A long-lost pilot from World War II has been accounted for, ending a decades-long search for his remains. U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Franklin H. McKinney, 21, of Rhode Island, was identified on May 15, 2026.
McKinney served as an airman with the 35th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron (PRS), 14th Air Force, which carried out aerial espionage missions, flying deep into Japanese-controlled territory across China, Burma, and Thailand to gather critical intelligence. The squadron played a crucial role in helping "turn the tide of the war in China" by providing vital aerial mapping and intelligence on Japanese troop movements.
On November 5, 1944, McKinney departed Yunnanyi, China, while piloting an F-5 Lightning on a reconnaissance mission to photograph targets in Thailand and Burma. His airbase lost contact with him shortly after his departure, and despite searches along his flight path to the China-Thailand border, no evidence of a crash was found.
After the war, local officials in Thailand discovered what appeared to be the wreckage of an aircraft that had been struck by lightning in a wooded area. Researchers later located a crash site in a rice paddy in Lampang province and linked it to McKinney's aircraft. DPAA investigators examined the site in 2019 and again in 2021 before a recovery team excavated the area in 2022, recovering possible human remains.
Scientists at a DPAA laboratory used modern forensic techniques to identify McKinney's remains, which were sent to the laboratory for analysis. His family will be briefed on the findings, and his name will be memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
