Updated

A Boulder County family that has waited almost 70 years to find the remains of a Marine killed in action in 1943 will soon be able to bury their patriarch at the family plot.

The Daily Camera of Boulder reports that  1st Lt. Alexander "Sandy" Bonnyman Jr. was killed during World War II's Battle of Tarawa and presumed buried at sea. He, as well as 35 other U.S. Marines, was uncovered on the island of Betio in the central Pacific southeast of the Marshall Islands, last month.

The archaeological team found the mass grave using magnatomatry, radar scans, cadaver dogs, and interviews with surviving veterans of the battle.

The remains will be flown to a military lab in Hawaii in July, and returned to the family by the end of August.