SAN ANTONIO — A San Antonio sailor is lost at sea. Slayton Saldana fell overboard while serving in the Arabian Sea. The search for him has been called off, but his loved ones think he's still alive.
His mother, Cynthia Rodriguez, is heartbroken. "He is so far away from me," she said. "And it is not like I can go get in that boat and look for him myself."
The U.S. Navy said the 24-year-old San Antonio native fell overboard the U.S.S Abraham Lincoln last week, somewhere in the Arabian Sea.
"I don't know what happened on that boat," Rodriguez said.
The family said the Navy searched for him for 48 hours. His fiancée, fellow sailor Lexi Posey, said she hasn't slept in days.
"They said they found his belongings on the catwalk," she said.
The family just wants more answers and doesn't want the search to stop. However, the Navy ended its search on Friday, just two days after Saldana was reported overboard. Posey believes Saldana is still alive.
"Maybe he is using the constellations as a guide to get back to land, or the sun to navigate," she said. "He's very smart, but not only that, he is a very good swimmer."
Saldana's loved ones are hoping someone will step up to find him.
"He was an incredible human being," his mother said. "And I don't think people will realize that. They will just write him off as another sailor, or another dumb kid that made the wrong decision at the wrong time, but that is not who he was."
After extensive attempts to locate and rescue him, the Navy decided to end the search.
Saldana is assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 5, part of Carrier Air Wing 7, assigned to the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends and shipmates of our lost Sailor," said Vice Adm. Jim Malloy, commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet, and Combined Maritime Forces. "During this tragic time, I want to thank the Spanish Álvaro de Bazán-class frigate Méndez Núñez for their assistance in the search operations, and all the Sailors involved in the search for their valiant efforts to find our shipmate."
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