PARKER, Colo. — The family of a Korean War Veteran whose remains haven't been found is one step closer to finally getting closure.
In the Jeffers’ family, serving in the military has been a tradition passed on from generation to generation.
Sarah Jeffers’ dad served in the Navy during the Vietnam War and her husband is a U.S. Army Veteran.
Her brother and other relatives are also Navy veterans.
However, there’s been a missing piece to the family’s military history.
Jeffers’ great uncle, Richard Lee Hall was killed during the Korean War in 1953. His remains were never identified, but recently his family was given new hope.
They were contacted by the Department of POW and MIA Accounting Agency asking for a DNA sample in hopes of identifying his remains and returning them to the family.
“The last person I spoke to, it was like last week, as a follow-up, they were able to obtain 50 boxes of remains, and we're hoping, out of the 300 that are there that he's in there,” said Sarah.
Jeffers says it’s been 70 years and she’s hopeful the family will get a match.
Her great uncle’s gravesite has been empty at Fort Logan National Cemetery for many years.
Sarah has taken on the task to research more about her great-uncle's story and getting answers and closure for her family.
"They never really found out what happened to him. So I just kept researching and researching. And I found an individual who was actually in his unit, who wrote an article like a biography, and he had the exact account of that day. And he actually witnessed my uncle, and that kind of closed chapter for me, it was really cool," she said.
She hopes to someday meet this person who knew her uncle and thank him for his service.
Sarah has been constantly following up with the lab that is testing the DNA samples in Hawaii and is hoping one of them will finally bring them the closure they've been waiting for and be able to lay her great-uncle to rest.
“My goal is to definitely, you know, have him back here because it's been 70 years. So I think it would be great to put him to rest,” said Sarah.