A San Antonio family has identified the missing sailor on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, according to the Navy Times.
The search started Thursday morning after a lookout spotted what appeared to be a person in the water, a statement from the San Diego-based 3rd Fleet said.
Three helicopters and a boat were launched in response and a command-wide muster determined one sailor was unaccounted for, the statement said.
The missing sailor was identified as Ethan Goolsby, a 20-year-old San Antonio native, by his parents Kelly and Michelle Goolsby, according to the Navy Times. A Navy official confirmed those details, according to the outlet.
The parents said they were notified that he was not on the aircraft carrier Thursday evening, hours after he was first spotted in the water.
“As far as they’re telling us, nobody saw him go over, so they don’t know where he fell from,” Michelle Goolsby, Ethan’s mother, told the Navy Times. “They wouldn’t tell us if he was floating, if he was struggling, if he was moving. They didn’t know.”
Ethan Goolsby had graduated basic training in January and was assigned to the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The parents are asking other Navy parents for their support while the search for their son is ongoing.
Kelly Goolsby, Ethan’s father, said the two would exchange videos of themselves doing pushups while Ethan was in quarantine for COVID-19 concerns.
The aircraft carrier made headlines earlier this year after Navy Captain Brett Cozier was relieved of command for a letter he sent amid a coronavirus outbreak on the ship.
Goolsby’s parents told the Navy Times that Ethan Goolsby had joined the Navy on a five-year contract and hoped to become an officer.
The search for Ethan Goolsby continued Friday, with multiple ships taking part.