Eric Donner was a Petty Officer Officer Second Class in the United States Navy who was originally supposed to take part in a drop but unfortunately, as he was driving his car, Donner suffered a fatal heart attack which was the result of a congenital condition he'd always had which resulted in his death and also had him and his car ending up in an embankment with Virginia Police discovering his body days later. The NCIS team also originally assumed that Donner was responsible for the death of Lt. Lauren Ross but later discovered that Donner's former C.O was actually the killer.