Identified! OH - Fem, bones, found in garage, 13-20, New London, Sept 2016 - Hallie Armstrong, died in 1881

[summergirl1]

I thought about this case again when reading about another historic case that was solved recently, this time by the DNA Doe Project Yoctangee Park John Doe | DNA Doe Project. In her case, I think grave robbing for a medical cadaver is the most likely explanation since with vandalism, I don't think they would have taken so many of her remains (although some were missing, to be sure). I looked up the cemetery where she is buried and it appears to be nowhere near a river that could possibly have flooded her grave and disturbed her remains as happens sometimes. It is near a creek, but that probably means nothing.

As for her cause of death being listed as "Unknown" while that was uncommon, what was more common was a best guess put on death certificates, given the state of medicine at the time. Or the cause of death given as a disease modern medicine would classify or name differently, given updated medical knowledge. 19th century/early 20th century death certificates (and sometimes even later) are certainly not always reliable or even understandable when giving a cause of death, so maybe whoever was the physician who gave the cause of death as "Unknown" was simply being more accurate than many would have been at the time. Or it could be a cover up for something, true. It would be useful to see the death certificate..