Few historical murder mysteries have captured the interest of a generation like the mystery of where the Romanovs were buried when they were massacred in 1918. What really happened to the Tsar and the Russian royal family when they had to flee from the revolutionary Bolsheviks?
The mystery of where they disappeared was finally solved in 1998 when forensic technology and DNA tests were able to authenticate that a mass grave found in the Urals in 1991 did indeed contain the remains of the Romanov family. However, the samples from the bodies of Tsar Nicolas II and his wife Alexandra are now being exhumed by investigators for further examination, fueling the stories surrounding the family's mystery once again.
According to reports, the Russian Orthodox Church wants blood samples analyzed in order to confirm that the bodies found in other graves indeed belonged to other family members so that they can be reburied together. The remains of who were believed to be Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria were only discovered in 2007 in another area of the Urals.
Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, who is one of the remaining living descendants of the Romanovs, is reportedly fully behind the exhumation and analysis of the samples from the Tsar and his wife, as well as the blood samples from the uniform of Nicolas II's grandfather, Alexander II.
"The grand duchess hopes that the examination of the Yekaterinburg remains will be scientific ... The truth must be established in this case, with an answer to the main question: whose are these remains?" her lawyer, German Lukyanov, told Russia's Tass news agency.
Many history buffs are eager to get more questions answered about this mystery of the murders of Russia's imperial family. The Russian Orthodox Church, as well, wants to be certain if the discovered remains from the Urals belong to relatives of the Romanovs to put another close to this chapter of history.
Photo: The Lost Gallery | Flickr
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