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Missing Boston recruit's mentor arrested on 'unrelated' charges

BOSTON — A recruiter for the Marines in Boston has been arrested and is being held in South Carolina, but officials say the charges are unrelated to the search for a missing recruit.

Marine Gunnery Sergeant Frank Lipka is in custody in Charleston and was the only Marine recruiter at the Roslindale office where missing recruit Joey Brancato was being processed.

Brancato, who was training to pass the test for the Marines, disappeared on Nov. 18. In the weeks since, Boston police and NCIS have searched for him extensively.

Family members say Brancato was living in the basement of Lipka’s apartment in Roslindale when he disappeared.

Brancato’s family says they were contacted by Naval Criminal Investigative Services last month to say they had identified an area as a new source of information in their case.

Ed Bruce, a spokesperson with the NCIS, told Boston 25 News Lipka’s charges are unrelated to the investigation, but did not say what the charges were.

Investigators spent days searching the area around Turtle Pond in West Roxbury last month in the search for signs of Brancato.

MORE: Military police leading new search connected to missing Marine recruit