Update: Pentagon did not burden Gold Star family with cost of shipping remains of Marine killed in Afghanistan to Arlington per Fox report, Cory Mills' suggestion; USMC demands apology

TheBlaze detailed a Fox News report last month that indicated the Gold Star family of Sgt. Nicole Gee, one among the 11 U.S. Marines slain in Afghanistan, had to shoulder the cost of getting her body to Arlington National Cemetery.

It appears this report, predicated on remarks by Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) following his meeting with Gold Star families of the "Fallen 13" in July, was incorrect.

The Marine Corps has long maintained that the initial report was false, with spokesman Maj. James Stenger writing to Fox News that its headline, even after a minor correction, was "still misleading and your story is false."

Fox News has since deleted the report from its website, allegedly without comment or explanation. A spokesman for Mills' office told Military.com that the story had been removed from the congressman's official website as well.

Fox said it has apologized to Gee's family for the article and has addressed the story "internally," reported the Washington Post.

Stenger noted in an email to Fox, "The allegations originally published turned out to be false, which I suspect Mr. Lee knew in the first place, and was the reason he did not seek comment from the Marine Corps."

Lee is the story's initial reporter, Michael Lee.

The original report indicated that Gee's body made it back home to Roseville, California, but that afterward, when it came time to escort it to Virginia, the Pentagon wouldn't pay.

Military.com indicated that while a 2021 Pentagon policy did require that families front the cash for funeral transportation to a second location, they would be reimbursed at a later date — meaning it was wrong to characterize the situation as a matter of the Pentagon burdening Gee's family with the cost.

While the group Honoring Our Fallen reportedly stepped in to pay to fly Gee's remains to Virginia, it had apparently done so prior to the commencement of the reimbursement process and at a time when no money was required from the family.

Gee's mother-in-law, Christy Shamblin, told Military.com that when she spoke to Mills' staff, she had hoped to bring attention to the Pentagon's "frustrating 47-page policy" and to make it "easier for other Gold Star families to navigate the bureaucratic and tragic process of transporting remains."

TheBlaze's previous report on the allegations has been updated to reflect the recent revelation that they were in error.