A North Texas family heard from a member of the crew of a missing Marine Corps helicopter in Nepal Wednesday morning.
Arlington's Sgt. James Hibler, a Martin High School graduate, was thought to be on board at the time the aircraft lost radio contact. Hibler's family said he sent them a brief text message indicating that he was OK.[[303585081,C]]
It is not yet known if Hibler escaped or was never on the missing helicopter.
There were six U.S. Marines and two Nepalese soldiers on board the UH-1Y Huey, which was supporting earthquake relief efforts in Nepal, a spokesman for U.S. Pacific Command told NBC News.
The chopper disappeared over Charikot, one of the villages hardest hit by Tuesday's 7.3-magnitude quake, NBC News reported.
The helicopter, based at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, was conducting disaster relief operations around 11:15 a.m. CT.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Hibler's brother told NBC 5 on Tuesday he is hopeful his brother will be found.
"It's the Marine in me as well, and this is what my brother would expect of me, to stay positive in a situation like this," he said. "Because I would expect the same from him if something happened to me over in Iraq when I was there."
The chopper disappeared the same day a second massive earthquake hit Nepal, which was already hurting from the April 25 quake that leveled towns and started a towering avalanche on Mount Everest.
