2 weeks Ago By USA TODAY
A skull found in the wall of an home is that of a teenage girl who died from in 1866, officials announced in a news conference following a public fundraiser to identify the remains. The girl, Esther Granger, was from Merrillville, Indiana, and died at the age of 17 when Andrew Johnson was president, investigators said Thursday. Earlier this month, professional photographer Thomas Doggett, 3D Resin Solutions of South Elgin, Illinois, and forensic artist Natalie Murray were able to work together to make an artist rendition of what Granger may have looked like.
The girl’s skull was found in November 1978 in Batavia, Illinois, about 43 miles west of Chicago, according to the Kane County Coroner’s Office. Property owner James Skinner was doing renovations on his home when he found the skull and some items behind a baseboard. He told police what he’d found, allowing them to collect the items and skull and start an investigation, the coroner’s office said.
Here's what else you need to know about the case. Although the skull was found in 1978, authorities weren’t able to identify Granger. In 2021, the Kane County Coroner's Cold Case Team found out about Othram Laboratories, a Texas-based forensic sequencing lab that traces genetic genealogy.
Eventually, Othram was able to create a DNA profile. Investigators created a and raised $7,500 in donations to complete the process and trace the DNA. By February 2024, Othram had matched the profile and figured out that the skull likely belonged to Granger.
Still, Othram needed to confirm the match by testing a biological relative, so the organization contacted someone they believed was a second great-grandson of Granger’s. The DNA match was confirmed on June 17, the coroner’s office said. Back in 1978, investigators sent the skull to the anthropology department at Northern Illinois University.
There, researchers determined the remains belonged to a female who was likely in her mid-20s when she died and that she had passed sometime before the year 1900. Between 1978 and 1979, investigators contacted national labs, museums, and genealogical societies to find leads. They were unable to find any and the skull was sent to the Batavia Depot Museum for safe keeping.
Museum supervisors were auditing items in March 2021 when they found the skull. They called the Batavia Police Department, who gave it to the Kane County Coroner’s Office to continue with its investigation. This time, Deputy Coroner Gabriela Allison was assigned as lead investigator.
When Allison found out about Othram Laboratories, she reached out. She learned more about forensic investigative genetic genealogy, a process Othram could use to match DNA profiles despite items being decades old. In May 2023, Othram lab workers decided to try and make a DNA profile using the skull.
From there, investigators could crowdfund and raise money for the rest of the identification process. In December 2023, Othram had contacted the Kane County Coroner’s Office and gave them the OK to raise funds for the process. By January 2024, the funds had been raised and the next month, Othram let the coroner’s office know they’d found a match, Esther Granger.
The next steps involved testing the DNA of living relatives to confirm the match. The coroner’s office made contact with Wayne Svilar, a possible descendant of Granger’s. He submitted his DNA and on June 17, Othram confirmed he was Granger's second great-grandson.
In August, Granger was laid to rest during a private ceremony at West Batavia Cemetery. Svilar, the coroner’s office, the coroner’s office and the Batavia Police Department were there. The girl, whose full name is Esther Ann Granger, was born on Oct.
26, 1848. She was one of six children, Othram said in a news release. After she died in 1866, she was buried in Lake County, Indiana.
While investigators don’t know for sure how her remains ended up in Batavia, Othram said it may have been due to grave robbing. The coroner’s office also said that during the 19th century, physicians would “pay for fresh corpses” because they wanted to learn more about human anatomy. “Esther’s identification marks the oldest case of unidentified human remains solved by Othram and the ninth successful forensic genetic genealogy identification in Illinois using Othram’s technology,” Othram said.
“Through dogged investigation and the use of modern DNA technology, we have finally put a name to the skull found so many decades ago” said Kane County Coroner Rob Russell in a statement. “This individual has her identity back.” “For decades the identity of this individual was unknown,” Russell said at the ceremony.
“Decades later, thanks to the tireless work of those gathered here today, advances in science and technology, and some divine intervention we can confidently say Jane Doe is Esther Granger,” he said. –.
