The U.S. Army has described a complicated recovery effort with the soldiers’ armored vehicle located below several feet of water, mud and silt.

ATLANTA — Efforts are ongoing in Lithuania on Saturday in the effort to recover four missing U.S. soldiers who were based out of Fort Stewart in Georgia.

U.S. Army and Europe has described a complicated recovery process, as the M88A2 Hercules vehicle the soldiers were in was submerged several feet under water, mud and silt.

RELATED: ‘Our worst fear’: Wife identifies husband as one of four missing Fort Stewart soldiers in Lithuania

The Army said Saturday afternoon that earlier in the morning, “rescue workers conducted a sounding and determined that the vehicle was approximately 2m below the bottom of the sinkhole.”

“Sonar was unable to locate it and subject matter experts determined that a special device called a ‘subsurface profiler’ was needed. Within one hour, the Lithuanian government had located a company that owned one and sent the operator and equipment to the Vilnius airport to link up with a UH-60 Blackhawk from 1st Armored Division’s Combat Aviation Brigade. A mere 6 hours after identifying the need, the device is in the water,” an update on Facebook said. “Together we will bring our Soldiers home.”

An earlier press release said the recovery team has now been joined by Polish engineers and a U.S. Navy dive team as of Saturday. Lithuania’s defense ministry also said there was a Spanish dive team on site as well as two pumps being deployed to clear the area.

“Today’s focus is on continued efforts to remove water and mud from the site, shore up the ground around the site to support heavy equipment, and site preparation for dive operations,” a U.S. Army Europe and Africa press release said.

This week the wife of one of the soldiers, 25-year-old Sgt. Edvin Franco, spoke to 11Alive’s Cody Alcorn. The wife, Georgia Franco, said her husband has been a tank mechanic stationed at Fort Stewart since joining the Army in 2018.

 “Our worst fear as a military spouse is getting a knock on your door,” Georgia Franco said, adding that she’s had “overwhelming” support from crisis teams and chaplains.

Georgia Franco added, “We want them back to us so we can have our closure, no matter what the outcome is.”

A broad recovery effort has been mobilized since the 70-ton M88A2 was identified in the mud/water sinkhole.

“I remain awestruck at the dedication and determination of our Lithuanian partners to help us find our missing Soldiers. We are also very grateful to the U.S. Navy Dive Team for moving through the night from Spain to get on the ground,” Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, 1st Armored Division commanding general, said in a statement. “We are going to use every resource available from all our countries to find our missing soldiers. We are stronger together as a joint and multinational team and we will not rest until our Soldiers are found.”