As news broke early Friday that the Camp Pendleton-based helicopter missing in Nepal had been found, families across the U.S. began sharing stories of their loved ones who they say were aboard the aircraft.
The father of the 31-year-old pilot, Capt. Chris Norgren, said Marine officials have notified the family that the wreckage was found but haven't confirmed the identities of any bodies.
Ronald Norgren told the Associated Press Friday that "it doesn't look good." Norgren lived in Del Mar with fellow Marines before he was deployed to Japan, neighbors say.
Marine Sgt. Mark Johnson IV was aboard the helicopter that lost communication around 9:15 a.m. PT Tuesday, according to his step-mother.
She told NBC 7 Johnson's mother was in San Diego County to be with Mark's wife and children.
In Nashville, Chris Counts talked with the NBC affiliate WSMV-TV about his cousin Jake Hug.
Hug’s family was waiting for word on his whereabouts.
"She hasn't slept, hasn't eaten and is constantly waiting," Counts said of his aunt, Hug's mother. "She is told not to watch the news, but you can't help it because you want to hear or see something."
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Counts described his cousin as a good guy with a goofy sense of humor who graduated from Goldwater High School in Phoenix.
Nebraska relatives of Captain Dustin Lukasiewicz say the pilot was on the Huey when it was delivering relief supplies on Tuesday.
Lukasiewicz is a Wilcox, Nebraska native, though he was living in Fallbrook. His father, Keith, was staying with his daughter-in-law who is currently pregnant, according to NBC Nebraska.
The wreckage of the UH-1Y Huey was found about 15 miles from the town of Charikot, near where the aircraft had been delivering humanitarian aid to villages hit by two deadly earthquakes.
U.S. military officials called off the recovery efforts Friday due to weather conditions. They have not positively identified the crew of the helicopter.
At this time, military officials say they don't know what factors that caused helicopter crash in Nepal, but vow that they "will determine cause of mishap."
The UH-1Y Huey is part of a Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 469, which is part of the 3rd Marine Air Wing based at Camp Pendleton.
