A woman’s skull was discovered inside the walls of a suburban Illinois home back in 1978, and now—almost 50 years later—we finally know her name.
Esther Granger was identified by the Kane County Coroner’s Office on Thursday as an Indiana teenager who died more than 150 years ago.
Kane County Coroner Robert Russell said in a news conference that the girl was born in October 1848 but died at just 17 years old in 1866, likely due to complications during childbirth.
Highlights
- Advanced DNA analysis identified a skull found in 1978 as Esther Granger, who died in 1866.
- Forensic advancements helped solve the cold case decades later.
- Granger's great-great grandson's DNA confirmed the identity.
The identity of a woman whose skull was found in the walls of an Illinois home in 1978 has finally been revealed
Image credits: Monica Silvestre/Pexels
A resident was renovating his home in 1978, in the small city of Batavia, Illinois, when he stumbled upon the skull.
He contacted the police and authorities immediately launched an investigation.
There wasn’t much officials could do with the limited technology at the time, and the only conclusion they could make was that the skull belonged to a young woman, most likely in her 20s, who lived before the 1900s.
Image credits: Kane County Coroner's Office
The case eventually grew cold and the girl was forgotten—until March 2021.
Employees rediscovered the skull at the Batavia Depot Museum during an inventory audit, Russell said.
It was handed over to the police, who later sent it to the coroner’s office. As soon as it was linked to the 1978 report, the investigation was reopened.
Advancements in modern forensic science technology have sped up the process that led to a breakthrough in the case
Image credits: Kane County Coroner's Office
In 2023, Kane County officials contacted Othram Laboratories—a forensic laboratory in Texas that assisted law enforcement in solving cold cases—where they were able to build a DNA profile for the woman, outlining a family tree and locating any living relatives.
Authorities contacted Granger’s great-great grandson, Wayne Svilar, who submitted his DNA for testing—and it turned out to be a match.
Svilar, now a retired police sergeant from Portland, Oregon, was shocked to learn about the case involving his distant relative, according to CNN.
Image credits: Stephanie Ho/pexels
“To be completely honest, we didn’t believe a word of it,” he said. “It took two or three phone calls for me to believe it.”
The 69-year-old added that although the news came as a shock, it has brought a sense of closure to the family.
He’s now taken a job with the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office to solve cold cases, following his involvement in this investigation.
It’s still unclear how Granger’s skull ended up so far away from her original burial site
Image credits: Ksenia Chernaya/pexels
The 17-year-old was buried in Merrillville, Indiana, but her skull was found almost 80 miles northwest of the site.
In a press release, Russell said he suspected grave robbers may have dug up her body to sell to physicians, in an attempt to learn more about human anatomy, but nothing has been confirmed.
“There is no absolute answer as to how Esther ended up in that wall or where the rest of her body is located, but being a victim of grave robbing does fit the bill,” he said.
Granger’s remains have since been reburied in the West Batavia Cemetery.