By JULIANA BARBASSA, Associated Press Writer Thu Oct 20, 4:55 PM ET
FRESNO, Calif. - An ice-encased body believed to be a World War II airman who crashed in 1942 was chipped out of a Sierra Nevada glacier and taken to a laboratory for identification, a deputy coroner said Thursday....
About 80 percent of the body was buried in the glacier on 13,710-foot Mount Mendel. The area can only be reached by hiking two or three days, or by helicopter when the weather allows....
Park officials summoned the military agency because the man was wearing a parachute stenciled with "Army." They believe he may be a crewman of an AT-7 navigational training plane that crashed Nov. 18, 1942. Several military planes crashed among the craggy peaks in the 1930s and 1940s.
The plane wreckage and four bodies were found by a climber in 1947. It's impossible to tell if this body is connected to that expedition until the identification process, which will include a thorough examination of the clothing and any documents that may still exist, plus dental records, X-rays or DNA testing on the body.
Amazing. And, pardon the pun, chilling.
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