“You don’t ever want to look back and think you could’ve done more,” she said. “But we’ve gone as far as we can.”

Asking for answers

At this point, Jacobson needs someone with information to come forward with a new kernel of information — she’s exhausted her regular resources.

“My main job when someone dies is to find information for the family,” she said. “This time I’m asking for answers.”

It’s the first time in her decades of work in the coroner’s office that Jacobson has not been able to find family for a veteran, though she said it’s not uncommon elsewhere.

A funeral with military honors will be held for Reiman at 10 a.m. Nov. 29 at the Oregon Trail State Veterans Cemetery in Evansville. Every year, the cemetery hosts a handful of funerals for veterans whom nobody claimed as family, the cemetery’s interim director said.

The ceremonies are brief. There’s a rifle salute and a short prayer. A trumpeter or a trombonist will play taps. Then the veteran is laid to rest beneath a simple granite headstone.