Unable to restart a flamed-out engine on his F-84 Thunderjet, 1st Lt. Melvin E. Clover of St. Louis radioed to the other three planes in his flight that he needed to bail out. The jets were hurtling over the North Korean countryside. It was Oct. 14, 1952, Clover's 27th birthday.

"They saw the canopy come off, but never saw the ejection seat come out," said Clover's daughter, Beth Vincent of Warrenton, who was 8 months old when her father disappeared. "His last transmission was, 'Well, here I go, this is a fine birthday present.'"

Vincent is one of about 400 relatives of service members still missing in action scheduled to gather in Frontenac today and Saturday to be briefed by Department of Defense officials on the latest efforts to locate the families' loved ones.

The annual update is part of a program begun in 1995 as an outreach to the families of the 88,000 service members, including hundreds in Illinois and Missouri, still unaccounted for since World War II.

"Our goal in these all-day presentations ... is to keep all interested family members up to date on the worldwide effort, including DNA science, that we employ to locate, repatriate and identify the remains of their loved ones," said Larry Greer, with the department's POW-MIA office. The office is responsible for recovering and identifying the remains of missing servicemen.

About 100 of the missing are identified each year.

The event at the Hilton Frontenac will be for families of those missing in action from the Korean War and the Cold War. It is the first time the Defense Department has held the annual meeting outside of Washington.

Family members will learn about remains recovery operations in Northeast Asia and elsewhere, forensic ID work done at the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii and receive an update on a joint U.S.-Russia commission working to locate and identify the missing. Specialists will collect voluntary DNA samples from family members.

Policy officers, forensic anthropologists and others also will be on hand.

Finally, family members will meet with an analyst and other specialists to discuss their specific case.

Vincent said she has traveled to Washington for past briefings and is anxious to learn if there is anything new on her father.

Clover, a Roosevelt High School graduate, had left the Army Air Forces after World War II and had two young daughters when he was recalled to service for Korea. He served with the 9th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 49th Fighter-Bomber Wing, 5th Air Force. He was racing for the safety of the sea after bombing a bridge when his jet went down.

"All of our growing-up years we had no idea if our father was alive or not," said Vincent, 57, a retired General Motors electrician. "It was real hard on our family not having closure, not having a funeral, not knowing what happened. The government promises to bring your loved ones home. It's important."

Ann Mills-Griffiths, executive director of the National League of POW-MIA Families, called the outreach an opportunity for families to get firsthand, current information.

"Although realism is critical, since most cited as missing won't be recoverable, there is continued uncertainty for the Korean War families, especially those whose relatives were known to be alive, but not yet returned," Mills-Griffiths said. "These uncertainties prompt the greatest priority attention, as they should."

For about half of those in attendance, Greer said, it will be the first time they have received any news about the government's effort to account for their family member. Typically, that's because many of the attendees are younger family members who live in a different city than the missing's next-of-kin.

Kelly Johnson of St. Louis said she hopes to find out what happened to her grandfather.

The T-6 Texan carrying Air Force 1st Lt. Carl J. Evans of Ogden, Utah, and his bombardier was declared missing New Year's Eve 1953. He left behind eight children, including Johnson's mother. "It's not knowing anything about who your relative was," said Johnson, 41, who works for an insurance company. "I just want to find out what they know and not get it third party from family members."

The effort to recover the remains of all those lost on the battlefield — to leave no man behind — dates as far back as the American military.

In 1993, after government hearings and complaints from families about red tape, the Pentagon consolidated recovery efforts into one office with policies covering all services and conflicts.

Despite efforts to achieve the fullest possible accounting, it may not be possible to bring every missing service member home. For example, about 600 of those unaccounted for during the Vietnam War were lost at sea or simply disappeared, leaving almost no trace behind. Two other Americans killed in the Gulf War were lost at sea, and their bodies are not expected to be recovered.

With no leads, no evidence, no interviews and no crash sites, there are few clues to follow.