Wilmington remains identified as woman who died in 1907

New Castle County Police have identified human remains found in a Wilmington park in 2011 as Hannah Graham Kleitz, a woman who died of a medical illness in 1907 at the age of 29.

The remains, which included a skull, were discovered in a wooded area of Sellers Park. While investigators initially entered a DNA profile into national databases, they were unable to make an identification until the Cold Case Squad reopened the investigation in 2019. Using forensic investigative genetic genealogy and a 3D facial reconstruction created by George Mason University professor Joe Mullins, detectives identified a potential family connection in January.

A relative informed investigators that Kleitz’s mausoleum and grave at Riverview Cemetery had been unlawfully accessed and desecrated in 2002. Following the genealogical match, police exhumed remains from the cemetery to perform a DNA comparison, which positively identified Kleitz. Her remains were returned to her resting place at Riverview Cemetery in late August.