U.S. soldier disappears from training camp in Mississippi with two guns

Military officials reported a National Guardsman and his two military-issued weapons were missing from training for the deployment to Iraq.

Pfc. Ryan K. Longnecker, 19, was supposed to be at a military training base in Mississippi with his unit of about 160 soldiers when he was determined missing Monday, said Lt. Col. Doril Sanders, a Camp Shelby spokesman.

Longnecker's military-issued 9 mm pistol and M4 semiautomatic rifle were also unaccounted for, Sanders said. A search to find him was under way.

A few weapons and other equipment, including night vision goggles, have come up missing from the base before, but this is the first time in recent memory that a soldier allegedly disappeared at the same time weapons were reported missing, officials said.

Longnecker's unit will be headed to Iraq within the next two weeks.

Sanders would not say if officials think Longnecker is still in the area. Capt. David Page, a Kentucky National Guard spokesman, said Longnecker was a college student who moved around frequently and he did not know where the soldier last lived.