Remains of Navy pilot who disappeared in Vietnam to be returned to his family

ABILENE, Texas — The remains of a Navy pilot from Texas will be returned to his family more than 50 years after he and his jet disappeared during a Vietnam War combat photo mission.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency on Thursday announced identification of Navy Reserve Cmdr. Charles B. Goodwin of Haskell, Texas.

Burial will be Oct. 12 in Abilene.

Officials say Goodwin was 25 years old on Sept. 8, 1965, when he flew an RF-8A Crusader off the aircraft carrier Coral Sea.

Goodwin minutes later reported being in thunderstorms. That was his last transmission.

Searches turned up nothing.

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Remains of World War II sailor identified

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency exhumed the remains of Navy Seaman 1st Class George Naegle, of La Crosse, from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

A Vietnamese refugee in 1988 provided information on possible remains. Officials in late 2016 received remains that had been with a Vietnamese national.

Lab tests identified Goodwin. He was accounted for in May 2017.

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