Inset: A man in a TikTok video makes a shocking claim about a burial at Camp Lejeune, N.C. – seen in the background image where marines conduct a field exercise. (Screengrabs via TikTok/U.S. Marine Corps)
A relatively seldom-shared TikTok video has launched a double-pronged investigation into the potential illicit burial of a dead body at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, the military has confirmed.
The Marine Corps itself and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service are currently looking into claims made by a man in a 59-second-long clip that was posted to the popular video-sharing app on Oct. 19.
The video begins in the middle of a sentence.
“–trail. There’s a frikkin’ right turn. Then you take a left turn. And there’s, like, an open LZ. At the very end of that LZ if you walk into the woods, like 20 to 30 feet into those woods, ‘cause nobody ever uses that LZ, you dig like 10 feet down. And there’s a f––––– dead body.”
Then, in the clip, a woman’s voice interjects: “No, there’s not!”
Throughout the video, the woman filming appears to move her feet underneath a blanket on the man’s lap.
The pair go back and forth discussing whether or not there is actually a dead body buried at the end of the LZ – a military acronym for “landing zone,” or a place where aircraft can, or did, land.
“Whose dead body?” the woman finally demands.
The man replies: “Some random ass f––––– biker dude.”
Then, the man, identified as a sergeant in the video’s caption, tells a story about a fight that occurred between some of his fellow marines and the alleged victim on an indeterminate date. On the night in question, the Marines “didn’t f––––– like” the biker and got into a fight with him behind a pub and grill located in Sneads Ferry, North Carolina.
The man says the two other marines “ended up f––––– killing him.” The storyteller goes on to say that he was the designated driver that night and that his brothers-in-arms were “freaking the f––– out” after they put the dead biker’s body in the back of a truck.
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“We were gonna dump him in the f––––– jetty,” the man explains. “And we were dumping–we were getting ready to dump him in the f––––– jetty and a frikkin’ PMO car rolls down.”
After the Provost Marshal Office car – effectively on-site security forces – went by, however, the man says, the trio changed their plans.
It is presently unclear if there was actually such a fight and burial at the locations in question.
The clip identifies the man speaking as one “Sgt. Fehr of Camp Lejeune confessing to a heinous crime” he allegedly committed along with two coworkers. Despite the identification used in the TikTok video, Law&Crime cannot confirm the identity of the man in the video. The video was posted by an apparent throwaway account with the screen name: “user546389747.”
Camp Lejeune, while a Marine Corps base, also hosts a significant Navy command unit – prompting that branch of the armed forces to investigate the allegations in the video as well.
The U.S. Marine Corps Communication Directorate directed all inquiries to the U.S. 2nd Marine Division.
“The 2d Marine Division is aware of the TikTok video alleging criminal misconduct. NCIS is investigating this matter at this time,” First Lt. Olivia Giarrizzo told Law&Crime. “We will continue to assist the investigating agency to the fullest extent possible.”
An inquiry to the NCIS by Law&Crime was not returned at the time of publication.
Both branches previously addressed the controversy in statements to other media outlets.
“U.S. Marine Corps Training and Education Command is aware of the content published on social media,” Major Joshua Pena told Washington, North Carolina-based NBC and MyNetworkTV affiliate WITN. “There will be an investigation into the matter in cooperation with appropriate commands and organizations. No additional information is available, at this time.”
“Out of respect for the investigative process, NCIS will not comment further while the investigation remains ongoing,” NCIS spokesperson Jeff Houston told WITN.
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