(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The mystery of a human skull — found in the wall of a home in far west suburban Batavia in 1978 — has been solved.
Kane County Coroner Rob Russell on Thursday announced that the skull has been identified as a young woman who died about one year after the Civil War ended.
“I don't like undone things, and to me, this was an undone thing,” he said. “We had the means to do it, so why not do it?”
Through perseverance, passion and DNA technology, Russell said they now know that the skull found in 1978 was that of Esther Granger.
She died in May 1866 due to complications from childbirth in Indiana. Russell said Granger was 18.
“So the question remains: If she died in 1866 in Indiana, how did she end up in a wall of a house in Batavia?” Russell said. “We will never definitely know exactly, but with records and good reasoning, we've come to a common sense theory. We believe Esther was a victim of grave robbing.”
DNA testing has now linked her to her great-great grandson, who was living in Oregon.
Granger has now been laid to rest in Batavia.
“Life is very valuable,” Russell said. “No matter what your life was like, or what issues you had in your life, everybody is here. As humans we only have two universal things that we share: No. 1, we're all born; No. 2, we all die.”
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