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Pvt Reab was reported missing in action after his unit engaged German forces at Vossenack, Germany.

Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe. Several AGRC investigation teams searched for and recovered remains in the Hürtgen Forest following World War II, but none were identified as Reab. He was declared non-recoverable in December 1950.

While studying unresolved American losses in the Vossenack area, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains, designated X-7388 Neuville, recovered from a foxhole on the southeastern end of town in March 1948 possibly belonged to Reab. The remains, which had been buried as an unknown soldier in Ardennes American Cemetery in 1949, were disinterred in June 2018 and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for identification.

To identify Reab’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.

On 22 March 2021, The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced Pvt. Reab,was accounted for on 24 February 2021.

Reab’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery. A rosette was placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Pvt Reab has been given his final resting place in Aurora, Nebraska on 8 June 2021.