Girl found in wall of home IDed as 19th century teenager | LiveNOW from FOX

Investigators have determined that a skull discovered in the wall of an Illinois home in 1978 was that of an Indiana teenager who died more than 150 years ago, authorities announced Thursday.

According to a timeline provided by the Kane County Coroner’s Office, the property owner found the skull while renovating the home in Batavia. Police launched an investigation but the case went cold and the skull was relegated to the Batavia Depot Museum for storage.

The skull went forgotten until March of 2021, when museum supervisors discovered it during an inventory audit. They called police, who sent the skull to the coroner’s office. Working with Othram Laboratories, a forensic laboratory in Texas that assists law enforcement, the office was able to build a DNA profile from the skull that suggested it was that of Esther Granger, a 17-year-old woman who died during childbirth in Merrillville, Indiana, in 1866.

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[FayDougall]

Today is October 25 2024 . Tomorrow will be the anniversary of her birth . May she rest in peace and never be disturbed again .

[pershorefoodbanktrusselltr]

Human remains were found in a field ploughed by a farmer where I lived in England in 2012, and after a police investigation which determined it to be historical remains, pathologists concluded its origin and it turned out to be that of a teenage girl who died around 600 years ago, probably as a result of the plague in the early 1400s. (They couldn’t be entirely sure) but there were settlements all around the modern village in Medieval times. She was named Bella by the villagers and after a minimal service for her a small memorial was placed at the side of the field in her memory, now known as Bella’s rest. I know this case is different, I’m just pointing out we were all some one at some time, Bella was a young girl completely forgotten and there she lay for centuries preserved in the mud, now she has a memorial.

[normmcrae]

R.I.P. Esther, and thank you to the team who found out who she was.

[annehunt]

I’m glad she was remembered. RIP Esther.

[laurieclarkson]

Thank you to the homeowner back in the 70's that reported it!

[sharib]

This is so special to show the respect for her life. Thank you.

[M_]

People need to watch the whole video before talking. The skull found belongs to Esther Granger, a 17 year old who died in May 1866 from complications in childbirth, her baby daughter survived but she did not. Esther was also given a proper burial in Indiana, she was not buried in this house, she was not left in the house, she does not have two graves, Esther was not exhumed and so on. We will never truly know how her skull ended up in a random house in a different state but as the guy said it's most likely her grave was robbed at one point in time after her death and her body was probably sold for medical purposes, studying medicine and somehow her skull was put inside a wall were it remained until it was eventually found in 1978.

[joankelley]

Esther was a beautiful young lady. May she rest in peace.

[shanat]

Thank you for working on this case. Her dignity has been restored.

[elliebrown]

This is amazing that after 150 years old and they finally IDed her wow..simply amazing…

[lydiaschoch]

It’s incredible that they were able to identify this teenager!

[gunnydeeP.I.]

What a crazy story. Im a forensics junkie so its nice to see this solved. R.I.P Hopefully for her family her dignity has been restored.

[ElizabethMhaoghnaig]

Thank you to all those who gave this woman her dignity.

[DerGlaetze]

I do geneology work for my own family. I can testify that whenever you get an actual picture of the individual, it becomes quite an emotional and spiritual experience.

[emmsue]

Thank you to everyone working for this poor young lady. R I P Esther.

[deedeegray]

Wow! Tomorrow is Esther's birthday, 176 years old!! What a gift for her great, great grandson to know that she is finally identified and resting in Heaven.

[dlm]

Happy birthday Esther. I'm glad your family knows people cared for her identity.

[jenwoods]

It's a beautiful example of how amazing and caring we can be as humans, well done!

[Kate.]

Wow. That’s fascinating. Thank you for your dedication. So glad she was returned to rest.

[iTsEfFiNsTePhh]

For anyone who wants a summary (I really appreciate that they do these but personally they kind of drag on and it's difficult for me to take the info in so I always end up just looking it up myself): She was born in 1848, passed away in 1866 at age 17 from complications of childbirth (which sadly was normal for the time period children being married off and having kids young and childbirth being really dangerous same for children being alive in general before modern medicine was insanely hard with high death rates- i'm not sure if her baby survived or not or if she had any children before this point could be either since it was her great great grand son that was told/involved with it), she was buried normally, her skull was found in a home around 80 miles from her burial spot, and so they think that someone at some point grave robbed her grave taking her skull.

Super sad grave robbing period is mean but doing it to a child is even worse 😕 A few years ago where I live some losers dug up and took the remains of a 15 year old girl who had passed away in the 1850's and sadly her remains were never recovered 😕