Well-maintained Army uniform with love letter from 1957 found in ditch in Kansas City, Kan.

By Andy Alcock

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    KANSAS CITY, Kansas (KMBC) — The discovery of a well-maintained army uniform in a ditch by the side of a remote road in the Piper neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas has several people looking for answers.

Luann Palmer’s daughter found the uniform on a coat hanger near the driveway of the family home.

“I just thought if it was my dad’s, I would want it back,” Luann said.

Inside one of the pockets was a love letter addressed to Howard Pennington with a postmark from Verdun, France of December 2, 1957.

The letter reads in part, “Sweetheart my love, I miss you so very much”.

With the letter providing the only clues about the uniform, Luann reached out on social media to find the potential owner.

Molly Jennings responded to help solve the mystery.

“I shared it with my daughter, and she initially ran with it. She started looking and the more she talked to me about it, the more I grew invested in it and I really wanted to know and try to find his family,” Molly said.

Research found Pennington was assigned to an area army combat engineers unit building roads in France.

Molly and her daughter also found Pennington died just three days after the letter was postmarked.

They haven’t been able to determine if he received the letter or how he died.

They also discovered Pennington’s commanding officer lived in Leavenworth and he still has family in that area.

And they found Pennington’s great-nephew in Clinton, Missouri, about an hour from where the uniform was found.

However, the great-nephew told Molly he didn’t know the uniform, or the letter existed until she reached out.

“I personally think it was in the possession of someone that’s maybe not related to him, maybe someone he served with, a close friend,” Molly said. “I really just want to know who had it. I want to know why they kept it safe for 65 years,” she added.

“It’s been hung up, somebody took great care of it, somebody has to know something,” Luann said.

Anyone with information about the uniform is asked to call or text Luann Palmer at (913)620-4047.

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