A human skull uncovered in the wall of a house in Illinois was DNA tested and confirmed to belong to a 17-year-old girl who died in 1866 after giving birth.

The skull was found on Nov. 12, 1978, when a Batavia, Illinois, resident knocked down the wall of his home originally built around 1850 while getting renovation work done. The skull couldn’t be identified at the time and was warehoused until 2021, when it was rediscovered during an audit, Kane County Coroner Rob Russell explained at a press conference Thursday.

The coroner’s office contacted Texas forensic lab Othram to build a DNA profile, and it found that the skull belonged to Esther Granger. 

Granger was born in Indiana in October 1848, married in 1865 and gave birth to a daughter in May 1866. Complications from the birth cost Granger her life, and she was buried in Merrillville, Indiana, Mr. Russell said.

As for how the skull ended up in the wall of a house 78 miles away, Mr. Russell said that “we believe Esther was a victim of grave robbing. … There is no absolute answer as to how Esther ended up in that wall or where the rest of her body is located. … Our running theory is that there was probably somebody studying medicine who needed a cadaver.”

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.