The remains of a U.S. Army soldier who first served in World War II and was killed during the Korean War have been identified decades later, thanks to an old photograph and a refined forensic technique — after modern DNA methods failed, military officials announced Thursday.
U.S. Army Sgt. Roger Duquesne, 25, was assigned to A Company, 89th Medium Tank Battalion, 25th Infantry Division in September 1950, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).
On Sept. 3, 1950, he was reported missing in action while fighting North Korean forces near Masan, Korea, now part of South Korea. Duquesne disappeared while searching for a spare-parts kit, the agency said.
He was declared dead on Dec. 31, 1953.
His remains had been recovered near South Korea's Naktong River in September 1950 and were buried as a Korean War Unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu in 1956.
The remains were disinterred in October 2011 as part of efforts to identify missing service members.
Despite multiple examinations, modern forensic tools initially came up short. Attempts to secure a familial DNA match were unsuccessful, and dental records offered few distinguishing characteristics.
While chest radiographs often help confirm Korean War identifications, none were available in this case.
Investigators ultimately turned to craniofacial superimposition — a method that compares a photograph of a missing individual with images of a skull. Though sometimes viewed as outdated, the technique has benefited from advances in video technology.
University of Queensland associate professor Carl Stephan, who specializes in craniofacial identification methods, said in a DPAA news release that the process has "always had some scientific hurdles," including photographic distortion, but improvements have made it more accurate.
Working with DPAA experts, Stephan helped compare a photograph of Duquesne to the unidentified skull. In one image, Duquesne wore a military dress hat, which investigators used as a reference point to determine camera distance.
"You'll find no match, no match, no match," Stephan said, "then a sweet spot and then no match again. That tells you how far the camera needs to be away from the reference object."
Once the correct distance was established, investigators aligned the skull to match Duquesne's pose and created an overlay image to examine for "anatomical consistency," the DPAA said.
The key evidence came from Duquesne's teeth. In the photograph, he is smiling and showing his upper teeth, including a prominent upper canine that casts a shadow across nearby teeth.
When properly positioned, the skull produced the same shadow.
"That's one of the decisive things that indicates this is a match," Stephan said.
After reviewing historical records and ruling out other possible candidates, the DPAA confirmed the remains as Duquesne's.
The agency called the case "a clear example of how older forensic techniques can be refined rather than discarded, and how careful science, applied thoughtfully, can still bring clarity and answers to even the most difficult identifications decades after the fact."
According to the DPAA, more than 450 Americans killed in the Korean War have been identified since 1982, while about 7,000 remain unaccounted for.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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