car on the base on Saturday.
Melton was a drill sergeant in the 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment. When he didn’t show up for work, unit staff tracked him down.
“Staff Sgt. Melton’s passing deeply saddens us,” Brig. Gen. Jason Kelly, the commander of Fort Jackson, stated. “Our thoughts are with his family and the soldiers of the Always Forward battalion during this very emotional time.”
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The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division is looking into the death, but the Army did not immediately provide a cause of death.
Military chaplains and mental health professionals are being made available to support the unit’s members, according to officials.
The Columbia Post and Courier said that Staff Sgt. Allen Burtram, 34, was discovered dead on the base less than two weeks prior to Melton’s passing after he neglected to report for duty.
Authorities had stated that even though there were no indications of foul play, Burtram’s death was being looked into.
