UW MIA Recovery and Identification Project

Morning brief for the team before heading out to the site.

Defense POW / MIA Accounting Agency
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Raydon Topotol is Able Seaman in the PNGDF and has served for 12 years, including 8 as an EOD Technician. This is his first DPAA recovery mission.

Defense POW / MIA Accounting Agency
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Papua New Guinea Defence Force

Ausa Tau is a Petty Officer Clearance Diver and Level 2 HIMES Operator for PNGDF. He has served for 32 years, including 30 years as an EOD Technician. This is his first DPAA mission.

Defense POW / MIA Accounting Agency
Papua New Guinea Defence Force
University of Wisconsin-Madison

John Pius is Corporal in the PNGDF and has served his country for 16 years. This is his fourth DPAA recovery mission and first with our team.

Defense POW / MIA Accounting Agency
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Papua New Guinea Defence Force

George Ante is Chief Warrant Officer in the Papua New Guinea Defense Force (PNGDF) where he has served for 33 years. He has supported MIA recovery efforts in PNG since 1998 and this is his first mission with the UW team.

Defense POW / MIA Accounting Agency
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Papua New Guinea Defence Force

Lenny Gwabiru is Site Foreman for Our Nation’s Promise and has been supporting MIA Recovery Missions in PNG since 2009. This is his second DPAA Partner Mission and first with the UW Team.

Defense POW / MIA Accounting Agency
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Mike MacLaren retired in 2018 as a Lieutenant Colonel from the U.S. Army after a 29 year career. He currently lives in Florida, where he works as a civilian employee of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).

This case in New Guinea is his sixth time he has been out in the field with the team, having previously been on the recovery teams for 2nd Lt. Walter Stone in France and SSgt. Henry Stevens in Belgium; as well as a case in Germany two years ago.

Defense POW / MIA Accounting Agency
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Noriega Igara is a Senior Technical Officer with the Natural History Branch at the PNG National Museum & Art Gallery. This is his third DPAA recovery mission, and the second with our team.

Defense POW / MIA Accounting Agency
University of Wisconsin-Madison
PNG National Museum & Art Gallery

Kristin Schneider served 32 years with the 484th Army Band and recently retired as Laboratory Manager at UWM at Waukesha. This is her third mission with the UW MIA Project.

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) UW–Madison UW-Milwaukee

Eric Morefield is a retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent Bomb Technician/FBI Laboratory Forensic Explosives and Hazardous Devices Examiner. He is currently working as Director of Assessments and Experimentation for DAGER Technologies. This is his fifth recovery mission and fourth with the UW MIA Project.

UW–Madison Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)
DAGER Technology, LLC