Marine recruit is found dead at South Carolina training facility after 'falling from balcony '- the eighth enlistee to die there since 2000
A US Marine Corps recruit died early Tuesday morning at the training facility on Parris Island in South Carolina after apparently falling from a balcony - the eighth enlistee to die at the facility since 2000.
The recruit, who has not been named pending the notification of next of kin, was found unresponsive at 7.30am. The Marine was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Beaufort County Coroner David Ott.
The recruit's name will be withheld until 24 hours after the family have been contacted, said Parris Island spokesperson Capt Phillip Kulczewski.
Officials only said that the recruit was with the 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, Recruit Training Regiment, reported News & Observer.
A Marine recruit was pronounced dead on Tuesday at Marine Depot Parris Island in South Carolina after an apparent fall from a balcony (stock image)
An autopsy will be performed on Thursday to determine the recruit's cause and manner of death.
The Naval Criminal Investigation Service in leading the probe into the recruit's death.
This latest fatality on Parris Island comes three months after 19-year-old Marine recruit Dalton Beals died there during a grueling 54-hour training exercise known as 'The Crucible,' which caps off an intense 13-week boot camp.
Since 2000, there have been eight enlistee deaths on Parris Island, which has been training Marines since 1915.
In 2016, Private Raheel Siddiqui, a 20-year-old from Michigan, fell 40 feet from a barracks building to his death while running away from a drill instructor.
The fatality comes just three months after 19-year-old Marine recruit Dalton Beals (left and right) died on Parris Island during 'The Crucible' exercise
In 2016, Private Raheel Siddiqui, 20, fell 40 feet from a Parris Island barracks building to his death while running away from a drill instructor
In 2018, a judge dismissed a lawsuit from Siddiqui's family, which disputed the classification of his death as a suicide, claiming that he was targeted because of his Muslim faith.
Several Marines were ultimately convicted for abuse and one was handed a 10-year sentence, following evidence that drill instructors beat, choked and kicked recruits.
Parris Island, located off South Carolina's coast, is only one of two Marine training stations in the county. An average of 19,000 recruits are trained there annually.
In 1956, it became the site of a tragedy when a drill instructor marched a group of recruits into a swampy creek, resulting in six deaths, reported Military.com.
Marine Crops Recruit Depot Parris Island was famously featured in the 1987 Vietnam War drama Full Metal Jacket, directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Matthew Modine and Vincent D'Onofrio as a pair of recruits, and Lee Ermey as a ruthless drill sergeant.
Parris Island, located off South Carolina's coast, is only one of two Marine training stations in the county (stock image)