Accounts differ in overseas death of sailor

NORFOLK

The Navy continues to investigate the death of an off-duty Norfolk-based sailor in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

Cmdr. Lydia Robertson, a spokeswoman for the Navy's 5th Fleet in Manama, Bahrain, said Wednesday that Airman Apprentice Adrian M. Campos was found dead Monday in a hotel.

Robertson said the death was not combat-related. Campos was off duty and on liberty.

According to The National, a Dubai newspaper, Campos fell to his death inside the Ramada hotel's atrium. The newspaper said accounts differed about whether Campos fell or jumped to his death, with police saying it was suicide and other bystanders saying he accidentally tumbled over a railing.

Campos, 22, was from El Paso, Texas. He was assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Support Squadron 22, a Norfolk squadron deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of the fast combat support ship Arctic.

A Navy spokesperson at the Pentagon said Campos joined the Navy two years ago.

His death marks the third time this year that a Hampton Roads sailor has died while on liberty. On Jan. 1, two sailors assigned to the Navy's Fort McHenry were found dead in a hotel room in the African nation of Ghana.

The McHenry, a dock landing ship from Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, is in the midst of a seven-month voyage focused on building partnerships with African nations.

Kate Wiltrout, (757) 446-2629, kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com