Capt. Speicher's remains identified
The search for Navy Capt. Michael Scott Speicher is over after nearly two decades.
Speicher's remains have been identified through dental records after an Iraqi citizen led U.S. Marines to the site in Anbar province where Speicher's plane crashed in the first Gulf War, the Defense Department announced on Sunday.
The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology DNA Lab in Rockville, Md., is conducting DNA tests on the remains to confirm the remains are Speicher's, a Defense Department news release said.
Speicher was originally listed as killed when his plane was shot down on Jan. 17, 1991, but as rumors that he survived the crash spread, his status was eventually changed to captured.
Former President George W. Bush used Speicher's suspected capture as one of the rationales for invading Iraq in March 2003.
The military conducted a search for Speicher in 2003, finding the letters "MSS" -- Speicher's initials -- in an Iraqi prison, which one of Speichers high school friends said were in Speicher's handwriting.
But in March, then Navy Secretary Donald Winter changed Speicher's status from captured to missing after expressing doubts that he could have survived the crash.
In July, U.S. officials learned that Speicher was apparently found dead at the crash site and buried by Bedouins, the Defense Department news release said.
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