Update: Fort Benning commander Maj. Gen. Patrick J. Donahoe announced Tuesday evening that Ziehm had been located and is safe. He provided no further details.
“Thanks everyone. SPC Ziehm is safe. Appreciate everyone’s help and support.” Maj. Gen. Patrick J. Donahoe, commanding general, Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Benning, tweeted Tuesday evening.
The 4th Ranger Training Battalion is seeking help in locating a soldier who went missing Sunday from Fort Benning, Georgia.
Spc. Jared Ziehm departed his home at about 12:30 p.m. to sign in for work, leaving behind his phone and wallet, but taking his military ID, according to his wife, Gussy Ziehm.
The 4th Ranger Training Battalion is asking anyone with information about the missing soldier’s whereabouts to contact their staff duty office at 706-544-6980.
“I am worried since it’s Jared’s first Father’s Day and we have plans today to celebrate but no one has seen him,” Gussy Ziehm wrote Sunday on Facebook. “I’ve driven around for an hour and a half already and his chain of command is also concerned.”
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Jared Ziehm never signed into work, according to his wife. He drives a 2008 red Corolla with black front and back bumpers. He withdrew about $200 from the couples joint account before disappearing, the wife added.
The call for help in locating the missing soldier was boosted over Twitter by Maj. Gen. Patrick J. Donahoe, commander of the Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Benning.
Jared Ziehm was last seen wearing a green tie-dye shirt and flannel pajama pants. He is traveling in a 2008 red Toyota Corolla with the license plate AYT1142, according to his wife.
Jared Ziehm’s disappearance follows several similar cases last year, including three at Fort Hood, which shined a light on issues with how the Army categorizes missing troops.
Under a new policy, commanders must determine by a preponderance of evidence that a soldier’s absence is voluntary before they can classify the soldier’s duty status as “AWOL.”
The new policy is intended to ensure the Army puts as many resources into finding missing troops as possible.
