Frozen airman identified

By M.S. Enkoji -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 10:37 am PST Thursday, March 9, 2006

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A 22-year-old aviation cadet from Minnesota has been identified as the one whose body was found entombed in a glacier in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in October.

Military representatives said Thursday that the remains discovered by hikers belonged to Leo Mustonen of Brainard, Minn. He was one of four crewman aboard an ill-fated training flight in an AT-7 Navigator that took off from Mather Field in November 1942 and never returned.

The plane wreckage was found by hikers in 1947 in the mountain range in Fresno County.

Others on the flight were John Mortenson, 25, of Idaho; Ernest Munn, 23, of Ohio; and the pilot, William Gamber, 23, of Ohio. Some remains, which were never identified, were buried years ago at the Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno.

Using modern technology, including DNA, the military was able to identify the new remains, still garbed in a wool sweater.

Mustonen is survived by two nieces. No burial plans have been announced.