SURPRISE, AZ — A Valley Marine may have been preparing to target Mexican cartels and human traffickers in a vigilante action. Sources tell ABC15 his alleged motives have been shared with local law enforcement authorities in Arizona and that the FBI was involved in the case.
Over the weekend of September 14, 20-year-old Job Wallace was on a three-day leave from Camp Pendleton visiting family and friends in Surprise, Arizona. He was due to return to base Tuesday, September 17 but never showed up. A massive search was launched. Days later he was found by a Navarro County Sheriff's deputy at a rest stop outside the Dallas-Fort Worth area and was turned over to Naval Criminal Investigation Services (NCIS) agents.
Documents released by the journalistic website TYT state the Lance Corporal indicated to confidants he had been “dissatisfied with his life in the Marine Corps and had mentioned on multiple occasions his desire to travel to Mexico to take out cartel members and traffickers.”
The documents also state that on the evening of September 16, prior to Wallace’s disappearance, he had claimed to be hearing voices and indicated he wanted to get rid of child traffickers at the border. The website says at that time Wallace had at least one gun in his vehicle.
One document goes on to say Wallace owned four weapons which were missing as of September 18, and lists them as an ACR automatic rifle, a semi-automatic shotgun, an M14 rifle and a Sig Sauer 9mm pistol. It also says Wallace had given away or abandoned several valuable personal items recently. He also cleared all personal belongings from his room at Camp Pendleton prior to departing for Surprise.
Law enforcement sources confirmed to ABC15 that the document originated with the FBI's Phoenix office. FBI sources tell us it is a standard situational report disseminated by the FBI’s intelligence program. The document is for official use only and distributed to local law enforcement if there is a potential threat. Officially, the FBI would not confirm the validity of the document and referred all questions to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
“We were assisting the NCIS in their effort to find missing Marine, Lance Cpl. Wallace. We would refer further questions to NCIS, the lead investigative agency,” said the FBI in an emailed statement.
NCIS investigators have not revealed any statement from Wallace about his intentions or if he indeed had weapons in his vehicle at the time of his arrest. When Wallace was taken into custody, a family representative says he was heading north towards Dallas, six hours away from the border.
In a statement from Camp Pendleton, NCIS said Wallace was on his way back to the base, “where he will be placed in confinement in the Camp Pendleton brig, pending adjudication of his case. The matter is currently under investigation and there are no charges to announce at this time.”
ABC15 reached out to NCIS for additional comment but as of now the agency hasen’t responded.
Wallace’s family spoke with ABC15 before their son was found and said he was living his dream and had recently received a promotion.
“He got into several colleges and missed scholarship opportunities just so that he could be a Marine, because he felt it was his duty to serve his country,” said Stacey Wallace, Job’s mother.
ABC15 has confirmed at least two law enforcement agencies received information from the FBI and it came with a disclaimer stating, “This is an information report, not finally evaluated intelligence. It is being shared for informational purpose but has not been fully evaluated, integrated with other information, interpreted or analyzed. Receiving agencies are requested not to take action based on this raw reporting without prior coordination with the FBI. Unless a conviction in a criminal proceeding occurs, a presumption of innocence exists for any person being reported on in this report.”
Wallace’s family issued this statement regarding the report:
“First and foremost, the family remains focused on supporting their son and that is their only concern right now - to be there for Job. The family's energy is being spent on supporting Job as he goes through this process with NCIS and they are not commenting on any rumor or allegation that may have surfaced through social media or leaked to media.”
“Job was unarmed when he met the NCIS agent near Dallas. NCIS reported the situation was handled without incident and to add to that, the agent remarked to the family how respectful and cooperative Job was - that everything was calm. When Job met NCIS near Dallas, he was about 6 hours from the Southern border, going northbound, and about an hour from where relatives live where the family now believes he was heading for.”
