The desperate search for a Georgia sailor is now in its third day after he disappeared on active duty, but his parents are desperate for answers they say aren't forthcoming from the Navy.
Lt. Asante McCalla's family says the Navy told them he went missing from aboard the guided-missile cruiser Lake Erie during a training exercise off the coast of San Diego, California, Sunday. Now, family says they can't get any information about the search for the Naval officer.
11Alive's Kaitlyn Ross talked to McCalla's parents, who have deep local ties, who had just spoken to him before his disappearance.
"We had a saying since he was a little boy," McCalla's father, Dr. Howard McCalla said. "I've always told him: You be the best, and you never settle for nothing less. And that's the last thing I said to him on Friday."
Howard, the assistant principal at Parkview High School, said he FaceTimed with his son before his ship went out to sea. The 24-year-old Naval officer and Morehouse graduate talks to his parents nearly every day.
"I am already heartbroken," McCalla's mother Alicia said. "My son is a strong boy, he's a caring boy."
Photos: Missing Naval officer, Asante McCalla
The McCallas said three petty officers came to their door Sunday night to tell them their son is missing, but after that, there has been little word on what they're doing to find him.
Asante's mom Alicia, a Marine Corps veteran and the librarian at Trickum Middle School, said she understands the military has protocols, but she needs more information about what happened.
"Are you looking for my child, do you care about my child? Do the people on his ship care about him? Do they care if he's safe," she asked. "As a mother, I need to know that. I need to know that they care about my child."
According McCalla's parents, crewmates did a ship-wide search for Asante Sunday when he didn't show up for muster, and an article in the Navy Times said crews started searching the ocean at 7 a.m. In that article, the Navy says they've canvassed more than 5,000 sq. miles.
"The Navy Times is not the place that the parents of an officer should be finding out information. I'm so sorry," they said.
The McCallas said their son didn't drink and was not suicidal. When he was at port, he would drive two hours to go to church on Sundays.
"When I ask him, 'How you doing son,' he says, 'Mama, I'm living in paradise'," Alicia said. "He's just a very loving, kind child. So, I'm already heartbroken, but no one is giving us information, and we don't understand why. We don't understand why the people on his ship have not contacted us."
"We just want the world to pray for my child," Alicia continued. "I just want my son back. I love that boy. He's my heart. He's my soul."
