Sgt. Tristan Clinger was found dead Saturday on the base.
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST -- The death of a Marine assigned to a unit at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst remained under investigation Monday by federal authorities, officials said.
Sgt. Tristan Clinger was found dead Saturday on the base. His wife reported him missing on Dec. 20, said base spokesman Air Force Maj. Omar Villarreal.
Tristan Clinger Clinger is originally from Jefferson County, Ky. outside Louisville. He was 28 years old.
Villarreal said the Marine's death was under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and they are being assisted by military authorities on the joint base.
Clinger was a helicopter mechanic with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 772, part of the Marine Aircraft Group 49 on base.
The unit is in the Marine reserves, but Clinger was on active duty, base officials said.
Villarreal and Marine officials did not elaborate on Clinger's cause of death or any other details surrounding the investigation.
Rachel Clinger, Tristan Clinger's wife, told Fox 29 news in Philadelphia that her husband had been suffering from depression and walked out of their home on the base after she reported it.
"When you're in the military, like he felt that he couldn't get help because he felt that if he tried to get help, they would kick him out, and he would lose his job," Rachel Clinger said in a Fox 29 interview. "And he just saw his life crumbling from that point, so he was afraid to get help."
Clinger's body was found during a search coordinated by Missing in America, based in Bridgewater, and Burlington County K-9 Search & Rescue - the organization that located 44-year-old Christine Rosie alive in Hamilton in September after she was missing for a week.
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.
