The Department of Defense identified Army Staff Sgt. Emil Rivera-Lopez, of Tucson, as the soldier who is presumed dead, as a result of a Black Hawk helicopter crash on August 25 in Yemen where he was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.
Army Staff Sgt. Rivera-Lopez’s body has not been recovered since the crash. Rivera-Lopez had been listed as “duty status: whereabouts unknown.”
According to Military.com, “Rivera-Lopez was assigned to the elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. The unit, known as the Night Stalkers, specializes in flying difficult nighttime missions, often ferrying ground special operations troops into battle.”