Could DNA Help ID Skull, Remains Found In Batavia Home In 1978?

BATAVIA, IL — Almost five decades after partial skeletal remains were found behind a wall in a Batavia apartment, efforts continue to identify the woman.

In November 1978, a couple was remodeling their Wilson Street apartment when a bone fell from inside the wall while they were removing a baseboard, according to DNASolves.com, the platform hosting a fundraiser for the investigation.

After police were called in and discovered more bones behind the wall, the person's remains were sent to the anthropology department at Northern Illinois University, where it was determined the woman was in her mid-20s when she died.

Initial tests also indicated the skull was decades older than the 1978 finding, according to the Kane County Coroner's Office, which continues to investigate the case with the Batavia Police Department.

A National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) file was created, but the case went cold, and the woman was classified as a Jane Doe.

According to a Dec. 26 release from the Kane County coroner, investigators are back on the cold case.

"The Batavia Police Department reached out to the Kane County Coroner’s Office to help bring closure to the decades-old case," officials said. "Utilizing modern DNA technology, unavailable in 1978, the Kane County Coroner’s Office hopes to provide new leads about the woman’s identity."

Investigators are using Othram, Inc., a private DNA lab, to conduct the necessary tests to generate a DNA profile. According to NamUs, only a single, incomplete cranium with no duplicated elements, no right temporal and damage to the right zygomatic is available for testing.

It's a costly process, the coroner said, so officials created a DNASolves crowdfunding campaign to raise money to find the remaining casework. So far, the fundraiser is about halfway to its $7,500 goal.

"I feel this offers people a chance to be part of something meaningful this holiday season," Coroner Rob Russell said in a statement. "To help identify an individual who may have been thought to be forgotten, captures the essence of the holiday season. Every individual is precious and deserves to be remembered, regardless of how much time has passed."