Veteran's Remains at Indiana Goodwill Store Buried With Honors

A veteran's remains found at an Indiana Goodwill store have been buried with honors Thursday after an employee there made sure the deceased military man received proper attention.

Mark "Bud" Kelley, 79, an Air Force veteran who served in the Korean War, had died in New Mexico in 2013 and was cremated, the Gary Post-Tribune reported. How the urn with Kelley's remain ended up at the Goodwill in Griffith, Indiana, 35 miles south of Chicago, remained a mystery.

But Terry Wheeler, a maintenance worker at the Goodwill store told the Post-Tribune he "just couldn't let it go like that."

A chain of phone calls started Kelley’s remains on the way to the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois:

• Wheeler called Shawn Kochopolus, a Navy veteran who lived in nearby Cedar Lake, Indiana.

• Kochopolus followed up by calling Jason Gootee, a veteran services officer for Lake County, Indiana.

• Gootee made arrangements with Hillside Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Highland, Indiana.

• The funeral home found a burial plot at the Lincoln cemetery where the ceremony with honors took place on Thursday.

"If I couldn't have done anything, I would have done everything in my power to find somebody who could, Gootee told the Post-Tribune.

Gootee said Kelley lived in Peru, Indiana at one time and was awarded two Bronze Stars during service. Gootee said he received Kelley's service separation papers from the Miami County Veterans Service Office.

The case was similar to that of Vietnam Army veteran Larry Casey, whose remains were buried earlier this month with full military honors at the Baltimore National Cemetery 16 years after his death when his urn was found at the home of a friend after his death.

In that case, the Baltimore Sun reported, military officials were able to connect with relatives before the service.

Gootee said he tried to contact next of kin for Kelley without success, according to the Post-Tribune. Wheeler said, though, he was happy see the veteran receive the belated honor.

"It warmed my heart up to see this happen," Wheeler said. "For us to get this done for him is very satisfying for me."

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