(RIDGWAY, Colo.) — The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced on Thursday, March 7, that the remains of a former resident of Ridgway, a town in Southwest Colorado, have been identified over 79 years after World War II.

Courtesy: Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

U.S. Army Pvt. James B. McCartney, 22, from Company B, 1st Battalion, 222nd Infantry Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division, was killed in action towards the end of WWII, while his unit was on patrol near Wildenguth, France. He was never reported as a Prisoner of War by the Germans, and his remains were not immediately recovered, leaving his whereabouts unknown.

The organization responsible for searching for and recovering fallen American personnel in Europe, the American Graves Registration Command, tried to find his remains around Wildenguth, but they were unable to find any leads. They declared him non-recoverable on Oct. 8, 1951.

When DPAA historians began researching soldiers missing from combat around Wildenguth, they were able to associate unidentified remains in the Lorraine American Cemetery in St. Avold, France, with McCartney through dental and anthropological analysis as well as DNA analysis.

Courtesy: Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

McCartney’s name is listed, along with other soldiers still missing from WWII, on the Walls of the Missing at Epinan American Cemetery in Dinozé, France. A rosette will be placed next to his name, showing that he has been accounted for.

McCartney will be buried in Bakersfield, California, on March 30.