The letters stopped coming. The missing notice followed. The military collected DNA samples. Scientists sequenced a match.

In a process spanning nearly seven decades, the remains of a Korean War soldier have been identified as Joe Elmore, thanks to the DNA his sister, Mary Bowlin, provided more than 20 years ago.

Elmore was born Jan. 27, 1930, in Clinton County, and enlisted in the Army at a young age, eventually becoming a private first class of Company A, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, according to his death certificate.

He died of undetermined causes at just 20 years old on Dec. 2, 1950, in Changjin County, Hamgyong Province, North Korea – a country that did not grant American access to battle areas after fighting stopped.

But in 1995, the United Nations Command met with the Korea People’s Army in North Korea to receive what was believed – due to a metallic identification tag – to be the remains of a British army soldier killed during the Korean War. The remains were subsequently turned over to the British government for examination, according to the medical examiner summary report from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which is part of the U.S. Department of Defense.

The process to identify the body involved extracting mitochondrial DNA from the bones, which is a process that has advanced considerably in the past two decades and can be challenging depending on the degree of deterioration and the potential for multiple body parts belonging to different individuals.

The body could not be identified based on the DNA samples, and the bone samples were retained for potential future family reference samples, according to the report.

Fortunately, the U.S. military had begun collecting DNA samples at about this time, and Bowlin happened to be on their call list.

“The Army got ahold of us, me and my sister, and said they wanted our DNA. I said ‘certainly,'” Bowlin said. “They came and got my blood, then they went and got my sister’s.”

But nothing happened for more than two decades.

“It was terrible just waiting and waiting,” Bowlin said. “I was hoping they would find him in my time so I could take care of him.”

Then Bowlin received a phone call in July – nearly 70 years after her brother’s disappearance – from DOD’s Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory: autosomal STR testing of Elmore’s remains revealed a likely sibling match to Bowlin’s DNA.

Bowlin’s brother, at last, had been found.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” Bowlin said. “I just had to sit there and think, ‘did this really happen?'”

The Korean War claimed about 36,500 U.S. troops between 1950 and 1953, and an estimated 7,700 U.S. military personnel remain unaccounted for. With Elmore’s discovery, 18 of about 200 soldiers from Kentucky have now been accounted for, according to DPAA’s online database.

Earlier this week, the U.S. military returned from South Korea with what are believed to be the remains of 55 service members from the Korean War.

“I sure hope this will give hope to everyone, ’cause I know how it felt for 67 years,” Bowlin said.

On Wednesday, Gov. Matt Bevin recognized Elmore and announced plans to have flags lowered to half-staff in honor of the fallen soldier on the date of his interment.

The funeral is planned Aug. 18 at Haddix Funeral Home in Albany, and there will be visitation on Aug. 17. Elmore’s remains will be flown to Nashville a few days prior, and will be transported to Albany on Aug. 15.

Although Bowlin is the only surviving sibling, and perhaps the only surviving relative who remembers him, family from across the state and beyond will attend the services. That includes Elmore’s namesake, Bowlin’s oldest daughter, Debra Joe.

Bowlin only wishes her mother and siblings could be present for the ceremony.

“My mother never stopped looking for him,” Bowlin said. “She said he’ll be home one of these days.

“We’ll finally have our closure, maybe.”