Sgt. Kennedy Sanders was among three soldiers killed last year in an attack on a U.S. military base in Jordan. More than a year later, her family has been reunited with her cellphone, offering a window into her last days. Elaine Quijano reports.

Georgia

The family of Army Reservist Sgt. Kennedy Sanders, who was killed in a drone attack on a U.S. military base in Jordan, has received her cellphone more than a year after her death. The phone, initially thought to be destroyed, was discovered by Staff Sergeant Zachary Winthers in a lost and found at the base and returned to the Sanders family in Georgia. 

The device contained videos and photos from Sanders' last days, offering her family a chance to reconnect with her memories. The return of the phone has provided the Sanders family with comfort and a deeper understanding of Kennedy's experiences before her passing.

Fallen soldier's phone with unseen memories returned to her family

Your phone holds a story of your life, your photos and contacts, your text messages and emails and more. In tonight's Eye on America, Elaine Quijano has a story of the search for a missing phone and the priceless memories inside. The town of Waycross, Georgia, is graced with tributes to its fallen hero, Army Reservist Sergeant Kennedy Sanders. I can't put into words how much I miss her. Sanders was 24, the daughter of Oneida and Sean Sanders. She operated heavy equipment on a U.S. military base in Jordan. But in January of 2024, she and two other soldiers were killed in a drone attack. U.S. Army officials say an Iranian-backed militia was responsible. Weeks after the dignified transfer of Kennedy's remains... This is just one. It's a variety of everything. ...the Army returned six trunks of her personal belongings, from these sneakers to this soup can phone. Did you get back everything you wanted? No. The most important thing for me was receiving her phone. Her cell phone, they figured, was destroyed in the blast. But at home one day, more than a year after Kennedy's death, Oneida got a call. The person on the other end of the phone started asking me, you know, do you know a Kennedy Sanders? And I said, yes. And he said, I have her phone. Staff Sergeant Zachary Winthers had discovered Kennedy's phone in a lost and found at that base in Jordan months after the attack. He told us he took the phone back to the U.S., determined to find its owner. Finally charged, the emergency contact mama bear popped up. So I messaged her battle buddies and let them know that her phone had been found. And one of her good friends that's in the group messaged me privately and said her password is this. He knew her password. I remember breaking down because I knew I was going to get some memories that we had never had an opportunity to see. Just before Mother's Day this year, Kennedy's phone arrived, protected by a case with a bear wearing angel wings. Little by little, the Sanders have been watching Kennedy's videos and fitting puzzle pieces together. Guess what we're about to do? Like that soup can phone. Make can phones. Kennedy made it with her good friend, Sergeant Breonna Moffitt, just days before they were killed. We have an opportunity to have the best moments captured and we get to relive them. So when I'm down sometime and when I'm, you know, just missing her the most, I can open up the phone and recall that period in time. It was like Kennedy was giving us a gift, literally, like she was coming back to us as a gift. Sergeant Kennedy Sanders had always dreamed of seeing the world. Now her parents can see it as she did. For Eye on America, I'm Elaine Quijano in Waycross, Georgia.

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