Army investigators said “illicit drugs” may have played a role in the case of two paratroopers who were found dead at Fort Bragg.
Spc. Joshua Diamond, 35, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Pfc. Matthew Disney, 20, of Aberdeen, Maryland, were found unresponsive in their barracks room Friday and pronounced dead after emergency responders arrived on the scene. (RELATED: 21-Year-Old Female Paratrooper Dies During Military Training Exercise)
2 paratroopers found dead at Fort Bragg, drugs suspected https://t.co/3lQjQStsqJ pic.twitter.com/X9YxXs24Ck
— The Hill (@thehill) June 14, 2021
Both joined the Army in 2019, and both served as field artillery fire finder radar operators and were assigned to 2nd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team. Diamond had arrived at Fort Bragg in 2019 and deployed in 2020, and Disney arrived at Fort Bragg in 2020.
“We mourn the passing of Matthew and Joshua,” Brigade Commander Col. Phillip J. Kiniery III said in a statement. “They remain part of our Family of Falcon Brigade Paratroopers. Our thoughts and prayers are with their loved ones and fellow Paratroopers during this difficult time.”
The Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) said in a statement that there was credible information indicating illicit drugs may have played a role in the deaths.
“At this point in the investigation we do have credible information that the soldiers were involved with illicit drugs,” Chris Grey, spokesman for Army CID, told reporters.
Fort Bragg was the center of another recent drug investigation when Master Sergeant Martin Acevedo III and his son were both arrested for allegedly trafficking cocaine. The Department of Homeland Security and local authorities had executed a search warrant on Acevedo’s home, and he and his son were both charged with trafficking over two kilos of cocaine.