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The guided-missile destroyer USS James E. Williams transits the Red Sea on June 18, 2012.

The guided-missile destroyer USS James E. Williams transits the Red Sea on June 18, 2012. (Daniel Meshel/U.S. Navy)

The Pentagon on Monday announced the death of a sailor who was serving aboard a Navy destroyer off the coast of Africa.

Seaman Yeshabel Villot-Carrasco, 23, was serving as a boatswain’s mate aboard the USS James E. Williams when she died on June 19 as the ship transited the Red Sea, the Defense Department said.

The sailor died in nonhostile circumstances, but the cause of death was not given. Navy spokeswoman Lt. Richlyn Ivey said Villot-Carrasco’s death remains under investigation.

The military announced her death after determining the ship was performing duties related to Operation Enduring Freedom, Ivey said. The military announces all deaths related to the operation, regardless of cause. The ship’s Facebook page announced the death in June.

Villot-Carrasco, of Parma, Ohio, joined the Navy in April 2013. According to the Facebook post, she married another active-duty sailor late last year.

The James E. Williams deployed from Norfolk, Virginia, in March to conduct operations in 6th Fleet waters, which cover Europe and most of Africa.

The ship had just performed an exercise with the Tunisian navy before entering the Red Sea.

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