Taylor KayJean Machado

• Missing Since 04/09/2016
• Missing From Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
• Classification Lost/Injured Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Age 21 years old
• Height and Weight 5'2 - 5'4, 145 - 165 pounds
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Machado has tattoos on each side of her upper chest, and a tattoo on her upper arm. A photo of her chest tattoos is posted with this case summary.

Details of Disappearance

Machado was last seen on the U.S.S. Carter Hall off the North Carolina coast on April 9, 2016. A Petty Officer 3rd Class with the Navy, a gunners mate, she disappeared from her ship during training operations for a future deployment. She was discovered missing at approximately 4:20 p.m. Water temperatures were in the low sixties to low seventies at the time.

The Navy and the Coast Guard searched for Machado off the coast of Cape Hatteras for about 72 hours, covering 22,388 nautical square miles, but found nothing and eventually suspended the search operation.

Machado is originally from Paso Robles, California. She graduated from Paso Robles High School in 2013, and enlisted later that year. She reported to the Carter Hall in May 2014. She is presumed to have drowned.