Skull found in Batavia, Illinois home in 1978 identified as teen who died in 1866
A hand drawn image of 17-year-old Esther Granger
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BATAVIA, Illinois (WBBM) — Authorities in Kane County finally solved a cold case dating back 46 years, when a human skull was found during a home renovation project in Batavia in 1978.
The Kane County Coroner’s Office said the skull has been identified as Esther Granger, a 17-year-old girl who died in Merryville, Indiana, in 1866. Authorities believe she died from complications during childbirth.
A couple remodeling their home in Batavia found what appeared to be a human lower jaw inside a wall. Police later found a partial skull inside the same wall. The bones were sent to the anthropology department at Northern Illinois University, which confirmed the bones were human, and likely dated back much further than 1978.
The skull was later donated to the Batavia Historical Society, where it remained until 2021, when it was turned over to Batavia police, and then the Kane County Coroner, in hopes of identifying the remains.
With the assistance of Texas-based Othram, which specializes in forensic genetic genealogy, the coroner’s office was able to use modern DNA technology to identify the remains.
Officials tracked down Granger’s second great-grandchild, who provided a DNA sample to confirm the identity of her remains.
It’s still a mystery how Granger’s remains ended up in Batavia. Kane County Coroner L. Robert Russell theorized that the girl might have been the victim of a grave robbery after she died, or that doctors at the time of her death might have purchased her remains to learn more about human anatomy.
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