She Died In 1866, And Her Skull Found In 1978 Is Now Identified

An artist's rendition of 17-year-old Esther Granger, who died in 1866 in Merrillville, Indiana

Mystery of Her Skull Is Partially Solved

Esther Granger died in 1866. The mystery of who she was and how her skull got there began in 1978 when a homeowner in Batavia, Illinois, ripped down a wall and found a human skull inside. It's true. In 1978, her skull was found in a wall of a home in Indiana that was being remodeled. And in case you're wondering, the only part of her found in that wall was her skull. 

The headline read, Skull Found in Illinois Home Identified as Teen Victim of Grave Robbers who died 150 years ago.

Since there was no way of identifying her back in 1978, the skull went into storage at the Batavia Depot Museum. And yes, there it sat, forgotten until workers found it inside a box in 2021. Detectives retrieved DNA and eventually tracked down a great-great-grandson to confirm the skull belonged to Esther Granger. As it turns out, her life ended as a teenager. 

"Esther was born in 1848 in Indiana, got married at age 16, and died the following year from complications of childbirth after delivering a baby girl. 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," that's according to the Kane County Coroner’s office.

 

The Kane County, Illinois, Coroner's Office held a press conference where they revealed the identity of the skull's owner and how they were able to crack the case by building a DNA profile.

Coroner Bob Russell told the news conference, "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. 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."

"So the question remains: If she died in 1866 in Indiana, how did she end up in a wall in a house in Batavia?" says Rob Russell, coroner of Kane County in Illinois. 

It's only speculation, and Detectives can't say for sure. But they have an educated guess: Grave robbers. At the time Esther died, the practice was relatively common because grave robbers could make a nice profit by selling remains to physicians who were trying to learn more about anatomy.

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.

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)

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.

As for Esther Granger's relatives today, Esther's newly identified descendant, 69-year-old Wayne Svilar of Portland, Oregon, said, "There is this sense of closure. I wish my mom were here so I could tell her the story, she would have loved it."



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)

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.

One report stated, "There was nothing fishy about the death of Esther Granger in Indiana in 1866."

But wait a minute, think about that for a second or two, it's not exactly every day that someone finds a skull in a wall of a home being remodeled. In fact, I'd say there's definitely something fishy, something very odd and suspicious, about finding a human skull in the walls of your home. Fishy, doesn't begin to cover it. 

Besides the question of who the skull belongs to, which thanks to DNA we know it's Esther Granger, there's the question of how a human skull found its way to a wall in a house. And please, let's understand what we're talking about, we're not talking about digging on your property in rural America and finding human remains. 

We're also not talking about finding a grave under your garage as was the case that took place in San Francisco a few years back when some workers found the coffin and remains of a child under the floor of a garage they were digging up and redoing.  A Child's Century-old Coffin Found Under A San Francisco Home

And think about this, unlike accidentally finding someone's remains when you're digging a post hole out in some pasture, which happens more than we think, the only thing that was found of her in that wall was her skull. That means someone had to remove her head or her whole body from its grave, and at some point, her head became separated from the rest of her. Unless of course, those grave robbers only wanted her head. 

And think about this, when they were done with her head, for some creepy reason, instead of reburying it, some sick individual decided to hide her head in a wall. And yes, that's where teenager Esther Granger's skull was found. Talk about ghoulish.   

Tom Correa