Remains of soldier found in Korea identified as South Coffeyville man

Remains turned over to the United States by North Korea have been identified as those of a soldier from Oklahoma who disappeared during the Korean War.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Pfc. Bill F. Hobbs, 20, of South Coffeyville, Oklahoma, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for April 20, 2020.

In late 1950, Hobbs was a member of Heavy Mortar Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Nov. 30, 1950, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.

On July 27, 2018, following the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un in June 2018, North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were subsequently accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification.

To identify Hobbs’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Hobbs’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Hobbs will be buried June 26, 2021 in Coffeyville, Kansas.