Vietnam vet’s remains ID’d nearly 50 years after being found in Arizona

Human remains came upon 49 years in the past close to Flagstaff, Arizona, were recognized as a person who served in Vietnam and was once in the beginning from Minnesota, government stated Wednesday.

The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office announced in a news release that the remains had been the ones of Gerald Francis Long. (*50*) explanation for dying was once now not made up our minds in 1975 and can’t be made up our minds lately, in line with the discharge.

The skeletal remains, first came upon April 19, 1975, had been found off Meteor City Road, about 40 miles east of Flagstaff, when farmers had been chasing a runaway pig, officers stated.

Multiple leads had been evolved in the time because the remains had been found, the CCSO stated, however none of them resulted in a good identity.

In August 2023, the CCSO labored with a Salt Lake City, Utah, corporate to spot the remains via a genetic family tree procedure, in line with the discharge. Using the corporate’s era, a DNA profile was once evolved for the remains, permitting professionals to track a circle of relatives line. This led them in February to the likelihood that the remains had been (*50*).

From there, CCSO detectives contacted a residing circle of relatives member of (*50*), who informed them that Long enlisted in the Army in 1969 and was once deployed to Vietnam that very same yr. Long returned to Minnesota in February 1972 and was once discharged one month later, officers stated in the discharge.

The CCSO stated officers then used partial fingerprints accumulated from the remains in 1975 and paired them with different present fingerprints on document for Long, which produced a good fit. A circle of relatives DNA pattern from this month showed the remains belonged to Long.

In October 1972, Long informed his circle of relatives he was once leaving Minnesota for the West Coast, the discharge stated. That was once the final time (*50*) circle of relatives had noticed or heard from him.

The sheriff’s place of job stated his circle of relatives has asked privateness.