Marine Newlyweds Missing From SoCal Base
Woman's family fears foul play, asks congressman's help coordinating search.
April 4, 2008 — -- A pair of Marine newlyweds are missing in California and while investigators believe, for now, the two took off on their own, the bride's family fears the woman was taken forcibly by her new husband.
The U.S. Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton, Calif., confirmed that the status of Lance Cpl. Margaret McMahon and Pfc. George "Kevyn" Reid II was officially changed to "unauthorized absence" Tuesday morning, a day after the husband and wife failed to show up at their respective posts for work.
The Marines' family members were notified of the disappearance Monday, according to the release from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton.
Escondido, Calif., police reportedly told McMahon's family that $400 was withdrawn from her bank account Tuesday night around midnight in Hazelwood, Mo., 1,900 miles away from the Southern California military base.
McMahon's mother, who fears she may have been abducted, filed a missing person's report with the Escondido Police Department, the town where the couple shared an apartment about 20 miles from the base.
Investigators searched the couple's apartment Thursday, Lt. Robert Benton of the Escondido Police Department told ABC News, and found no evidence of foul play.
"We don't have any information that suggests that there's any suspicious circumstance other than they are voluntarily missing," Benton said.
Benton said the couple's Chevrolet Cavalier, which is either white or silver in color, is also missing.
McMahon, 20, is identified as a communications staff member at Camp Pendleton's headquarters, while Reid, 22, works as a communication employee at Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar.
Both have served as Marines for 10 months, according to the release, and neither has been deployed for combat. Reid, however, was scheduled for deployment to Iraq this summer, according to Miramar spokesman 2nd Lt. Gregory A. Wolf.
A spokesman for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which has also joined the investigation, said that department had found "no evidence of foul play."
