Phnom Penh: DNA tests have revealed that
human remains found at a Cambodian grave are not those of the
son of Hollywood film legend Errol Flynn as had been
suspected, a US military official said on Wednesday.
In March two amateur Western diggers presented a jaw and
a femur bone to US officials, unearthed at a site in eastern
Kampong Cham province, saying they believed the parts belonged
to war photographer Sean Flynn.
The remains from the site, which some researchers believe
is a mass grave for up to a dozen foreign journalists killed
by Khmer Rouge fighters during Cambodia's war in the early
1970s, were sent for forensic analysis in Hawaii.
Officials from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command
(JPAC) excavated the site in April and found more human
remains.
But JPAC spokesman Lt Colonel Wayne Perry told AFP today
that tests showed the remains were not those of Flynn, who
disappeared 40 years ago while covering Cambodia's war.
Perry said there was no match between DNA from the
recovered remains and DNA samples they had on file from the
Flynn family.
"The remains do not match any known Westerner for whom
JPAC has a reference sample," he added.
Flynn, who worked as actor before covering the wars in
Vietnam and Cambodia as a photographer, bore a striking
resemblance to his father, who starred in swashbuckling roles
in The Adventures of Robin Hood and Captain Blood.
The 28-year-old's fate has been a mystery since 1970 when
he and fellow journalist Dana Stone were captured by communist
Khmer Rouge guerrillas while on assignment in the area, and
never heard from again.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, June 30, 2010, 17:57