DNA confirms IDs of czar's children

[TJ Phaserman 2]

MOSCOW - DNA tests carried out by a U.S. laboratory prove that bone fragments exhumed last year belong to two children of Czar Nicholas II, putting to rest questions about what happened to Russia's last royal family, a regional governor said Wednesday.

 

Bone fragments dug up near the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg are indeed those of Crown Prince Alexei and his sister, Maria, whose remains had been missing since the family was murdered in 1918 as Russia descended into civil war, said Eduard Rossel, governor of the Sverdlovsk region.

 

"We have now found the entire family," he told reporters in Yekaterinburg, 900 miles east of Moscow.

 

The confirmation could bring the tortured history of the Russian imperial family closer to closure and end royal supporters' persistent hopes that members of the czar's immediate family survived the massacre.

 

Nicholas II abdicated in 1917 as revolutionary fervor swept Russia, and he and his family were detained. The czar; his wife, Alexandra, and their son and four daughters were fatally shot on July 17, 1918, in a basement room of the merchant's house where they were being held in Yekaterinburg

 

The remains of Nicholas, Alexandra and three of their daughters were unearthed in Yekaterinburg in 1991 as the Soviet Union was collapsing. After genetic tests convinced forensics experts of their authenticity, they were buried in 1998 in a cathedral in the imperial capital of St. Petersburg.

 

The Russian Orthodox Church canonized Nicholas and his family in 2000, even as it expressed doubts that the remains were indeed those of the czar's family.

 

The remains of Alexei and Maria, however, had never been located, leading to decades of speculation that perhaps one or both had survived.

 

Last summer, researchers dug up the bone shards near Yekaterinburg and enlisted Russian and U.S. laboratories to conduct DNA tests.

 

"The main genetic laboratory in the United States has concluded its work with a full confirmation of our own laboratories' work," Rossel told reporters. "This has confirmed that indeed it is the children.

 

It was unclear which laboratory Rossel was referring to but a genetic research team working at the University of Massachusetts Medical School has been involved in the process.

 

The press service for Russian Orthodox Church said no one could comment on the discovery.

[Kor37 9]

Thank goodness the mystery of Anastasia is finally solved. All of those women claiming to be her over the years can finally be definitively exposed as frauds.... :)

[Theunicornhunter 2]

Actually the msytery of Anastasia was resolved several years ago. These were the remaining two children. A sad, sad story.

[trekz 7]

A very sad story indeed with children being killed. It is also interesting to note how many of the royal families of Europe were related to the Romanov's.

[Theunicornhunter 2]

A very sad story indeed with children being killed. It is also interesting to note how many of the royal families of Europe were related to the Romanov's.

 

I think they used DNA from an un-named member of the British Royal Family to disprove Anna Anderson's claim to be Anastasia.

 

This is gross but something I either read or watched said they killings of the females was particularly gory because they had sewn family jewels into their bodies to hide them so the bayonnets had to be repeatedly jabbed. What could ever possess someone to do that to a child (well anyone really)

Edited April 30, 2008 by TheUnicornHunter

[Bethlehem 8]

The way humans treat each other makes you wonder why we us the word humane to describe caring actions :biggrin: