Remains of Detroit man who died in World War II returned after decades of searching
Army Tect Sgt. Leonard J. Dettloff, 26 of Detroit
(FOX 2) - After being declared non-recoverable more than 70 years ago, the body of a sergeant from Detroit who served in Germany during World War II has been returned to his family.
The 26-year-old died while fighting Germany forces in the Hürtgen Forest on Nov. 10, 1944. However, his body couldn't be immediately recovered during the firefight. It was confirmed to be completely lost seven years later before efforts to find missing American personnel finally caught a break.
Army Tech Sgt. Leonard J. Dettloff had been assigned to the 3rd Battalion in the 4th Infantry Division when he was sent to confront Axis powers near Hürtgen, which is on the west side of the country.
After the war ended, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with investigating the missing remains of those who died in Europe. Despite several investigations in the area following the war, Dettloff's body was unable to be identified.
Unbeknownst to Dettloff's family, his body had been located after a historian working with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said the unidentified remains found in a cemetery in France could be Dettloff. That was in 1949.
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The grave site was disinterred in 2018 and the remains were sent to a DPAA lab for identification. Aided with the help of dental records and an anthropological analysis, scientists with the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used DNA to determine it was Dettloff.
He will be buried in Holly, Michigan.