it's not definitive evidence, but researchers argue that — coupled with all the other evidence — it's enough.

"This is a tooth from the upper jaw," said Josh Hyman, director of the DNA Sequencing Facility at UW-Madison's Biotechnology Center. "That, to me, is the human being. The mitochondrial profile matches perfectly."

Henry has asked the UW-Madison lab and a scientist on the East Coast who used to head the Armed Forces Identification Laboratory to do an independent analysis once the French share the bone powder that contains the DNA. A forensic odontologist (expert on teeth) and an anthropologist in Madison also hope to examine the rest of the remains if and when they are released.

The DNA analysis by the French crime lab appears to support the civilian researchers' conclusion thatthe U.S. mistakenly turned over Gordon's body to the Germans. In 1961, his skeletal remains were placed in an above-ground crypt in Normandy with 12,000 German soldiers who died in World War II. The civilian researchers are now consulting with French and German authorities about when the remains of X-356 could be released to the Gordon family.

Gordon may have been mistaken for a German because he scavenged German clothing, possibly an undershirt or trousers, and was wearing it under his American uniform the day he died. Perhaps it was in better condition than his own, or it was cooler beneath his U.S. Army-issued woolen uniform. It's also possible the Germans discovered his body first and covered him out of respect.

"It is so hard to know what happened," Henry