Missing Newlywed Marine Calls Home

April 10, 2008 — -- The Naval Criminal Investigative Services is no longer searching for a pair of newlywed Marines who disappeared from their Southern California military posts last week.

Naval investigators dropped the case after surveillance footage captured at a convenience store in Missouri and an ATM in Kansas showed Lance Cpl. Margaret McMahon and Pfc. George "Kevyn" Reid II alive and unharmed, NCIS spokesman has Ed Buice confirmed.

"Family members positively identified the couple," Buice said, adding that the missing Marines — both scheduled for deployment to Iraq this summer — have updated their MySpace accounts while on the run and McMahon finally contacted her family members Wednesday.

McMahon's family had reported the 20-year-old Marine missing last week and said publicly that Reid, 22, whom McMahon married in January, may have taken his bride against her will. The family even contacted their local congressman on Long Island, who sent a letter to defense officials urging them to oversee the search for the pair.

The U.S. Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton, Calif., confirmed on Thursday, April 3, that the official status of McMahon and Reid had been officially changed to "unauthorized absence"on April 1, a day after the husband and wife failed to show up at their respective work posts.

Typically, NCIS does not handle "unauthorized absence" cases but was called in because of the family's abduction allegations to help the local Escondido Police Department. The newlyweds shared an apartment in Escondido, Calif., about 20 miles from Camp Pendleton.

The Escondido Police Department announced last Friday that it had dropped its missing person's investigation after concluding that the pair was in Kansas and therefore outside its jurisdiction.

"NCIS continued its search for the two out of an abundance of caution, until yesterday evening," Buice said. The only apparent offense the missing Marines may be guilty of is leaving the military without permission — nothing felony in nature that would require NCIS involvement.

It will now be up to the Marines and the pair's respective superiors to determine what happens to McMahon and Reid if and when they resurface.

"It's too early to comment on any disciplinary action that may be taken by their respective commands," Mike Alvarez, a spokesman for First Marine Expeditionary Forces told ABC News.

Authorities in California searched the couple's apartment last week but found no evidence of foul play. Their Chevrolet Cavalier was missing from the apartment.

McMahon is identified as a communications staff member at Camp Pendleton's headquarters, while Reid works as a communication employee at Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar.

Both have served as Marines for 10 months, and both were preparing for deployment.