NAVAL STATION ROTA, Spain — Navy investigators are awaiting the autopsy results of two sailors to help determine why the servicemembers died in separate, unrelated incidents last weekend.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Dexter C. Orasing and Petty Officer 2nd Class Roland S. Atuwo died within hours of each other on New Year’s Day.
Orasing, from Briak Forest, Texas, fell unconscious in his vehicle after leaving a party in El Puerto de Santa Maria with his wife and friends, base spokeswoman Lt. Allie Freeman said.
Hours later, Atuwo died when he drove his vehicle off of A-491 — an off-base road that circles around the perimeter of the naval station. There were no passengers in the car and nobody else was injured in the accident.
“They suspect that speed was the issue but besides that we don’t have any other results,” Freeman said Tuesday.
Autopsies might help shed some light on the incidents, but the results could take a week, she said. Toxicology tests would determine whether alcohol played a role in either of the incidents. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating both deaths.
Orasing was assigned to the Supply Department’s Fuels Division. He is survived by his wife, Stephanie Orasing, and their three children, Shelton, 6; Matthew, 3; and Gabriel, 6 months. He served in the Navy for more than seven years. He was 27.
Atuwo was a construction electrician with the base’s Public Works Department. He was from Virginia and served six years in the Navy. He was 26 years old.
Memorial services for both sailors are scheduled to be held this week. A service for Orasing will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at the base chapel. A service for Atuwo is tentatively scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday at the chapel.
