DNA Testing Reveals the Putative Identity of JB55, a 19th Century Vampire Buried in Griswold, Connecticut.

ABSTRACT: In 1990 in Griswold, Connecticut, archaeologists excavated a burial found in a "skull and crossbones" orientation. The lid of the 19th century coffin had brass tacks that spelled "JB55", the initials of the person lying there and age at death. JB55 had evidence of chronic pulmonary infection, perhaps tuberculosis. It is possible that JB55 was deemed a vampire due to his disease, and therefore had to be "killed" by mutilating his corpse. In an attempt to reveal the identity of JB55, DNA testing was performed. Ancestry informative single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis using the Precision ID Ancestry Panel indicated European ancestry. A full Y-chromosomal short tandem repeat (Y-STR) profile was obtained, belonging to haplogroup R1b. When the Y-STR profile was searched in the publicly

SUBMITTER: Daniels-Higginbotham J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6769528 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature