U.S. officials arrive for deserter who hid in Sweden

U.S. air force investigators have arrived in Sweden to confirm the identity of a deserter who lived secretly in the Nordic state for almost 30 years, the man's lawyer said on Friday.

David Hemler stepped forward two weeks ago and revealed his identity to a local newspaper. He said he had deserted from a U.S. air force base in Germany in 1984 aged 21 and hitchhiked to Sweden where he lived under an assumed identity.

The 49-year-old, twice married with three children in Sweden, said he came forward because he wanted to see his parents in the United States and wanted his children to see their grandparents.

Two officials from the U.S. air force base in Ramstein, Germany, including a crime investigator, have arrived in Sweden and on Thursday met Hemler's lawyer Emma Persson along with an official from the U.S. embassy, Persson told Reuters.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/29/us-usa-sweden-deserter-idUSBRE85S0X520120629?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews