announced by the U.S. Government that the remains of Castillo, Halpin, Ramsower, Simmons, Todd, Paulson, Pearce, Wanzel and Smith had been positively identified from these bone fragments.

In a previous excavation at Pakse, Laos in 1985, remains recovered were positively identified as the 13 crew members, although independent examiners later proved that only 2 of those identifications were scientifically possible. The U.S. Government has acknowledged the errors made in identification on two of the men, but these two individuals are still considered "accounted for".

Because of the identification problems of the first excavation, the families of the Savannakhet AC130 have carefully considered the information given them about their loved ones. The families of Robert Simmons and Edwin Pearce have actively resisted the U.S. Government's identification, which is in both cases based on a single tooth. These families do not know if their men are alive or dead, but
will insist that the books are kept open until proof dictates that there is no longer any hope for their survival.

In January 1991, a federal judge ruled that when the Simmons family collected death benefits for Skeeter, they lost the right to question whether he was dead. They have continued to fight a positive identification based on a single tooth. The Assistant U.S. Attorney, William H. Pease, added that the court has no jurisdiction over military identification of remains.

Nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos during the Vietnam war, and many were known to have survived their loss incident. However, the U.S. did not negotiate with Laos for these men, and consequently, not one American held in Laos has ever been released.