New information regarding the death of Sgt. La David Johnson reveals that the fallen soldier may have been captured and killed while in the custody of Islamist extremists last month. 

According to two villagers' testimony, Johnson was discovered with his arms tied and a gaping wound at the back of his head. One of the witnesses from the Niger village of Tongo Tongo identified as a 23-year-old farmer and trader named Adamou Boubacar said that a group of children came upon Johnson's remains. He died during an Oct. 4 assault on an 11-member Army Special Forces team and 30 Nigerien troops by what the Pentagon believes to be a group of Islamist Extremists. 

Boubacar stopped tending to his cattle and went over to the bushy area where the children had discovered the fallen soldier. He told The Washington Post that Johnson's hands were tied with rope and that the back of his head was smashed by a bullet. After that, Boubacar told the village chief and Chief Mounkaila Alassane relayed the information to the Nigerian military forces. 

“The back of his head was a mess as if they had hit him with something hard, like a hammer,” recalled Alassane, who said he also saw the body. “They took his shoes. He was wearing only socks.”

A U.S. official also verified the information of the villagers pointing out how strange the way Johnson was compared to the other men discovered. 

“When the Americans received Johnson, his hands were not tied,” said the U.S. official. It only took a few days to discover the remains of the other fallen soldiers but it took an estimated two days to locate Johnson. 

Since the discovery of his remains, Myeshia Johnson, his widow, has become a victim of President Donald Trump's attacks after Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) claimed Trump made insensitive remarks about Johnson's death. Trump allegedly told Myeshia Johnson in a call last month that "he knew what he signed up for."

This new information may explain why Myeshia was not allowed to view the remains of her husband after he arrived back in the States at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.