NEW LONDON, Ohio (WJW) – A piece of a more than century-old mystery has been solved in New London.
72 human bones were found inside the garage of a home on Main Street in New London in 2016.
The Porchlight Project worked with the New London police chief and had the bones sent to a lab in Virginia.
After the DNA was extracted, the bones have now been identified as belonging to Hallie Armstrong.
The 18-year-old schoolteacher died in 1881.
Her cause of death was listed as unknown, according to a press release, and she was reportedly buried at Sugar Grove Cemetery in Wilmington.
“I’m happy to say we’ve helped the New London Police rule out a potential homicide in their town,” says Porchlight Project Founder, James Renner. “And in the process of solving one mystery, we’ve uncovered a much older one – who was Hallie Armstrong, really, and how did her remains end up in a barn in New London, a hundred years after her death? Hopefully, one day, we can provide an answer.”
“We have closed a cold case and ruled out a homicide. As one door is closed, another opens in the continuing mystery of how her remains ended up here in New London,” New London police chief, Mike Marko, said.