DNA identifies woman whose remains were found in Wilmington park in 2011

NEW CASTLE, Del. - Human remains found in a wooded area of a Wilmington park in 2011 have been identified through DNA and investigative genealogy as a woman who died more than a century ago, New Castle County police said.

Who was identified?

What we know:

The remains belonged to Hannah Graham Kleitz, who was 29 when she died from a medical illness in 1907, police said.

Her partial skeletal remains and skull were discovered in Sellers Park, off Edgemoor Road, on June 5, 2011. A forensic anthropological examination determined they belonged to a white woman estimated to be between 25 and 50 years old.

For years, investigators were unable to determine her identity.

How investigators solved the case

The backstory:

Police entered a DNA profile from the remains into national databases and later sought additional testing through forensic investigative genetic genealogy.

In January, investigators identified a potential family connection through a genealogical tree. A relative then told detectives that Kleitz’s mausoleum and grave at Riverview Cemetery had been unlawfully accessed and desecrated in 2002.

Police said remains similar to those later found at Sellers Park had been removed from the grave.

With support from Kleitz’s extended family, investigators exhumed remains from the cemetery and used a DNA comparison to positively identify her.

Returned to her mausoleum

What's next:

Members of Kleitz’s family, investigators and others involved in the case gathered at Riverview Cemetery on Aug. 27 to reunite her remains and return them to her mausoleum.

Police said the work brought closure to her family and allowed Kleitz to be returned to her rightful resting place.

New Castle County