ALAMOGORDO, N.M. — A U.S. Air Force noncommissioned officer whose disappearance triggered a months long search before investigators revealed he had traveled to the Dominican Republic is now scheduled to face a Special Court Martial on a charge of desertion.
Staff Sgt. Isaiah Morningstar, assigned to Holloman Air Force Base, is scheduled to go on trial Thursday, August 27, 2026, at Holloman AFB in New Mexico, according to the Air Force military justice docket.
Morningstar is charged under Article 85 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Desertion. His Special Court Martial is projected to continue through August 29.
The charge represents the latest development in a case The Salty Soldier has followed since Morningstar was first reported missing in July 2025.
It also marks a significant change from what the Air Force had previously disclosed publicly. AFOSI confirmed to The Salty Soldier in December that investigators were treating Morningstar’s disappearance as a desertion case. The military justice docket now shows that Morningstar has formally been charged with desertion and is headed to trial.
A charge is an allegation, and Morningstar is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Morningstar, 28, was initially reported missing after disappearing from the Alamogordo area in July 2025. Early information placed his final confirmed movements along White Sands Boulevard, where he was seen at local businesses before apparently leaving southern New Mexico.
His disappearance prompted family members to launch a public search while attempting to determine whether he had left voluntarily or was in danger.
For months, little information was publicly released about where Morningstar had gone.
That changed in December 2025 after inquiries from The Salty Soldier prompted AFOSI to reveal that investigators believed Morningstar had flown out of the country.
“AFOSI is investigating the disappearance of Staff Sgt. Isaiah Morningstar as a desertion case,” the agency told The Salty Soldier. “He was last seen boarding a flight at El Paso International Airport, and his destination was the Dominican Republic. This is an open and ongoing AFOSI investigation. To protect the integrity of the investigation, we cannot provide additional information at this time.”
The statement was the first official confirmation obtained by The Salty Soldier that Morningstar had boarded an international flight after disappearing and that AFOSI was investigating his absence as possible desertion.
Morningstar’s family, however, feared there could be another explanation.
His mother, Sara Benson, previously told The Salty Soldier that Morningstar had developed an online relationship with a woman identified as Rosa Moronto approximately 14 months before his disappearance.
According to Benson, Morningstar met Moronto online before eventually meeting her in person. She said the relationship became increasingly serious and that her son sent Moronto substantial amounts of money, including much of his pay.
Family members also became concerned about changes they observed in Morningstar before he disappeared.
“He lost a lot of weight. He wasn’t eating,” Benson previously told The Salty Soldier. “Mental health was already a concern, and I believe she took advantage of that.”
Benson said Morningstar had previously discussed plans to travel to the Dominican Republic in November 2025. Instead, his actual departure came months earlier and apparently without warning.
“He didn’t tell anyone he was leaving,” Benson previously said. “From what we understand, he changed his flight and left the same day.”
Morningstar reportedly left most of his belongings behind and carried only a small drawstring bag that family members said appeared nearly empty.
Benson also told The Salty Soldier that Morningstar had married Moronto online without informing his family.
After Morningstar departed the United States, his family reported no verified contact with him, no confirmed sightings and no known financial activity. Benson traveled to New Mexico, communicated with investigators and repeatedly appealed to the public for information about her son’s whereabouts.
The family also attempted to locate Moronto. Benson previously said phone numbers and email addresses associated with her were no longer active and that family members had been unable to identify verified social media accounts that could help locate either her or Morningstar.
While Morningstar’s family feared he may have been manipulated or exploited, AFOSI publicly characterized its investigation as a desertion case.
For months, those competing possibilities remained unresolved publicly.
Throughout the case, The Salty Soldier remained in communication with Morningstar’s family while repeatedly seeking additional information from Holloman Air Force Base and AFOSI through media inquiries and the Freedom of Information Act.
In February, AFOSI formally denied a FOIA request submitted by The Salty Soldier seeking records related to Morningstar’s disappearance. The agency cited federal exemptions protecting personal privacy in personnel and law enforcement records and said responsive records would not be released without Morningstar’s consent.
The denial left the underlying investigative records unavailable while questions continued to surround Morningstar’s whereabouts.
Then, in June, The Salty Soldier obtained information that Morningstar had been found and sought official confirmation from the Air Force.
On June 15, AFOSI confirmed that Morningstar was alive and in custody.
“I can confirm that he is in custody, but due to this being an open and ongoing investigation I can’t comment further,” Trevor Saylor, Chief of Media Operations for AFOSI Public Affairs, told The Salty Soldier.
AFOSI did not disclose where Morningstar had been located, when he was taken into custody, whether he returned voluntarily or how he came back under military control.
Two days later, The Salty Soldier sent AFOSI six specific follow up questions in an effort to determine what had happened during Morningstar’s disappearance.
Among them, The Salty Soldier asked whether investigators had identified any national security concerns associated with the case; whether there was evidence Morningstar had been the victim of human trafficking, coercion, exploitation or other criminal conduct; whether investigators considered the matter primarily personal rather than a broader criminal or counterintelligence concern; whether Morningstar returned to military control voluntarily; whether charges had been preferred; and whether any other individuals were subjects of the investigation.
AFOSI responded but declined to answer any of the questions.
“Unfortunately, this is an open and ongoing AFOSI investigation,” Saylor told The Salty Soldier on June 17. “To protect the integrity of the investigation, we cannot provide additional information at this time.”
The Air Force military justice docket has now answered at least one of the questions AFOSI declined to address in June.
Morningstar has been formally charged with desertion under Article 85 and is scheduled to face a Special Court Martial beginning August 27.
The publicly available docket currently lists no military judge, trial counsel or military defense counsel. It also does not provide the underlying specification detailing the dates, circumstances or alleged intent supporting the desertion charge.
Significant questions therefore remain about what happened during Morningstar’s disappearance, where he was ultimately located, how he returned to military custody and what investigators determined about his family’s concerns that he may have been manipulated or exploited.
The upcoming court proceedings may provide answers that were unavailable while the case remained solely within the investigative process.
The Salty Soldier will continue covering Morningstar’s court martial and pursuing military justice and investigative records to determine what happened during the case.
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