Paul Emanovsky
Former ORISE Participant Key Member of Forensic Team Tasked to Identify Frozen WWII Airman
Former ORISE participant and JPAC-CIL anthropologist Paul Emanovsky examines forensic evidence. Emanovsky played a key role in the identification of the missing 1942 airman found in the Sierra Nevada. Photo courtesy of JPAC-CIL.
Nestled in the frozen glacier of California’s Sierra Nevada, the airman’s remains lay undiscovered for more than six decades. One of four victims of a 1942 Army plane crash, his whereabouts were a mystery until hikers discovered part of his arm and a shock of blond hair protruding from the ice at an altitude of nearly 12,500 feet.
Sixty-three years later, specialized forensics helped identify the missing soldier. Paul Emanovsky, a former ORISE research participant in the Research Participation Program at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command/Central Identification Laboratory (JPAC-CIL) in Hickam, Hawaii, helped unravel the mystery in the glacier.
As a forensic anthropologist with JPAC-CIL, Emanovsky uses his biology background to perform recovery and identification of unaccounted-for service members.
During examination, a corroded name badge became a key factor in identifying the fallen soldier. Emanovsky and fellow anthropologists could make out the letters “EO A. M.” The accident report listed 22-year-old Leo M. Mustonen as one of the deceased airmen. However, the middle initial on the name badge did not match.
The only other way to make positive identification was to match mitochondrial DNA to a sample taken from a maternal relative, yet the only relatives found were from Mustonen’s paternal ancestry. DNA from the maternal relatives of the three other men did not match Mustonen’s DNA.
Emanovsky and the rest of the team concluded that Mustonen’s name badge had simply been misspelled. After exhausting all reasonable possibilities, they determined that the missing airman was Leo Mustonen.
After 63 years, Mustonen was finally laid to rest in his hometown of Brainerd, Minnesota.
Emanovsky explained that his work may have never been possible if not for the opportunity to work with ORISE. “The presence of so many anthropologists from a variety of academic backgrounds ensures research collaborations that you cannot find in a traditional academic environment,” he explained. “The applied nature of the work and the importance of the mission make the job so multifaceted and incredible!”