Laos remains may be of Howard Dean's brother....?

[ElsewheresDaughter]

wow...this would give me reason to aviod the draft!

this may have already been posted and discussed here but forgive me ...i have been away for a few days and just heard about this article

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/2003-11-18-dean-brother_x.htm

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said Tuesday that it has uncovered remains in Laos where Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean's younger brother was believed to have been murdered in 1974, but a positive identification could take months or years.
The remains were uncovered in a mountainside grave in an old bomb crater, near where a small stream creates a rice paddy. Some personal items of Charles Dean, who was 24 when he disappeared, also were recovered. A joint U.S.-Laotian team discovered the remains this month in Bolikhamxai province in central Laos, said Larry Greer of the Pentagon office in charge of POW and MIA issues.

Greer said the remains will be taken to the military's identification laboratory in Hawaii.

"Anyone who speculates as to the exact identity of these remains is being premature," Greer cautioned. "No one will say who this is until that (laboratory) process is finished. Sometimes the evidence is all there and is conclusive, and sometimes it is not." He said the team would remain in Laos until Nov. 25.

But Howard Dean is confident that the bone fragments and other remains are those of his brother. "While positive identification will take some time, the personal effects found at the site make us reasonably confident that we have finally located Charlie's remains," Dean said Tuesday. He has called his brother's disappearance "the central episode in my life."

[demnan]

1. An interesting aside to this -

Do you think it's possible that a special effort was made to find Charlie Dean's remains now because the Laoians think Howard Dean might be the next U.S. President?

Just a thought.

[Hep]

2. No

They've been searching for some time.

[SheilaT]

3. Ummm,

Charles Dean wasn't in the military when he was captured and then killed. There's some speculation he was with the CIA or some other undercover group, but no one seems to know for sure.

[Hep]

4. He

was in the peace corps for a while. The pathet lao thought he was a spy. I don't know if he was or not.