WASHINGTON (AP) — Army investigators found no bullet wound and have no evidence of foul play in the death of a soldier who died in Afghanistan during a Skype video chat with his wife, officials said Monday.
Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark’s wife says her husband fell forward during the video session last week and that she saw a bullet hole in the closet behind him, raising the question of whether he had been shot.
But Christopher Grey, a spokesman for the Army Criminal Investigation Command, said Monday that no bullet wound was found in Capt. Clark’s body.
An autopsy is being done to determine the cause of death and the investigation is still under way, Mr. Grey said.
“But the important thing is that there was no bullet wound, no trauma,” except that Capt. Clark’s nose possibly was broken when he fell on his desk, Mr. Grey said.
Capt. Clark’s family released a statement Sunday describing what his wife saw in the video feed recording her husband’s death in Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan.
“The closet behind him had a bullet hole in it,” the statement said, adding that other “individuals, including a member of the military, who rushed” to the Texas home of Capt. Clark’s wife also believed it was a bullet hole.
The statement says the Skype link remained open for two hours on April 30 as family and friends in the U.S. and Afghanistan tried to get Capt. Clark help.
“After two hours and many frantic phone calls by Mrs. Clark, two military personnel arrived in the room and appeared to check his pulse, but provided no details about his condition to his wife,” the statement said.
In the statement, Susan Orellana-Clark said she was providing details of what she saw “to honor my husband and dispel the inaccurate information and supposition promulgated by other parties.”
Capt. Clark grew up in Michigan and previously lived in Spencerport, N.Y., a suburb of Rochester, his wife’s hometown. He joined the Army in 2006 and was stationed in Hawaii before he was assigned to the medical center in El Paso. He deployed to Afghanistan in March.
Capt. Clark’s body was returned Thursday to Dover Air Force Base.
He is survived by his wife and two daughters, ages 3 and 9.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.