[edit] 2008

On 1 January 2008, Two U.S. Navy sailors were found dead Tuesday in a hotel room in the West African nation of Ghana, the U.S. Navy said.

The sailors were stationed aboard Fort McHenry , which is on a seven-month voyage through the Gulf of Guinea aimed in part at training local militaries on maritime security.

They were found dead in their room at a hotel in Tema, where they had taken time off during the mission, the Navy said in a statement. "The cause of death is unknown and is being investigated by host nation authorities in cooperation with U.S. Navy," the statement said, giving no other details. [1]

Two U.S. Navy sailors were found dead in a luxury hotel in Accra on 1st January 2008.

They had checked in to the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel on New Year's Eve have been identified.

A statement released by the Navy identified them as Patrick Mack, 22, of Warren , Mich. , and Lonnie Davis Jr., 35, of Riverdale , Ga. They died of "unknown causes while on liberty," the statement said. "The exact causes of the deaths for both sailors is currently under investigation."

Both men were assigned to the USS Fort McHenry, which was based in Tema and was on a seven-month voyage through the Gulf of Guinea in a mission designed to build maritime safety and security in Africa .

According to the Ghana Graphic [1]the US Sailors Were With Two Ladies. The Ghana Police Service confirmed that the sailors had sex with the women and took pictures of the act. Furthermore, the two sailors have been identified as Petty Officer (First Class) Patrick Brendan Mack, 22, of Warren , Michigan , and Fireman Lonnie Lee Davis Jr, 35, of Riverdale , Georgia .

Both sailors were permanently assigned to the USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43), an amphibious landing dock ship with its home base in Little Creek in Virginia .

The only survivor who was found unconscious but was revived later has been identified simply as Charles Clair Metayer. The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service is currently developing the film of the pictures taken by the sailors and their lady partners before their bodies were found in the hotel room.

Confirming some details to the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday, the Director-General of the CID, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Frank Adu-Poku, said information available to the police indicated that some other colleagues of the deceased were with them but they left the hotel for the ship, which was anchored on the Ghanaian coast.

He said when the film was developed, all those present would be identified to assist in the investigations. DCOP Adu-Poku said the bodies, which were still at the Police Hospital morgue, were expected to be flown to Germany today for post-mortem to help establish the cause of death.

He said the police were trying to secure entry visas for the detectives and a pathologist to accompany the bodies to Germany for the post-mortem. The sailors, said to be on “on shore leave in West Africa”, were found dead in their hotel rooms in Accra on New Year’s Day.

The two naval staff were part of the Africa Partnership Station (APS), an initiative recently launched by the US to support regional maritime security and safety in West and Central Africa .

It began the training of Ghana ’s Naval officers in Tema on November 20, 2007. The APS is a floating continuing education and training facility located on board the USS Fort McHenry, a 185-metre dock landing ship normally used to support amphibious operations, which is expected to impart knowledge on issues such as maritime security and fisheries protection to Ghanaian Naval officers.