Hopes exist that an unknown soldier buried in Wausau can now be identified.
On Friday, the grave of the unknown soldier at Pine Grove Cemetery in Wausau was exhumed.
A news release from Marathon County says the body of the soldier was originally discovered in 1930.
He had committed suicide in the Rothschild area of Marathon County, and left a note identifying himself as a World War I veteran.
He couldn’t be identified at the time, and was eventually laid to rest with military honors beneath a headstone marked only “Unknown Soldier.”
Following the recovery on Friday, the remains were transferred to a secure facility where forensic specialists will begin DNA analysis.
Hopes are to compare the soldier’s genetic profile with national databases to potentially identify a match with a living relative.
The process may take several months.
The exhumation was conducted by the Marathon County Medical Examiner’s Office, in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, Wisconsin State Crime Laboratories, University of Wisconsin – Madison Missing in Action (MIA) Recovery and Identification Project, Mountain Bay Police Department, Wausau Police Department, Peterson Kraemer Funeral Home, and Schreiner Excavating.
