DNA testing reveals skull found in a wall belonged to teen who died 150 years ago

DNA testing has revealed that a skull found decades ago in the wall of an Illinois house belonged to an 18-year-old woman who died just after the American Civil War.

Officials in Kane County told a news conference Thursday that a skull discovered during renovations at a property in Batavia, west of Chicago, in 1978 has now been matched to Esther Granger, an Indiana woman who died after childbirth in 1866.

County officials were able to make a family tree and even contact a living relative, Granger’s great-great-grandson, who submitted a DNA sample. They also generated an impression of her likely appearance. Authorities have speculated that Granger’s body may have been stolen and moved by grave robbers.

The skull was thought to be old, perhaps predating 1900, but despite an investigation it had been kept in storage at Batavia Depot Museum for almost 50 years with its mystery unsolved.

It was rediscovered in a box while museum staff were cleaning in 2021. The police were contacted and the coroner’s office began the process of formal identification using modern techniques.

“Esther was born on Oct. 6, 1848 in Indiana. In 1865 at 16 years old she married Charles Granger and after a few months became pregnant with their first child,” Coroner Bob Russell told the news conference.

“In May of 1866, Esther gave birth to a baby girl but lost her life soon after due to complications from childbirth,” he said. Granger was buried in Indiana and the baby was named Esther in her honor.

The county had used Texas company Othram Laboratories to sequence the skull’s DNA. The was crowdfunded through DNASolves.com, which raised $7,500.

After just three weeks Othram produced an ancestral match and were able to find Granger’s great-great-grandson, Wayne Svilar, 69, a retired sergeant from Portland, Oregon. When contacted in April he was wary of taking part.

“To be completely honest we didn’t believe a word of it,” he told the news conference. “I said, ‘you can keep talking if you want but I don’t believe you.'”

Svilar founded a cold case unit while working at the Portland Police Bureau in 2004 and he currently works on cold cases for Multnomah County in Portland — he and his wife thought the call may be related to an old case of his.

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