The actual airplane was discovered in the Panamanian jungle by an illegal Colombian, who was also a poacher and he brought it to the attention of the U.S. Army garrison.
Many people familiar with this story have remarked that the mission was absolutely inundated with coincidences that seem extremely unusual. One of those was the fact that CW3 Ron Celli who was not stationed in Panama at the time of the first encounter was in the room when the same illegal Colombian showed up a second time to report the downed plane.
Coincidence no. 1: At the actual time of the event the mission was called Operation Jungle Jewel. Years later it was discovered that the KIA pilot was from Jewel Iowa, another extreme coincidence.
Coincidence no. 2: Upon further research into the downed aircraft, it was discovered years later that the CW3 Ron Celli, the Green Beret who led the mission to find the aircraft actually lived close to the family of the missing aviator. Coincidence perhaps...he sought them out and told them the story of their mission.
Coincidence no. 3: CW3 Ron Celli was an Army buddy and next door neighbors with Major Dan Barrios, who happened to be a screenwriter / film producer.