PINCKNEYVILLE, Ill. (AP) — The remains of a Southern Illinois man killed during the Korean War and buried in North Korea are finally being returned to his hometown.

The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan reports that the remains of 19-year-old Army Corporal Vernon Douglas Presswood will be flown to St. Louis and then brought to Pinckneyville for burial on December 3.

The paper reports the Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency says Presswood was reported missing in action after a November 1950 battle with Chinese forces. His body was not recovered and three years later the Army declared him dead.

Then in 2001, recovery teams found possible human remains of at least seven people. Presswood’s sister and nephew provided DNA samples and officials announced this year that the DNA matched that of Presswood.