Wrong Body Buried in San Joaquin Cemetery
Written for the web by Dan Adams, Reporter
STOCKTON, CA - For six decades, Mary Ellen Roberts
wondered if the remains returned to her family by the
U.S. Navy in 1948 really were those of her brother.
This week, she got her answer: they are not.
"I wasn't surprised," said Roberts. "It was a doubt in
our mind ever since I was 12 years old."
In 1944, just days after he was dispatched to the
South Pacific, the Navy notified Roberts and her
parents at their French Camp (San Joaquin County) home
that Wesley Raymond Stuart was missing. The military
gave few details.
Almost immediately, Stuart's mother, Josie Stuart,
began writing demanding answers. In 1948, remains were
returned to the family.
"My mother kept writing to them wanting information as
to how he was missing and they couldn't give her any
answers," said Roberts. "I think they just put
something together so she would stop writing to them."
That now appears to be the case.
Earlier this year, Roberts paid $10,000 to have her
brother's remains exhumed and a DNA. sample taken.
That sample would be compared to her DNA. When the
results came back this week, it proved it is not the
remains of Wesley Stuart that are in the French Camp
mausoleum.
Doubts increased four years ago when the non-profit
organization, The Bent Prop Project, discovered the
wreckage of Stuart's plane on a mountainside on
Peleliu Island. Human remains were also found there.
Despite the discovery, the military maintained that
the remains returned to the family in 1948 were those
of Stuart's. The military considered the case closed.
With the new developments, Bent Prop has intervened,
and now the military has agreed to reopen the case.
"I get very frustrated sometimes with how the families
have been treated," said Jennifer Powers, who has
documented Bent Prop's efforts in the feature film
"Last Flight Home." Powers said, "It goes back to
folks just not being educated on what can be done,
what is being done, and how to do something for these
people."
Roberts has said she has now asked the Navy to remove
the casket and the remains inside and do what they can
to find out the true identity.
"It would really finish things off if I could find out
who they belong to," she said.
Roberts received another surprise this week when the
military contacted her. She said they have agreed to
change her brother's status from "killed in action" to
"missing in action."
"That's the way it's been for 62 years," said Roberts.
"To wrongly say he was killed in action and send
remains home is not right. And I wanted it corrected
and now I'm getting it corrected."
Roberts admits that she will likely never get the
remains of her brother back. Tests of the remains
found near his crashed plane proved not to be those of
her brother. Still, she says after all these years,
there is some resolution.
"It gives you satisfaction that they tried to snow you
and they couldn't do it. It cost a little money, but I
did it, and I'm happy," Roberts said.
Meanwhile, Bent Prop Project volunteers are back in
the Peleliu Islands continuing their investigation
into Stuart's disappearance and searching for clues
into other missing airmen from World War II.
