The military refused this week to disclose the whereabouts or status of an airman who crashed into a funeral procession last month in Lithuania, killing one local man and injuring another.
U.S. government officials did confirm Wednesday that William Terry Porter II, 28, was stationed at Siauliai Air Base in Lithuania on Dec. 9, when the accident occurred. A car collided with the last vehicle in the procession, killing 60-year-old Algis Šuminskas and injuring another man.
Linda Card, a spokeswoman for the Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations, said Thursday that Porter was back in "U.S. jurisdiction." "He is back in the custody of the Air Force and his commander," she said.
Porter’s unit, rank and other information have not been released because he has not been charged, she said. "If it turns out this guy’s completely innocent, we don’t want to tarnish a reputation," Card said.
Embassy spokeswoman Rona Rathod said in an e-mail this week that Porter was not under the influence of alcohol at the time of the collision.
He was in Lithuania as part of the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission with the 493rd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron and was on duty at the time of the collision, Rathod said.
The squadron originated out of RAF Lakenheath, England, according to a press release put out this month by the base’s public affairs office.
After the accident, Porter left Lithuania. U.S. and Lithuanian officials have refused to say when he left the country.
Under NATO rules and the Status of Forces Agreement, any charges Porter may face will be determined by American authorities, according to Aurelija Juodyte of Lithuania’s Prosecutor General’s Office.
Card said Porter’s commander has begun an inquiry to see if criminal charges are warranted in the case, and that Porter has not been charged with any crime at this point.
"It’s not an investigation, it’s an inquiry," she said.
According to a report in the Lithuanian newspaper Alfa, Porter was driving at a high speed when the collision occurred near the town of Ukmerge, about 50 miles north of Vilnius. There were no skid marks on the road indicating that he attempted to brake before the crash, according to the report.
The newspaper report states Porter was an Air Force special agent and criminal investigator, an assertion Card said OSI could neither confirm nor deny.
