An airman who died after his car collided with a tree has been named as Staff Sgt Anderson Johnson from RAF Mildenhall.

The 24-year-old Texan, a 100th Civil Engineer Squadron electrical system journeyman, was found by the roadside after the incident on the A1304 at Newmarket, just after 2am on Sunday July 28.

He leaves his wife Markeah Johnson, and his parents, Anderson Johnson III and Margarita Tedder, and his siblings Tashica Johnson and Dominque Tedder. In a family statemment they said: “His smile was like the sun, his laughter was contagious and his cheek bones reached the clouds. He was a born leader, talented in sports; he loved God, adored his family, and was diligent in becoming the best husband ever. We are stronger because of him. We know what true love is because of him, and we will be better human beings because of him. He was a wonderful husband, son, brother, family member, child of God and friend. We want to thank all of you for taking care of him and loving him while he was with you.”

100th Air Refueling Wing Commander Col. Kenneth T. Bibb Jr. stated, “We are deeply saddened by the loss of this member of our family. We are doing everything possible to comfort those affected by this tragedy, and are working to determine what happened during this incident, in the hope that we can prevent this from happening again.”