Illinois
Skull found in Illinois home identified as teen who died 150 years ago
A skull found in the walls of an Illinois home over four decades ago in 1978 has finally been identified.
The skull, originally found when an owner was renovating his home in Batavia, went forgotten until March 2021, when it was finally sent to the coroner’s office.
The Indiana teen, identified as Esther Granger, 17, died more than 150 years ago, according to the Kane County Coroner’s office.
An artist’s rendition of 17-year-old Esther Granger, who died in 1866 in Merrillville, Indiana. (Kane County, Illinois, Coroner’s Office via AP)
DNA HELPS ILLINOIS POLICE MAKE BREAKTHROUGH IN 1970S COLD CASE MURDER OF 19-YEAR-OLD
The coroner’s office held a press conference where they revealed the identity of the owner and how they were able to crack the case by building a DNA profile.
“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.
Kane County Coroner Rob Russell is pictured with an artist’s rendering of the likeness of Esther Granger as he speaks during a press conference on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024 in St. Charles, III. 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. ((Brian Hill/Daily Herald via AP))
It is still unclear how the skull came to be in the home, but Russell has a theory.
“We will never definitely know exactly, but with records and good reason, we’ve come to a common sense theory: we believe Esther was a victim of grave-robbing,” Russell said.
“Grave robbing was quite common in that era as it was quite profitable. The grave robbers made the equivalent of three to four months’ earnings for the average person working 60 hours a week,” he added.
Officials constructed a family tree and were able to find Granger’s great-great-grandson, Wayne Svilar, 69, a retired sergeant from Portland, Oregon, through a DNA sample, as well as illustrate an image of her possible appearance.
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A 3D printed reproduction of a skull that was found in a wall of a house being remodeled in 1978 is seen during a press conference on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024 in St. Charles, Ill. 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. (Brian Hill via ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Svilar said at the news conference that he was wary at first of the news.
“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.’”
He also claims that the sketch has a likeness to his own mother.
Svilar traveled to the internment where he gave a eulogy. Granger was laid to rest in the West Batavia Cemetery, where she has an engraved stone tower.
CENTRALIA, Ill. – An investigation is underway after multiple people were shot Sunday in Centralia, Illinois, according to a report from WFCN News in southern Illinois.
FOX 2 has confirmed the Illinois State Police is investigating a shooting and taking over the investigation, but ISP could not confirm many further details as of 9 p.m. Sunday.
“The investigation is in its infancy and to protect the integrity of the investigation, no additional details will be released at this time,” ISP said in a statement to FOX 2.
According to WFCN News, the shooting happened around 5 p.m. near the 900 block of East Kell Street in Centralia. Multiple law enforcement agencies have since responded to scene and multiple victims are hospitalized, according to the report.
It’s unclear how many people may have been injured and what led up to the shooting.
Centralia, Illinois is about 70 miles, or just over an hour, east of St. Louis.
This is a developing story. FOX 2 will update as more information becomes available.
The National Weather Service has teams of storm surveryors in the field April 18 investigating several reports of severe storms and tornado touch downs across eastern Iowa, northwest Illinois and northeast Missouri.
According to the weather service’s website, windgusts of up to 60 to 70 mph along with teacup-sized hail and several tornadoes were reported April 17.
Many homes and outbuildings were damaged, trees were uprooted and power lines were downed in Lena, Illinois, where the most significant damage occurred, the site pointed out.
Very strong winds also were reported near Washington, Iowa, and Colmar, Illinois, where several outbuildings and grain bins were destroyed.
The weather service received reports of confirmed and possible tornadoes in the areas of Lena, Pecatonica, Shirland, Rockton, Roscoe and Capron.
The teams will be assessing damage this weekend into next week along with county emergency management teams to determine what types of storms occurred and their paths.
Dozens of power outages were reported, as well.
As of the afternoon of April 18, ComEd was reporting 85 active power outages across northern Illinois, down from 241 on April 17, and 6,751 customers affected, down from more than 18,000.
The bulk of those outages and the most customers impacted are concentrated in Jo Daviess and Stephenson counties.
Freeze Watch
from MON 12:00 AM CDT until MON 9:00 AM CDT, Lake County, Kankakee County, La Salle County, DuPage County, Northern Will County, DeKalb County, Southern Will County, Kendall County, Southern Cook County, Northern Cook County, Grundy County, Eastern Will County, Kane County, McHenry County, Lake County, Newton County, Jasper County, Porter County
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