By David Lohr
June 13, 2007
FORT HOOD, Texas (Crime Library) — "Gone for 2 weeks. Hit me up later," reads the title on 24-year-old Lawrence G. Sprader's MySpace.com profile. Lawrence, a sergeant in the United States Army, added that message to his profile late last month in preparation for a non-commissioned officers' two-week Warrior Leader Course at Fort Hood Army base. Things went smoothly at first; however, last week, Lawrence disappeared from the training range, and he has not been seen since.
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| Lawrence Sprader |
On Friday, Lawrence and nearly 320 fellow soldiers participated in a six-hour solo training exercise designed to test their map-reading and navigation skills. To help combat the 90-degree heat, Lawrence took with him two canteens, a camelback (water backpack) and two MREs (Meals Ready to Eat). Approximately two hours after the mission was scheduled to end, Lawrence used his cell phone to contact his commanders. He told them that he was lost, but he indicated that he was determined to finish the course on his own. That phone call was the last known contact anyone has had with Lawrence since Friday evening.
"We think he got disoriented on the course and got misdirected," Col. Diane Battaglia, III, director of the III Corps and Fort Hood Public Affairs Office, told The Associated Press on Monday. "In his last message, he said he reached a hard, paved road and was instructed to call in if that happened. He wasn't able to give any terms of reference as to where he was located."
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| Fort Hood Texas Map |
Nine other soldiers were also lost during the exercise; however, they were able to find their way back by following the sound of a safety siren. The fact that Lawrence did not return when the siren was activated has led to speculation that he could be injured or may have succumbed to the heat. Attempts to contact Lawrence using his cell phone have been futile, and the phone itself, which has a global-positioning chip, cannot be tracked because its battery is dead. The military has had only one option: they must seek a single soldier in 15,000 acres of trees and rugged terrain.
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