Raymond was initially documented as missing on November 23, 1944, but he was listed as a non-battle casualty. He was officially listed Missing in Action when Mrs. Doris Brown wrote the General’s Office Headquarters on March 8, 1945 that she had not received a letter from him in a long time and had not been notified by the War Department that he was a casualty.
An investigation was opened for Missing in Action Raymond L. Brown on December 16, 1949 after a soldier in the 28th Division wrote a letter to the brother of Private Raymond L. Brown: “I am sorry to say that your brother is dead. I thought that you would like to have his things, so I sent them to my cousin in Meridian to give some of you.” The letter was singed “Bill” by Mr. Wilman Newell Hall.
Hall had come across Raymond’s body in Hurtgen Forest where the mine fields where heavy. During the investigation, Hall described Brown's body as "alright except for a small shell splinter hole in his stomach or chest." He took belongings from the body to send to his cousin, Janie Mae Hall of Meridian, MS to give to Mrs. Doris Brown. According to Hall, Raymond’s body lied in perfect condition on the forest floor; however, when Hall found Raymond, he looked to have been dead for multiple days prior.
Another solider in his regiment, Raymond A. Webb, testified he spoke with Raymond at a General Hospital in Paris, France. Webb recalled Raymond’s reason for hospitalization was “Combat Exhaustion.” Webb testified that this conversation took place between November 18, 1944, and November 25, 1944. There was no hospitalization record ever found for Raymond.
No exact death date could be determined, and Raymond’s body was never found in Hurtgen Forest, Germany. The area was covered in mines and demining teams could not excavate the area safely in order to look for the 162 men still missing in 1947. Raymond’s last documented encounter by his Regiment was on November 23, 1944 which is now is listed death date.
Belongings Through Janie Mae Hall, Doris received twenty photographs of Raymond’s intermediate family, one carbon copy of WDAGO Form 29, one two-frame note, two postal money order receipts, one Red Cross certificate of membership baring his name, and one civilian type of identification baring his name.