MINOT AIR FORCE BASE – An airman who recently arrived at Minot Air Force Base and was found several days ago injured in a ditch near a California community is scheduled to return to the Minot base.

In a statement released this week, Minot Air Force Base officials said Staff Sgt. Keith Keiffer, with the 91st Missile Wing Security Forces, “is returning to Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, from his leave in California where he was discovered injured and hospitalized Jan. 22, 2020.”

Previously stationed at Travis AFB, Calif., Keiffer was found at Pine Grove, Calif., in a ditch with a head injury and was taken to a Jackson, Calif., hospital.

He had claimed he was the victim of a serious crime in the Sacramento area, according to California media. This week, a Sacramento Police Department spokesman said their investigators determined no crime occurred within the city limits of Sacramento. California media reported law enforcement officials in Jackson said his story did not add up.

Currently, the incident is under Air Force investigation and no more information can be provided at this time, according to Minot Air Force Base officials in the statement released.

– Eloise Ogden