Purple Heart mystery: Medal found in Georgia scrapyard nears return to WWII pilot's family

Purple Heart mystery deepens

We have an update on that mysterious Purple Heart medal discovered in a Newnan junkyard 80 years after the soldier’s death following World War II.

NEWNAN, Ga. - We have an update on that mysterious Purple Heart Medal discovered in a Newnan junkyard 80 years after the soldier’s death following World War II. 

The medal is one step closer to being returned to family members in California. 

It caps a two-month search for the next of kin of a pilot who died 80 years ago.

SEE ALSO: Lost Purple Heart found: Newnan scrapyard sparks search for WWII hero's family

What they're saying:

The medal arrived in Novato, California, this week, where members of VFW Post 7816 will hand it over to family members of David T. McMahon, a World War II pilot who died in a military plane crash in 1945.

We talked to Deanna Desin, a volunteer with the VFW Post, who opened the package when it arrived this week and asked her reaction to seeing the medal. "It was pretty moving," Desin said. "This whole story has been a little emotional."

What we know:

This story first appeared in the Newnan Times-Herald about a Purple Heart medal found in a local scrapyard. A local historian tracked the name on the medal to David T. McMahon, a World War II pilot who died in a plane crash in 1945 in the Philippines.

An employee of the junkyard turned it over to VFW Post 2667 in Newnan. It’s been their task to return the medal to his family. "When that medal was given to me here, the only thing I cared about was getting it to family members where it belongs," said Jeff Bouchard, Vice Commander of VFW Post 2667 in Newnan.

A niece was located in Polaris, California. The local VFW members sent the medal to the nearest post to family members, which was in Novato, California. They are planning a ceremony to hand the medal over to McMahon’s niece.

What we don't know:

The part of the mystery that has yet to be solved is how the medal ended up in Georgia when, at the time of his death, McMahon’s family lived in Michigan.