I do wonder if someone could contact MTG posing as an outraged MAGA retired USAF pilot and convince her that all aircraft used to have “responders”, but they were recently replaced with “transponders” to create a safe space in the cockpit for trans pilots. And that an inferior transponder has led to the loss of this plane.
It appears they’re still searching:
Debris has been found, according to this news site:
That photo is captioned “The search continued Monday…”. It’s not surprising that it took them a long time to find it if they were searching by standing in a circle looking at each other. At least they could have turned around to look outward.
Even if it’s operating in stealth mode, I’d sort of expect that, once the pilot bailed out, some sort of transponder would activate at that time, for just such a situation as this. And obviously, by the time you’re ejecting, it’s a little late to worry about the enemy seeing you.
On one level, that makes sense… but what’s the wingman going to do if the parachute doesn’t deploy properly?
Let the search team know Leader’s having an even worse day than he thought and to be prepared for that.
Uhhhh, hangonaminnit. . . . I think the Marines lost this one, not the Army.
This program was bound to have problems. First off, the technical manuals were not written in crayon. ::D&R::
Tripler
Oh snap, I just went there. 
The stuff’s not made of helium or unobtanium, despite what it costs. At least look down at your boots where the parts will be laying! Sheesh! We gotta teach these damn kids everything these days. Maybe if they brought a talking dog they’d find something.
Serious answer: in combat, recovering a body has very different rules and risk/reward tradeoffs than recovering an alive-last-time-you-saw-them pilot. In peacetime the difference is not so stark, but still exists. Apparently weather conditions when where they jumped out were horrendous. Which might have something to do with why he bailed in the first place and why the pilot and airplane ended up where they did.
Further information / speculation on why it was difficult to track the jet:
If the plane was still capable of flight, why was he bailing out? And if he didn’t aim it at an unpopulated area of the ground before bailing out but left it to fly off and crash who-knows-where, isn’t that rather irresponsible like shooting a gun up in the air?
Sure, if he had reason to think the plane was in imminent danger of blowing up right there in the air and had absolutely no controls, but that seems unlikely.
Leaked document of USMC search for missing F-35:
I’m out of the loop and need an explanation here. What’s the meme of crayons all about?
(sorry, folks, but I’m old. If it ain’t Monty Python, I never get the reference)
It’s a meme the US Marines are the dumbest branch of the military hence the use of crayons instead of more elegant means of communication (an idea pushed by the other services). Mostly in jest like my posted cartoon above. In actuality, my experience with the Marines in the ammo and explosive business has been all positive; hard working, paperwork correct, usage forecasts spot on, safety, etc… Their approach may seem brute force but it works. A strong NCO corps and “get it done” attitude made my days easier. So, just kidding.
Why did they say it was lost? A plane will run out of fuel eventually and crash. Someone should see it hit the ground and explode. Unless it disappeared into the ocean.
I guess that Stealth tech really works. 
And they’re probably focusing on those little islands south of CA and AZ. 
In a rural area there aren’t that many people. In a hilly area a plane that impacts on the other side of a ridge from you won’t be visible. In a heavily treed area, you can only see more or less straight up; the entire horizon is obscured by trees near you. Apparently the weather in the areas was poor and if it’s raining & cloudy, not too many people are staring up into the sky. If the vis is poor in rain or clouds, now the circle of people who could possibly see it has shrunk from anyone within 10 miles of the impact to anyone within 1/2 mile or 1 mile of the impact. Lot fewer people in that much smaller circle.
A plane crashing in suburbia on a sunny day will have thousands of people see the crash or the aftermath. This was not that.
The lack of eyewitnesses is not surprising in the least. We’re all still wondering why this pilot jumped out of an evidently still functional jet. That to me is / will be the surprising part: the why.
what I found “remark-able” was … A.F. authorities speaking of a MISHAP …
that does not sound like “official MOD” speak …
a mishap is getting egg on your tie or stepping into dog-shit… but not losing a F-35
.
reminds me a bit of the russians confirming in a press-release that Prigo was on the plane - some 3 seconds after it intersected with this planet …
getoutofhere!!!
Actually in the US Military virtually anything that happens to an operating aircraft that is not a result of enemy action is a “mishap”.
This.
Aircraft swapped paint while one was being manually towed past another? “Mishap”.
Aircraft went unaccountably missing? “Mishap”.
Aircraft crashed, no lives lost? “Mishap”.
Aircraft crashed, all souls aboard plus several on the ground lost? “Mishap”.
Aircraft landed a little hard and blew a tire? “Mishap”.
It’s a standard term of art for “our aircraft can’t fly right now, and here’s why.”
It’s not just aviation, too. Military Ground Safety uses the same terminology.
https://www.safety.af.mil/Home/Mishap-Investigation-Process/
And also, another correction: it’s unlikely an Air Force spokesperson would be speaking on behalf of the US Marine Corps or the Department of the Navy regarding the loss of a USMC F-35B jumpjet variant that rhe Air Force has zero of. Although the Joint Base commanding unit is an Air Force wing, so I guess it’s possible if it were the base talking, rather than the mishap squadron.
It’s kinda hard to predict how the PR works in these joint DoD activities.