Goodsill partner Johnathan C. Bolton recently assisted a family in obtaining a federal court order to transfer the remains of USAF Captain Lindsay Helen Tyson from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl to her family’s hometown in Pittsburgh.
Captain Tyson, an attorney with the Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps assigned to the 377th Combat Support Wing at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, was murdered by her husband in 1985 and buried at Punchbowl, where she remained for nearly four decades.
Her brother, Scott Tyson, had long sought to bring her home, especially after the passing of their parents, who had previously resided in Hawai‘i. Due to federal regulations, only a court order or a legal next of kin — defined as a spouse, parent, or child — can request disinterment from a military cemetery. Because Captain Tyson’s former spouse was legally considered next of kin but has been missing since his conviction, the family faced significant barriers.
Johnathan filed a Complaint for an Order of Disinterment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawai‘i. Upon confirmation that the former spouse was deceased and with the consent of Lindsay’s brother Dane Tyson and the cemetery’s director, the court issued a stipulated order granting the family’s request.
We are honored to have played a part in helping the Tyson family finally bring Lindsay home.