Unclaimed remains to receive proper burial in Westmoreland County
GREENSBURG, Pa. (KDKA) — They fought in various wars of the 20th century, but no one claimed their bodies when they died.
Beginning next month, a proper burial is set to change that.
Westmoreland County Coroner Tim Carson announced Wednesday that he discovered boxed cremated remains sitting in a room at the county's forensics facility. Carson said some of the remains have been sitting there since the early 1990s.
The coroner said he's teaming with the Missing in America Project and the Veterans Recovery Program. Collectively, along with a local funeral home, the unclaimed remains of 15 veterans will be placed in ornate urns and eventually buried in the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies with full military honors.
The 42 other unclaimed civilian remains will be laid to rest at the county's Potters Field in a soon-to-be-constructed memorial.
"My hope is to construct a little mausoleum where we can hold all the other remains," Carson said. "And moving forward, as we get remains, they will go there instead of being held in a room."
Carson said the mausoleum will be constructed with donated materials and constructed by area vo-tech students.
Meanwhile, the veterans will be honored on July 15 with a procession starting in Scottdale and ending at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies.