WWII vet identified

This one is a little different than the norm.

Meet Luis Gilberto Robledo, originally hailing from El Paso.

Robledo’s skeletal remains were discovered close to a SuperAmerica gas station in Albert Lea off Interstate 90 in April 2015. At the time, local detectives thought the cause of death was suspicious.

According to the DNA Doe Project, several items were found near the remains, including pants, loafers, and a 10-karat gold ring featuring a ruby-colored stone, along with a few coins produced between 1965 to 1992. Initially, investigators at the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office in Minnesota believed the man’s age was between 40 and 55 when he died.

He was found within walking distance of a truck stop, and they estimated the remains had been there 1-2 years as of 2015.

The DNA Doe project was set up to identify those who could not be ID’ed. They were able to determine that the body was Hispanic, but that doesn’t help much as Hispanics are considered under-represented in DNA databases.

Genetic genealogists there found the unidentified male was Mexican, and they were pleasantly surprised to discover he had “a number of close matches in the GEDmatch database,” according to team co-leader Jeana Feehery, who worked on the case.

“We were lucky to have close DNA matches on both the mother’s side and the father’s side, which allowed us to identify our John Doe’s parents within 24 hours.”

Researchers found that Robledo was born in 1923 in El Paso, Texas, and died sometime between 2000 and 2012. They also believe his remains could have been in Albert Lea one to five years before they were found.

As you can see, the original assumptions were a tad off – the 40-50 year old body was instead between 70 and 80, and could have been there for years more than suspected. Good thing the DNA was able to narrow things down to the right time and family.

Not much is known about Robledo’s military service. He was a World War II veteran, suffering injuries in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, in 1944. Sometime after the war, Robledo moved to Los Angeles. His final residence, based on public records, indicated he was living in Mexico in 1990.

Regardless… he was a previously unidentified WWII D-Day vet who can now be taken home.

Nice to have some GOOD news from Minnesota.

Category: We Remember, WWII