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Thai archival find may resolve fate of missing WWII US flyer

A Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) wet-screen reservoir during an excavation operation in Lampang province, Kingdom of Thailand, March 1, 2022. Possible human remains were found at a crash site in a rice field in northern Thailand by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and were sent to Hawaii where they will be tested to see if they belong to a U.S. pilot who went missing in 1944. (U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael O'Neal/Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency via AP)

U.S. military salute the possible remains of a WWII U.S. airman found in northern Thailand to a waiting C-17 during a repatriation ceremony Wednesday, May 18, 2022, at the U-Tapao Air Base in Rayong province, eastern Thailand. The possible human remains were found at a crash site in a rice field in northern Thailand by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and were sent to Hawaii where they will be tested to see if they belong to a U.S. pilot who went missing in 1944. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

U.S. military carry the possible remains of a WWII U.S. airman found in northern Thailand to a waiting C-17 during a repatriation ceremony Wednesday, May 18, 2022, at the U-Tapao Air Base in Rayong province, eastern Thailand. The possible human remains were found at a crash site in a rice field in northern Thailand by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and were sent to Hawaii where they will be tested to see if they belong to a U.S. pilot who went missing in 1944. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Team members assigned to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), sift through dirt on the wet-screen station alongside local workers during an excavation operation in in Lampang province, Kingdom of Thailand, March 2, 2022. Possible human remains were found at a crash site in a rice field in northern Thailand by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and were sent to Hawaii where they will be tested to see if they belong to a U.S. pilot who went missing in 1944. (U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael O'Neal/Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency via AP)

U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer David Hanaumi, an explosive ordnance disposal technician assigned to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), searches for metal hits at an excavation site in Lampang Province, Thailand, Feb. 16, 2022. Possible human remains were found at a crash site in a rice field in northern Thailand by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and were sent to Hawaii where they will be tested to see if they belong to a U.S. pilot who went missing in 1944. (U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael O'Neal/Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency via AP)

Personnel assigned to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), talk about The National League of Families POW/MIA flag to local Thai workers during excavation operations in Lampang Province, Thailand, Feb. 16, 2022. Possible human remains were found at a crash site in a rice field in northern Thailand by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and were sent to Hawaii where they will be tested to see if they belong to a U.S. pilot who went missing in 1944. (U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael O'Neal/Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency via AP)

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Bryson Hofstedt, recovery team supply noncommissioned officer, sifts through dirt on a dry-screen station during operations in Lampang Province, Thailand, Feb. 18, 2022. Possible human remains were found at a crash site in a rice field in northern Thailand by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and were sent to Hawaii where they will be tested to see if they belong to a U.S. pilot who went missing in 1944. (U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael O'Neal/Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency via AP)

Team members assigned to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), sifts through dirt on the wet-screen station alongside local workers during an excavation operation in in Lampang province, northern Thailand, March 2, 2022. Possible human remains were found at a crash site in a rice field in northern Thailand by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and were sent to Hawaii where they will be tested to see if they belong to a U.S. pilot who went missing in 1944. (U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael O'Neal/Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency via AP)

Freddie Smith, a Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) life support investigator, searches for loose metal at an excavation site in Lampang Province, Thailand, Feb. 15, 2022. Possible human remains were found at a crash site in a rice field in northern Thailand by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and were sent to Hawaii where they will be tested to see if they belong to a U.S. pilot who went missing in 1944. (U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael O'Neal/Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency via AP)

Retired Thai Air Chief Marshal Sakpinit Promthep looks at a WWII-era local Thai police report, in the archive room of the Thai Air Force Museum, In Bangkok, Thailand, Friday April 29, 2022. The document helped locate the possible remains of a U.S. pilot, missing from that time, from a crash site in Lampang province. documenting the crash of a U.S. P-38 plane. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Retired Thai Air Chief Marshal Sakpinit Promthep looks at a WWII-era local Thai police report in the archive room of the Thai Air Force Museum, In Bangkok, Thailand, Friday April 29, 2022. The document helped locate the possible remains of a U.S. pilot, missing from that time, from a crash site in Lampang province. documenting the crash of a U.S. P-38 plane. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Team members assigned to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), sift through dirt on the wet-screen station alongside local workers during an excavation operation in in Lampang province, Kingdom of Thailand, March 2, 2022. Possible human remains were found at a crash site in a rice field in northern Thailand by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and were sent to Hawaii where they will be tested to see if they belong to a U.S. pilot who went missing in 1944. (U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael O'Neal/Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency via AP)

U.S. military carry the possible remains of a WWII U.S. airman found in northern Thailand to a waiting C-17 during a repatriation ceremony Wednesday, May 18, 2022, at the U-Tapao Air Base in Rayong province, eastern Thailand. The possible human remains were found at a crash site in a rice field in northern Thailand by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and were sent to Hawaii where they will be tested to see if they belong to a U.S. pilot who went missing in 1944. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A U.S. Army soldier carries the possible remains of a WWII U.S. airman found in northern Thailand, during a repatriation ceremony Wednesday, May 18, 2022, at the U-Tapao Air Base in Rayong province, eastern Thailand. The possible human remains were found at a crash site in a rice field in northern Thailand by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and were sent to Hawaii where they will be tested to see if they belong to a U.S. pilot who went missing in 1944. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

U.S. military drape a national flag over the possible remains of a WWII U.S. airman found in northern Thailand, during a repatriation ceremony Wednesday, May 18, 2022, at the U-Tapao Air Base in Rayong province, eastern Thailand. The possible human remains were found at a crash site in a rice field in northern Thailand by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and were sent to Hawaii where they will be tested to see if they belong to a U.S. pilot who went missing in 1944. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Thai archival find may resolve fate of missing WWII US flyer