Updated July 12: Revised to include information about Joshua Snowden.

A U.S. Marine refueling tanker crashed into a soybean field in rural Mississippi on Monday, killing at least 16 people aboard — including a Marine who grew up in Dallas.

The victims were recovered after the KC-130 refueling tanker spiraled to the ground into a soybean field about 85 miles north of Jackson, said Fred Randle, emergency management director for Leflore County, Miss.

Officials did not release information on what caused the crash or where the flight originated. Capt. Sarah Burns, a Marine Corps spokeswoman, said the Marine KC-130 "experienced a mishap" but provided no details.

{"type":"video","title":"Dallas News Video","author_name":"Dallas News","_id":"B2dTF3YjE6p4kMmorSn3NmLP9Zsjmg9B","provider_name":"Ooyala","html":"

","raw":"{\"type\":\"video\",\"title\":\"Dallas News Video\",\"author_name\":\"Dallas News\",\"_id\":\"B2dTF3YjE6p4kMmorSn3NmLP9Zsjmg9B\",\"provider_name\":\"Ooyala\",\"html\":\"\\u003Cdiv class=\\\"oo-vid-container\\\" data-oo-content-id=\\\"B2dTF3YjE6p4kMmorSn3NmLP9Zsjmg9B\\\"\\u003E\\u003C\\/div\\u003E\\u003Cscript defer src=\\\"https:\\/\\/www.dallasnews.com\\/resources\\/motif\\/dist\\/js\\/ooyala.js\\\"\\u003E\\u003C\\/script\\u003E\"}","providerType":"ooyala","providerLink":"https://www.dallasnews.com/oembed","embedType":"video"}

Although the Marines have not released the names of the dead, the family of Staff Sgt. Joshua Michael Snowden has said he was among the dead.

Joshua Snowden (via Facebook)

Snowden, 31, was a flight engineer aboard the KC-130. His unit was based in New York, but he grew up in Dallas.

Joshua Snowden as a senior at Highland Park High School (Staff / 2004 File Photo)

Snowden enlisted in the Marines in 2003 and graduated from Highland Park High School in 2004. His mother and sister still live in Dallas.

On Facebook, Sara Quarterman, his sister, wrote that Snowden "died serving his country and God."

Andy Jones said he was working on his family's catfish farm just before 4 p.m. Monday when he heard a boom and looked up to see the plane corkscrewing downward with one engine smoking.

"You looked up and you saw the plane twirling around," he said. "It was spinning down."

Jones said the plane hit the ground behind some trees, and by the time he and others reached the crash site, fires were burning too intensely to approach the wreckage. The force of the crash nearly flattened the plane, Jones said.

"Beans are about waist-high, and there wasn't much sticking out above the beans," he said.

1 / 2Emergency personnel stood along U.S. Highway 82 after a military transport plane crashed into a field near Itta Bena, Miss., on the western edge of Leflore County on Monday. Staff Sgt. Joshua Michael Snowden, a Marine who grew up in Dallas, was one of the sixteen on board who died in the crash.(Andy Lo / The Associated Press) 2 / 2Smoke rose in the air after a military transport plane crashed into a field on Monday near Itta Bena, Miss., about 85 miles north of Jackson. Officials have not released information on what caused the crash or where the flight originated.(Andy Lo / The Associated Press)

Jones said a man borrowed his cellphone to report to authorities that there were bodies across U.S. Highway 82, more than a mile from the crash site.

Greenwood Fire Chief Marcus Banks, no relation to the sheriff, told the Greenwood Commonwealth that debris from the plane was scattered in a radius of about 5 miles.

Jones said firefighters tried to put out the fire at the main crash site but withdrew after an explosion forced them back. The fire produced towering plumes of black smoke visible for miles across the flat region and continued to burn after dusk, more than four hours after the crash.

Aerial pictures taken by WLBT-TV showed the skeleton of the plane blazing.

"It was one of the worst fires you can imagine," Jones said. He said the fire was punctuated by pops of small explosions.

On Wednesday, Mississippi's public safety commissioner said authorities are pursuing at least one criminal investigation against someone for removing debris from the crash site.

The Associated Press

Staff writers Claire Z. Cardona and Tom Steele contributed to this report.