09/05/2026
2011 Cold Case Solved Through DNA and Investigative Genealogy
On June 5, 2011, the New Castle County Division of Police responded to a wooded area in Sellers Park, located off Edgemoor Road in Wilmington, after human remains and a human skull were discovered. Detectives from the New Castle County Police Criminal Investigations Unit were notified and assumed the investigation. As part of the investigation, the remains were turned over to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and a subsequent forensic anthropological analysis was conducted. It was determined that the partial skeletal remains belonged to a white female, estimated to be between 25 and 50 years old. Investigators entered the case information into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) and extracted a DNA profile from the remains, which was entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). Despite these efforts, investigators were unable to identify the woman.
In 2019, the New Castle County Police Cold Case Squad reviewed the case, including the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the remains.
As the investigation continued, a three-dimensional scan of the skull was obtained and provided to a forensic art professor from George Mason University, who developed a facial reconstruction to assist in identifying the woman. Detectives pursued additional avenues of DNA analysis and identified the case as a candidate for Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy (FIGG). Genealogy expert Detective Steve Smugeresky of the Montgomery County Police Department in Maryland led the research. As investigative genealogy evolved, investigators reached out to people nationwide who voluntarily shared their ancestral information and DNA profiles.
In January 2026, Cold Case investigators were notified of a potential familial connection through a genealogical tree.
Investigators contacted a potential family member who provided information about a relative whose mausoleum and grave at Riverview Cemetery in Wilmington had been unlawfully accessed and desecrated in 2002. Remains similar to those discovered at Sellers Park had been removed from the grave.
With the support of her extended family, an exhumation was conducted, and a subsequent DNA comparison positively identified the woman as Hannah Graham Kleitz, a 29-year-old woman who died in 1907 from a medical illness.
On Thursday, August 27, 2026, members of Hannah Graham Kleitzโs extended family, the New Castle County Division of Police, Forensic Investigators from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and others involved in the investigation gathered at Riverview Cemetery in Wilmington to reunite Hannahโs remains and return them to her mausoleum. Mealeyโs Funeral Home and Masonry and Concrete Inc, who both participated in Hannahโs reinterment in 2002, again voluntarily assisted with the exhumation and reunification of her remains.
The New Castle County Division of Police sincerely thanks everyone who contributed their time, compassion, and dedication to helping resolve this case, provide closure to Hannahโs family, and ensure Hannah could finally return to her rightful resting place.
We extend our gratitude to:
โข Hannah Graham Kleitzโs extended family
โข Delaware Division of Forensic Science
โข Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
โข Delaware Attorney Generalโs Office
โข Bode Technology in Virginia
โข Professor Joe Mullins of George Mason University
โข The Board of Directors and volunteers of the historic Riverview Cemetery
โข Mark and Stan Baranowski and Luke Palmer of Masonry and Concrete Inc.
โข Mealeyโs Funeral Home
โข Detective Steve Smugeresky of the Montgomery County Police Department in Maryland
