Camp Pendleton Marine, no longer considered missing person, in ‘desertion status’: military base

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Camp Pendleton Marine Lance Corporal Bailey Cameron, who went missing in late August and then was no longer considered missing after recent activities connected to him of being on the base, is in “a desertion status,” military officials said.

Cameron, 23, was reported missing on Aug. 25 following a night out at the Coyote Bar and Grill in Carlsbad the night before. Video shows Cameron leaving the bar without his backpack, sunglasses and phone. Since his disappearance, there have been unconfirmed sightings of him around the Camp Pendleton base.

Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton no longer considered Cameron as a missing person as of Wednesday.

On Monday, Capt. James C. Sartain with Camp Pendleton told FOX 5/KUSI Cameron was then “considered to be in a status of Unauthorized Absence,” but since he has not returned to fulfill his official service obligations, he is now in “a desertion status.”

Desertion status occurs when a Marine reaches their end of service date, which was Monday for Cameron, while in an “unauthorized absence status,” the military base said.

“Throughout the course of the investigation, local commands attempted to locate and contact Lance Corporal Bailey Cameron, and officials remained in contact with his parents, encouraging him to return to his unit in accordance with his official service obligations,” Sartain said.

However, Cameron’s family, who traveled from Washington to North County to look for him, believe their son to be in distress.

“The behavior is so foreign. It’s foreign to how we knew him before he was a Marine, and it’s foreign to all the Marines here. It’s not Bailey,” Cameron’s father Kevin told FOX 5/KUSI last week when learning that his son lost contact with his command post, friends and has not returned to his barracks.

Surveillance video and photos show Bailey on base at an ATM on Aug. 28.

His family claims a Marine spotted Bailey on Aug. 31, reporting he had active signs of distress and then ran away toward the ocean.

Camp Pendleton said authorities will continue to investigate and attempt to locate Bailey.

The family urges the public to share this post from RAD Movement and to contact the organization if you or someone you know has a lead.

FOX 5/KUSI’s Sarah Alegre contributed to this story.

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