DNA from his remains were recently matched to his sisters.
Hagerstown, Md. (NS) – A local Korean War veteran is home after 71 years.
Sgt. Roy Charles DeLauter, from Smithsburg, who went missing in action in 1950, was returned to Washington County Tuesday evening after his remains were finally identified.
DeLauter’s sister, Margaret Carr, 90, said the Army called to see if DNA from his remains would match their family.
“The only thing that we could do was give the blood to see if it matched the DNA and that’s the only process there was,” said Carr.
She said after she and her sister gave blood, the family did not hear back for months until they got the call that it was a match.
Carr was 19 when her older brother, Roy DeLauter, went missing.
“He was a good brother. He was a jokester, really. He loved to sing and play his harmonica. We all had to work when we was kids, I mean, we all worked,” she said.
She explained that the family always held hope that he was still alive.
DeLauter’s body was given military and police escort from Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport to Rest Haven Funeral Home in Hagerstown Tuesday evening.
A public visitation is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Friday at Willow Brook Seventh-day Adventist Church and a funeral will follow at 11:30.
By Nate Saunders
