The Bones Buried Seventy Meters Away

Name: The Bones Buried Seventy Meters Away
Genre: Documentary

Nearly ninety years after the Romanovs vanished, 44 fragments discovered beside a road promised to identify the two children history could not find.

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Transcript

In summer 2007, 44 bone fragments and teeth were discovered.
In summer 2007, three amateur Russian archaeologists discovered 44 bone fragments and teeth near Old Koptyaki Road.
The documented discovery included 44 bone fragments and teeth.
The site was only about 230 feet (70 meters) from a larger grave nearby.
That larger grave yielded nine sets of remains when excavated in 1991.
Nuclear DNA verified a family group among the remains.
But two children were absent: crown prince Alexei and one younger sister.
Absence can keep hope alive long after history closes the door.
The second site contained 44 fragments and teeth from at least two people.
One was female, 15 to 19; the other probably male, 12 to 15.
Three silver fillings suggested at least one child held aristocratic status.
Scientists tested mitochondrial DNA, autosomal STRs, and Y-STRs from the remains.
The results identified one female and one male child of Nicholas and Alexandra.
The dead were identified as Alexei and one of his sisters.
Reanalysis confirmed the earlier DNA work and brought the identification mystery finality.
Before testing, the missing sister's identity was disputed between Maria and Anastasia.
Sidney Gibbes was tutor to the imperial family from 1908 until evacuation in spring 1918.
Maria was one of the sisters whose identity remained disputed. I would happily stay in Tobolsk forever.
A documented 1917 photograph shows the Romanovs working together in the garden.

To understand why Alexei and one sister were buried seventy meters away, we must return to a garden where the Romanovs still looked like a family.

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