BODY FOUND IN FLA. MAY BE SPRINGS MAN

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), May 27, 2008 | by BILL VOGRIN

Police in Pensacola, Fla., said they found a body Monday that they believe to be that of 2nd Lt. John H. Alley, an Air Force pilot and Colorado Springs native who has been missing since Saturday in the panhandle Gulf town.

Alley was last seen Friday in a green flight suit leaving flight school at Whiting Field, a Navy air station where he was stationed.

The 26-year-old is a graduate of Air Academy High School and a 2006 graduate of the Air Force Academy.

Authorities said Alley's 1996 green Toyota Corolla was found crashed off Scenic Highway early Saturday.

The car was locked, and his keys, wallet and cell phone were inside.

Police said a 16-year-old boy walking along the shore of Escambia Bay on Monday saw a body in a green flight suit.

The body was found about a quarter-mile northeast of the crash site, said Assistant Police Chief Chip Simmons.

"We located a body, and I am about 99 percent sure it is John Alley," Simmons said.

Alley has been living in nearby Milton, Fla., is a newlywed, a soon-to-be father and a former missionary, Simmons said.

Pensacola police are investigating the crash and the discovery of the body and awaiting results of an autopsy that will be done this week, Simmons said.

"The body had been in the water a couple of days," Simmons said.

"We're left with a lot of questions. We're doing our best to answer them."

Police were notified of the crash about 5:30 a.m. Saturday after Alley's locked car was found abandoned on Scenic Highway.

The car appeared to be southbound on Scenic when it crossed the center line and hit a guardrail, police said.

Police and search teams have been looking since Saturday for Alley.