Families identify some military plane crash victims

Family members have identified some of the 15 Marines and a Navy sailor who died in a Monday plane crash in Mississippi. Brig. Gen. Bradley James in a statement said the family members of those killed had been notified, and the roster of their names will be released in coming days. Some of the family members released statements, spoke to local media, and posted remembrances on social media. One of the identified officers is 26-year-old Joseph Murray. Murray’s father told reporters his Florida-born son had shared his Christian faith by serving his country. Murray leaves behind a wife and four children. James said nine of the Marines were based out of the Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, New York, while six of the Marines and the sailor came from an elite Marine Raider battalion at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash, but James said there are indications something went wrong at cruise altitude. His comment corresponds with witness accounts of the plane spiraling to the ground with a smoking engine.