'Unsolvable' Case Cracked: Seattle Soldier MIA in France Identified After Over 100 Years

Soldiers often go MIA, or missing in action, during war missions. Most countries have resources dedicated to searching for missing soldiers, and in cases of death identifying their bodies, IFL Science reported.

Jay Silverstein, a forensic expert spent years trying to identify the corpse of a soldier who lost his life at the Franco-American counter-offensive against German positions in 1918, just so that he could be buried with proper honors.

Silverstein encountered the remains while working as a forensic archaeologist at the US military’s Central Identification Laboratory (CIL), The Conversation reported. In 2002, when the remains were discovered along with those of another soldier, identification was considered impossible.

A French archaeological team had discovered the remains near the village of Ploisy, France, KIRO7 reported.

In 2006, one of the corpses was identified to be of Private Francis Lupo, The Conversation reported. Silverstein suggested to superiors that with further research the soldier could be identified.

The case was forwarded to historians and other anthropologists with the organization, but no breakthrough came for years, The Conversation reported. Fourteen years after the initial discovery, Silverstein got the opportunity to take over the proceedings.

It wasn't easy for the forensic expert to look into the case, as the policies followed within the organization dissuaded him from working on the clues during his office timings. 

Silverstein used his free time and had help from others in his department. The other remains found were identified to be of Lupo because of his name being embossed on his wallet. Lupo was determined to have died in the Franco-American counter-offensive that began at Aisne-Marne in northern France.

Therefore, Silverstein started his investigation by looking into the possible casualties from the list of soldiers listed as missing in action (MIA) from the particular battle.

The data regarding casualties was stored in the US National Archives. Silverstein realized that he needed to make a short list of soldiers that could be his case and request their records.

To create this short list, Silverstein turned to Lupo's records. He assumed that Lupo and the other soldier died on the same day- July 21, 1918, and at the same location.

He compared the military campaign maps and acquired data regarding the movement of the US army in the battle around that date, to understand which regiments were near the place where the corpses were found in 2002. This narrowed his list of suspects to hundreds of MIAs.

Silverstein shifted his attention to the clothes found on his subject's remains, The Conversation reported. There were two buttons on the suspected soldier's uniform, one stated "WA" and the other had a "2" and a "D" on it split between two crossed rifles.

After looking into these symbols, Silverstein deduced that the dead soldier was a member of the Washington State National Guard, 2nd Regiment, Company D.

Silverstein learned that the regiment had been awarded a medal for the 1916 campaign against Mexico. He pulled up the records of the second regiment belonging to Company D that had received the medal from the Washington National Guard.

He went through the names and found four soldiers who were MIA after being posted in France. The forensic expert requested these four men's records from the US National Archives. 

After getting the records in hand, Silverstein used biometrics to confirm the corpse's identity, The Conversation reported.  Private 1st Class, Charles McAllister, was the only one amongst the four whose height of 63 inches (1.6m) matched that of the corpse.

On analysis, it was found that the corpse's first and second molars on the left and right sides of the jaw with their wisdom teeth were still intact. This pattern was also found in McAllister's dental records.

Silverstein tracked down McAllister's family and convinced a male member to provide a nuclear Y-chromosome DNA sample, The Conversation reported. DNA testing confirmed that the corpse was indeed of McAllister.

It was found that McAllister was a native of Seattle and the city set up a burial for him, KIRO7 reported. McAllister will be interred on August 21 at Acacia Memorial Park Cemetery in Seattle, the U.S. Army announced. McAllister will be buried with full military honors preceded by a graveside service.