Remains of POW in Korean War returned to family in Colorado

DENVER, March 5 (UPI) -- The remains of a Colorado man, who served in the U.S. military during the Korean War, have been returned to his surviving family.

The whereabouts of Sgt. Floyd Jackson's remains were unknown to Joann Mueller, Jackson's niece until February, Fox 31 Denver reported Thursday.

Mueller, 63, said she had never met her uncle, but she said she became "very emotional" after she received news from her husband that DNA samples she collected between 2004 and 2010, and submitted to the U.S. Army, led to her uncle.

Jackson died in a POW camp in North Korea before he turned 21.

Mueller told the Denver Post she and her family had worked for more than 10 years to locate Jackson's remains.

According to the U.S. Defense Department, joint recovery operations between the reclusive North Korean regime and the United States began in the 1990s.

Remains were also transferred from the North Korean government to the United States between 1991 and 2005, the Post reported.

Denver's Fox affiliate said Jackson will be honored with a military funeral on Saturday. His family plans to bury him next to his mother.