The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command sent four recovery teams to Laos this week for about 30 days to search for evidence associated with Americans declared missing during the Vietnam War.

One case involves a five-person Special Forces reconnaissance team that disappeared Jan. 5, 1968. The second excavation is associated with the loss of an F-4B Phantom that caught fire after it was hit by enemy anti-aircraft artillery on Dec. 22, 1967.

Another excavation is associated with an O-2A Skymaster pilot who didn't return from a combat support mission on Feb. 19, 1971. The fourth team is excavating a site associated with a Skyraider A-1G aircraft that disappeared Feb. 25, 1967.