LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska soldier’s remains finally returned home on Monday, more than 66 years after his death in a North Korean prisoner of war camp.

A casket carrying the remains of Sgt. 1st Class Milton Beed was flown to Omaha’s Eppley Airfield. Service members accompanied the casket, which was met by nephews and nieces who had never known him.

“He was always a hero in my eyes,” niece Sue Jensen said. “I look at the military and he definitely sacrificed his life for us and his country.”

Beed was captured and reported missing in 1951 while serving in the Korean War as a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. Beed, who came from a military family and had earned the Purple Heart, was fighting in Korea after service during World War, during which he joined in actions in the Pacific.

Army officials declared he died at age 30 at the Suan Prisoner of War Camp Complex in North Korea on Oct. 31, 1951. His family was later told he died of malnutrition.

Jensen, of Fremont, said his parents received a letter informing them of his death.

“I don’t think my grandparents ever got over it,” she said. “A part of them died with him.”

Jensen said her family rarely spoke about Beed because it was too painful, but his presence was always felt. She grew up looking at his photo proudly displayed above her grandparents’ television.

Before being sent to fight in the Korean War, Beed lived in Indianapolis with his wife, Mary Catherine.

Jensen said a memorial service was held in Battle Creek, Nebraska, near his childhood home in Meadow Grove several years after his death.

Her father purchased a grave and marker for Beed in hopes that his remains would someday be sent home. She remembers her father saying he would bring his brother home “if it was the last thing he ever did.”

Five years ago, Jensen set out to find the uncle she only knew as a “true hero.”

She contacted the Department of Defense to request her uncle’s remains be identified. The department works to identify all remains, but requests become prioritized.

In the early 1990s, North Korea delivered 208 boxes with comingled human remains of more than 400 service members to the U.S.

Through DNA left behind by Beed’s sister, researchers were able to identify his remains.

Sgt. Kristen Duus, a spokeswoman for the Department of Defense Prisoner of War Accounting Agency, said the department can identify remains through DNA, anthropological analysis or dental exams. The department mainly focuses on identifying the remains of World War II and Korean War veterans.

There are still 7,704 people missing from the Korean War.

Jensen found out in January that Beed had been identified.

“At first, I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I was shocked and so ecstatic. I started calling all of our relatives and making arrangements for his service.”

They will gather Tuesday afternoon for a visitation at Stonacek Funeral Chapel in Norfolk. Then on Wednesday, Beed will be buried in the plot his brother purchased at Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery , not far from his parents’ graves.

After so many years of uncertainty and pain, Jensen said the service will give Beed the respect and recognition he deserves. She said his return will finally bring peace to her family.

“I really wish they were alive to see this,” she said. “I know this would make them so happy, but I know they’ll be looking down on it from heaven and smiling.”

YORK, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln woman has been accused of embezzlement while working for the York city landfill.

59-year-old Lynn Rasmussen is charged with theft. Her attorney told The Associated Press on Monday that Rasmussen denies the allegation.

Rasmussen is scheduled for a court appearance on May 9.

Court documents say Rasmussen ran the scale house and accepted payments for material dumped at the landfill. The documents don’t say how much Rasmussen is accused of taking.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln woman has been sent to prison for having sex with a 15-year-old boy.

Court records say 47-year-old Sunny Gibbons was sentenced Tuesday to 10 to 15 years. She’d pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of sexual assault of a minor.

Police began investigating after the boy told a school official last year that Gibbons performed sex acts with him in 2016, when he was 15. Under Nebraska law, people 19 and over cannot have sexual contact with people under 16.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska State Patrol says troopers have seized more than 1,850 pounds of marijuana and other drugs in a traffic stop in southeastern Nebraska.

The patrol says the seizure happened Wednesday evening when a trooper stopped a van along Highway 81 in Fillmore County for suspicion of driving on the shoulder. The trooper says a drug-sniffing dog indicated there were illegal drugs inside the van. A search turned up 1,853 pounds of marijuana, 8,779 doses of hash oil vape pens and 46 pounds of loose hash wax.

