Missing World War II US Marines plane found 80 years after disappearance during daring dive bombing mission against Japanese forces: Human remains are discovered next to wreckage in Papua New Guinea jungle

A US Marine plane that crashed during the Second World War has been discovered in the South Pacific, 80 years after it went missing, DailyMail.com can confirm.

The twisted wreckage of a Douglas SBD Dauntless was found in the jungles of Papua New Guinea in January by locals who had heard stories of a nearby crash for generations.

Photos of the aircraft’s serial number (35971) match a Dauntless that crashed on January 14, 1944 with pilot Lt. Billy Ray Ramsey and gunner Sgt. Charlie J. Sciara on board.

The two Marines were officially declared dead within a year of the crash, but their remains have not been recovered and both remain listed as missing in action (MIA).

US Department of Defense officials told DailyMail.com this week that they are aware of reports of the wreck and are currently working to get a team of investigators to the site.

Photos from the crash site on New Ireland Island show the engine, propeller and wreckage of the crashed plane scattered across the jungle floor.

According to locals who discovered the wreckage, human remains were also found near the wreckage, but their identities have not yet been confirmed.

“The story was told and passed on to us by some of our grandparents that there was a plane crash in the mountain part of the jungle, but they didn’t know where exactly it crashed,” said local Kilala Kindau, who led the team that made the discovery.

Kindau said his team conducted a search through the jungle from December to January before locating the wreckage.

Kindau said his team found a serial number on the wreckage and sent it to the US embassy, ​​which confirmed the plane was American.

“The plane crashed and broke into three pieces, trapping the pilot inside and unable to escape,” he said.

That matches stories of the tragic final mission of Ramsey’s Dauntless, who was assigned to Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 236, also known as the “Black Panthers.”

On January 14, 1944, the light bomber took off from Munda Airfield on New Georgia with Ramsey at the controls and Sciara as rear gunner.

The target was Japanese shipping near Rabaul harbor, and the strike force consisted of 36 Dauntless aircraft and 18 TBF Avengers, escorted by 73 fighters.

War records show that the mission encountered heavy anti-aircraft fire and was intercepted by multiple waves of enemy fighters.

‘Lt. “The tail of Billy R. Ramsey of this squadron was shot off by anti-aircraft fire as the flight approached the target area,” according to the squadron’s war diary.

When last seen, the plane was “in a flat turn,” according to the diary.

It was initially believed that both Ramsey and Sciara died in the crash, but after the war ended, information came to light showing that Sciara survived and was captured by Japanese forces.

“After the war, my parents received a letter from the Marine Corps stating that Sergeant Charles Sciara did not die on January 14, 1944,” Sciara’s brother John Sciara said in a memorial post on Pacific wrecks.

“He somehow survived the crash and was captured by the Japanese and died in an unknown prison camp,” he added.

‘They say he might have died of malaria and beri-beri on February 22, 1944. He was probably killed by the Japanese,” the brother said. “My family was very upset after the war and didn’t really know what to believe.”

John was only ten months old when his brother died and he never saw him alive. Sergeant Sciara, a native of Brooklyn, was twenty when he died in a POW camp.

“They and many others gave up their tomorrow for our today,” John said in the online tribute.

Ramsey, the pilot from Eastland, Texas, is believed to have died in the crash. He was posthumously promoted to captain and earned the Purple Heart.

Both Ramsey and Sciara are commemorated on the tablets of the missing at the American Cemetery in Manila. Sciara also has one commemorative marker at Arlington National Cemetery, in section H.

DailyMail.com was unable to locate the surviving relatives of Ramsey or Sciara.

The Dauntless was a multirole naval reconnaissance aircraft and dive bomber manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 to 1944, flying from both aircraft carriers and airstrips.

The constructor number on the wreck – 4610 – matches information about Ramsey’s Dauntless available online.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, part of the U.S. Department of Defense, is charged with recovering U.S. military personnel who are prisoners of war or missing in action.

A spokesperson said on Wednesday: ‘DPAA has received multiple reports that wreckage possibly linked to missing personnel has recently been discovered in New Ireland and Papua New Guinea.

‘We are working to get a team of investigators on site as quickly as possible.

“As the agency responsible for recovering the remains of Americans missing from past conflicts, DPAA is committed to following suit.”