MOODY AFB, GA – New details emerged Thursday in the intense search for two Afghan student airmen missing from Moody Air Force Base, about 230 miles south of Atlanta, near Valdosta.
Authorities say Mirwais Kohistani and Shirzad Rohullah failed to show up for their training at the base on Monday.
“They’ve just gone missing. We’re not sure why,” said Ed Gulick, the spokesman for the Air Force.
It’s a question he wants answered. Gulick told 11Alive’s Dontaye Carter by phone they’re tracing every step the two men took the last five days.
Valdosta Regional Airport officials confirmed law enforcement seized hours of surveillance video in connection with the disappearance of the Afghan men.
A source familiar with the investigation says the men rented a car from the airport, but the base would not confirm. However, they said they are investigating everything, even a direction the two men may be headed.
“As you know they’re from Afghanistan over there fighting for their country’s freedom. So, there are those that would want to harm them if they found out they were in the Afghanistan air force,” said Gulick.
Gulick said the disappearance could even put the men’s families at risk of being attacked. Gulick says he does not believe the men pose a threat to anyone in the United States. He told 11Alive News they were nominated by the Afghan Air Force, vetted first by the Naval Air Training Command, then by the Department of State before they were issued Visas.
“It’s not the first time it’s happened so we just want to find them if we can,” said Gulick.
Last year, three Afghan airmen disappeared from a US air base. They fled to Canada seeking asylum but were sent back to Afghanistan.
“I think we just think we continue to look for them, and follow to try and find them,” he said.
One source involved in the search believes the two men ran to avoid going back to Afghanistan.
