Camp Pendleton, CA - An investigation has been launched into the mysterious death of 29 year old August Provost of Houston, Texas. Seaman Provost was found dead in a guard shack on the base at Camp Pendleton at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday. The case has overtones of being a hate crime.


 

 
KHOU TV  Houston

The viewing for August Provost will be Friday at 10 a.m. at Wright Grove Baptist Church.

The church is located at 9702 Willow Street.

Provost will be buried at Veterans Memorial Cemetery.

Provost was a boatswain mate seaman assigned to the Assault Craft Unit Five at the base, a unit that takes combat Marines ashore in high-speed craft. Camp Pendleton  is located in San Diego County just north of Oceanside.

The San Diego gay community citing sources familiar with the death of say Provost was killed during an argument with another sailor over sexual orientation.

Base authorities said the case is being investigated as a possible homicide and say they are holding a "person of interest" in the case but his name is being withheld.

Provost's boyfriend, Kaether Cordero, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that the dead sailor was openly gay but sought to keep his private life quite.

“People who he was friends with, I knew that they knew,” Cordero, speaking to the Union-Tribune from Houston, said. “He didn't care that they knew. He trusted them.”

 
Sources: The San Diego Union -Tribune; The San Diego Examiner; The Los Angeles Times and CNN