NEW YORK (WIVB) — Although it was made official more than a year ago, the federal government has announced that a New York man killed during World War II has been accounted for.

In 1944, 25-year-old 1st Lt. Gabriel Eggud was a pilot assigned to the 110th Reconnaissance Squadron, 71st Reconnaissance Group. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency did not specifically state which part of New York he was from.

In July of that year, while flying a P-39 Airacobra fighter during a combat mission in what is now Papua New Guinea, Eggud was killed when a bomb destroyed his aircraft.

Years later in 1949, after no evidence of Eggud or his aircraft was found, he was declared non-recoverable, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency says.

In 2019, human remains and aircraft wreckage were discovered, and that evidence was sent for analysis. It turns out that the remains were those of Eggud.

He was accounted for on September 17, 2020. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency waited to release the news of this until Eggud’s family received a full briefing on his recovery and identification.

It’s not yet known when, but Eggud will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.