#Fort Drum soldier found dead in NJ after reported missing

An Army soldier who was reported missing from Fort Drum was found dead in a wooded area in New Jersey on Saturday, according to officials and a report.

Cpl. Hayden Harris, 20, was found shot to death off Ross Road in Sussex County — and a fellow Army Soldier suspected in his killing was taken into custody, Sussex County First Assistant Prosecutor Gregory Mueller told NJ.com.

“We are devastated,” Brigadier Gen. Brett Funck, acting senior commander for Fort Drum and 10th Mountain Division, said in a statement announcing Harris’ death.

“It was well known here that Cpl. Harris was a great Soldier, and as we share our grief with his friends and family. His death is a tremendous loss for his loved ones, this division and our nation,” Funck said in the statement.

Harris, of Guys, Tennessee, was last heard from sometime late Thursday night into Friday morning, according to a release from the US Army.

The soldier was supposed to be driving his 2016 Ford Mustang Coupe to Watertown for what army officials described as “some type of vehicle transaction.”

Harris’ body was found by police after members of the Byram Township fire department spotted blood, a pair of shoes and paperwork on Ross Road, according to NJ.com.

His suspected killer, who is being held by New York authorities, is expected to face extradition to New Jersey after charges are filed in Sussex County, the report said.

Harris joined the Army in March 2019 and was assigned to Fort Drum in July 2019. He leaves behind his mother, father and sister, Army officials said.