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ELKINS -- The veteran whose remains in an urn were found in a local dumpster in early October has been identified, according to an official with the H.W. Daniels Post 29 American Legion.
Post 29 Commander John Miller said the remains are those of United States Air Force veteran Robert Deeth, who was a resident of Elkins. Deeth passed away in May 2018.
Miller said The Inter-Mountain's article earlier this week, featuring a photo of the veteran, led to many phone calls from local residents.
"We were happy that we were able to find out who he was," Miller told The Inter-Mountain Wednesday. "I received a call on Tuesday from someone letting me know they knew who he was."
Miller said he is unsure if Deeth has any relatives in the area, and doesn't know exactly who lived in the apartment the urn had been inside. The urn was apparently thrown away when the apartment was cleaned out.
A City of Elkins Sanitation Department worker found the urn in a dumpster at Gateway Apartments during the Mountain State Forest Festival.
"The urn was thrown away at Gateway Apartments and one of the workers up there told me when they cleaned out the apartment they accidentally threw it away," Miller said. "He said it didn't look like any urn they had ever seen because it was in some kind of box. So it didn't resemble an urn, it was just a blue box.
"He apologized because he's a veteran himself, and he told me if he would have known what it was it would have never gone in the dumpster."
Deeth was a veteran of the Vietnam War, serving as an air traffic controller in the Air Force. He received the Bronze Service Star, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Device and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal. After his retirement from the Air Force, he was employed as an air traffic controller by the Federal Aviation Administration, retiring with more than 20 years of service
Miller said the American Legion will give the veteran's remains a proper burial.
"If he does have any family members, we are going to try and find out who they are and contact them," said Miller. "We are going to do a burial for him at the Little Arlington Cemetery."