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Authorities ID left found in Illinois home in 1978 as woman who died in 1866

Online Niel October 26, 2024

BATAVIA, Ill. (WGN) — Human remains found inside the wall of a west suburban Chicago home in the late 1970s have finally been identified.

According to Kane County Coroner Robert Russell, the remains were found in November 1978 by a couple who were remodeling their home in Batavia, Illinois.

While remodeling, the couple found what they thought was a jaw bone inside the wall of their home and contacted the police. Upon further investigation, Batavia police also found a partial skull that had been embedded inside the wall.

Following the discovery, and after the bones were placed in evidence, they were sent to Northern Illinois University’s Department of Anthropology, which confirmed they were human.

Resin cast of a skull found inside the wall of a house in Batavia in 1979.

The coroner said at the time that officials from the anthropology department were also able to determine through tests that the skull belonged to a woman who was in her 20s at the time of death and that they were much older than the date of discovery .

The case went cold until 1979, and authorities eventually sent the skull to the Batavia Warehouse Museum, where it was rediscovered by museum supervisors during an inventory audit in March 2021.

According to authorities, following the rediscovery of the skull, it was held at the Kane County Coroner’s Office and the investigation continued.

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The Kane County coroner assigned the case to his cold case division, which was able to contact Texas-based Othram Labs, a forensic sequencing lab for law enforcement that could perform a process called Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy (FIGG).

By September 2023, Othram crews had obtained a DNA profile from the remains and started a crowdfunding campaign to help fund the trial. The fundraiser raised $7,500 from people who wanted to see the mystery solved.

By February 2024, after a successful crowdfunding campaign, the coroner’s office received a report from Othram indicating that the DNA profile had returned results, revealing that they believed the skull belonged to Esther Granger, of Merrillville, Indiana.

Hand drawn photo of 17 year old Esther Granger who died in 1866.

Hand-drawn photo, overlaid with images of the remains found, shows 17-year-old Esther Granger, who died in 1866.

After months of searching for a living relative of Granger, a Kane County deputy was able to contact her alleged second great-grandson, Wayne Svilar.

Further tests confirmed that Svilar was, in fact, Granger’s second great-grandson, confirming the identity of the skull.

Authorities said Granger is believed to have been 17 when she died in Merrillville, Indiana, in 1866. It is also believed that she died of complications during childbirth.

“Through careful investigation and the use of modern DNA technology, we have finally put a name to the skull found so many decades ago,” said Russell. “This individual is recovering his identity.”

It remains unclear how Granger’s remains ended up in the Batavia home, but Russell theorized that she may have been the victim of a grave robbery or a doctor may have purchased her body for study.

“Alternatively, doctors at the time of her death were desperate to learn more about human anatomy, so they sometimes paid for fresh cadavers. This practice is documented by the History Museum of St. Charles, which references a notorious case in the 1800s where a grave robbery led to a riot and the death of a doctor,” Russell said.

Authorities said burial records indicate Granger was originally buried in Lake County, Indiana.

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Following the identification, Granger’s remains were reinterred in a columbarium niche donated by the city of Batavia at West Batavia Cemetery during a private ceremony attended by the coroner’s office, members of the Batavia Police Department and descendants.

Urn containing remains belonging to a woman who died in 1866 rests on a table during a reburial ceremony.
Urn containing remains belonging to a woman who died in 1866, buried during a reburial ceremony.

“This memorial will finally, after a century and a half, give dignity to the deceased and honor her life. For decades the identity of this individual was unknown. Many individuals have worked in the past to identify the remains, but their efforts have proved unsuccessful. Now decades later, thanks to the tireless work of those gathered here today, advances in science and technology, and divine intervention, we can say with confidence that Jane Doe is Esther Granger,” Russell said during his eulogy.

According to the medical examiner’s office, Granger’s remains are the oldest identified by Othram to date.

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