He died on Monday, but his body had not been found.

Willy Joseph Cancel, a US citizen who worked for a private military contracting firm, was killed in Ukraine, CNN reported on Friday.

Cancel, 22, died on Monday, according to his mother, but his body has yet to be discovered.

“He wanted to go over because he believed in what Ukraine was fighting for, and he wanted to be a part of it to contain it there so it didn’t come here, and that maybe our American soldiers wouldn’t have to be involved in it,” his mother told CNN in a phone interview.

“They haven’t found his body,” she adds. “They are trying, the men that were with him, but it was either grab his body or get killed, but we would love for him to come back to us.”

Cancel came into Ukraine from Poland in mid-March to fight alongside others from “all different countries,” according to the TV broadcaster.

According to CNN, Cancel, a former US marine, joined up to work for the private military contracting firm on top of his position as a correctional officer in Tennessee.

Image Credit: CNN

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