The patrol says the street value of the drugs is estimated at more than $5 million.

The 39-year-old driver from Arvada, Colorado, was arrested on suspicion of multiple drug counts.

BEAVER CROSSING, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska State Patrol says troopers have seized 182 pounds of marijuana valued at more than $500,0000 in a traffic stop on Interstate 80 in southeastern Nebraska.

The patrol says in a news release that troopers stopped a van suspected of speeding Thursday afternoon near Beaver Crossing.

The troopers reported a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle, and a search turned up several duffel bags under a blacked in the rear. The bags were filled with marijuana, with an estimated street value of $546,000.

The 54-year-old driver, of Lebec, California, and a 22-year-old passenger, of Edmonds, Washington, were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to deliver and having no drug tax stamp.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A defense attorney asked a judge to dismiss murder charges against one of his clients because Omaha police haven’t filed critical reports related to the case.

Douglas County Public Defender Tom Riley highlighted at a hearing this week dozen of instances in which Omaha Police Department investigators failed to file reports or book evidence in the 2015 deaths of DePrecia Neelon, 23, and Garion Johnson, 19. Riley represents Marcus Short, 28, who is scheduled to go on trial this month.

“This problem has been going on for a while in the homicide unit,” Riley said.

Riley said such delays can “make it virtually impossible to present a defense.”

“This police department, who brags about having one of the greatest homicide units in the country — I beg to differ.”

Short and Preston Pope, 28, each face two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths.

Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said that reports in the case took too long to complete, but that personnel adjustments have been made. He also noted that the homicide unit had a 70 percent clearance rate last year, above the national average of 50 percent.

“Mr. Riley is an excellent public defender, but his widespread assertions are out of line. … Professionalism needs to take place at all times,” Schmaderer said.

Prosecutors said they sometimes share defense attorneys’ frustration in getting reports, but that dismissing the case would be extreme. Prosecutor Mike Jensen said case dismissals should be saved for cases of intentional wrongdoing by officers.

“I understand the need to want to send a message. But a dismissal based upon the screw-ups and blunders of a police officer is not in the best interest of society,” Jensen said.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Students from Central and Burke high schools in Omaha walked out of class as part of a national movement on the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Colorado.

Hundreds of Omaha students participated in the National School Walkout Day on Friday.

Central High School senior Nick Koehler was one of about 300 Central students to walk out Friday morning. Koehler, one of the organizers of Friday’s rally, says participating students are pleading with state and federal lawmakers to “just pass common sense gun laws.”

School officials worked with students to safely carry out the protests.

While the walkouts coincide with the Columbine anniversary, they come about two months after a shooter entered a Parkland, Florida, school and left 17 people dead.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — High water levels have shut down all public access sites to the Elkhorn River until further notice.

The Papio Missouri River Natural Resources District announced the closure of the public access sites on Friday. The sites included those at Elkhorn Crossing, West Maple Road and Graske Crossing.

District officials say campsites at Elkhorn Crossing will remain open.

The district plans to post updates on river access on its website at https://www.papionrd.org/.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A former Omaha police officer charged with misdemeanor assault for his role in the stun gun-related death of a mentally ill Oklahoma man last year will stand trial next year.

27-year-old Ryan McClarty will stand trial in January for a count of third-degree assault in the June confrontation at an Omaha convenience store with 29-year-old Zachary Bearheels. Bearheels was pronounced dead after the incident.

McClarty and another officer, Scotty Payne, were both fired and charged after a police video showed Payne stunning Bearheels a dozen times and McClarty repeatedly punching Bearheels after he was already on the ground. Bearheels died shortly after the confrontation.

Payne, who has pleaded not guilty to felony assault, is set to stand trial on Nov. 26.