More than a year after a Soldier was found dead inside a vehicle at Wheeler Army Airfield in Hawaii, newly released Army records have identified him as Spc. Miguel Garcia Rivera.
Rivera was a 22-year-old Soldier assigned to D Troop, 2nd Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, according to a final Army Criminal Investigation Division report obtained by The Salty Soldier. CID classified his April 2025 death as a suicide and found no criminal act.
When The Salty Soldier first reported Rivera’s death in May 2025, the Army had acknowledged that a service member had been found dead but had not publicly identified him. The Army has not explained why Rivera’s identity remained undisclosed for more than a year or why basic information about the circumstances of his death was not released sooner.
CID’s final report states that Rivera was found dead inside a vehicle in a barracks parking lot at Wheeler Army Airfield on April 6, 2025. The investigation was ultimately completed, and CID stated that the matter was no longer pending administrative or judicial action.
Outside the investigative file, official Army imagery provides a glimpse of Rivera shortly before his death.
On March 1, 2025, Rivera participated in a community volunteer project with other 25th Combat Aviation Brigade Soldiers at the Kawaihae Canoe Club on Hawaii Island. Army photographs identify Rivera as a supply specialist with 2nd Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment and show him working alongside fellow Soldiers clearing tree limbs and debris as part of improvements to the canoe club grounds.
The event took place just 36 days before Rivera’s death and provides one of the few publicly available looks at the Soldier whose identity remained unknown outside the Army for more than a year.
Army CID released the investigative file to The Salty Soldier on Aug. 21, 2026, following a prolonged effort to obtain records concerning the death. The release included CID’s final Report of Investigation while partially withholding information under federal privacy and law-enforcement exemptions.
The Salty Soldier is continuing to review the investigative record and will report separately on CID’s findings and the circumstances surrounding Rivera’s death.
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