Mystery Of US Soldier's Skype Chat Death

A US army captain died during a Skype video chat with his wife - with investigators dimissing claims he had been shot.

Captain Bruce Kevin Clark was talking to his wife over the internet from Tarin Kowt, in Afghanistan, and had shown no signs of discomfort before he suddenly collapsed.

His wife insisted she saw a bullet hole in the cupboard behind him, but investigators said no bullet wound had been found on the army nurse's body.

Christopher Grey, a spokesman for the Army Criminal Investigation Command , said an autopsy was being conducted to determine the cause of death.

"But the important thing is that there was no bullet wound, no trauma," he said.

"We can positively say that Captain Clark was not shot."

He said the only injury found so far was to Mr Clark's nose, which was possibly broken when he fell on his desk.

"Although we have not completely ruled it out to ensure a complete and thorough investigation is conducted, we do not suspect foul play in the death of Captain Clark at this point in our ongoing investigation," he said.

The family of Mr Clark, a father of two, had earlier issued a statement saying: "Clark was suddenly knocked forward.

"The closet behind him had a bullet hole in it. The other individuals, including a member of the military, who rushed to the home of Captain Clark's wife also saw the hole and agreed it was a bullet hole."

The statement said the Skype link remained open for two hours on April 30 as family and friends in the US and Afghanistan tried to get Captain Clark help.

"After two hours and many frantic phone calls by Mrs Clark, two military personnel arrived in the room and appeared to check his pulse, but provided no details about his condition to his wife," the statement said.

In the statement, Susan Orellana-Clark said she was providing details of what she saw "to honour my husband and dispel the inaccurate information and supposition promulgated by other parties."

US officials in Afghanistan had earlier referred questions to the Pentagon , which was in turn referring questions to the William Beaumont Army Medical Centre in El Paso, where Captain Clark was assigned.

Mr Clark grew up in Michigan and previously lived in Spencerport, New York, a suburb of Rochester, his wife's home town.

He joined the Army in 2006 and was stationed in Hawaii before his assignment to the medical centre in El Paso. He was deployed to Afghanistan in March.

Mr Clark's body was returned Thursday to Dover Air Force Base . He leaves his wife and two daughters, aged nine and three.