Claimant of Grand Duchess Marie Nikolaevna - Granny Alina

I think it was the Russian investigators who said it was Maria missing. The Americans said it was Anastasia. Personally, I don't think any of the claimants that we know of were Maria or Anastasia. None of them look like the Grand Duchess that they claim to be. Wouldn't you think if someone really was one of the Grand Duchesses we would at least recognize them? I don't think any of them survived. Probably burned and buried somewhere seperate. I wish we could continue searching for them.  

Uhm, Emily, the're we're two investigations done on their bones, one said that anastasia was missing, and one said that Maria was missing.

But the one we can trust is the one that tell's us Maria is missing.

But you must also take into the account that Russian scientists did not want Anastasia to be missing. They wanted to disprove the Western myths. You must also take into account that the Russian scientists only concluded that Anastasia was among the bodies by a method of matching a skeleton with a face. However, the Americans and Dr. Maples not only noticed that Anastasia was the shortest of the Grand Duchesses, but that all of the vertebrae had rings fully conected on them. In a girl just turned 17, you would most likely not see rings connected at all, while if they were, that would most likely not be fully connected. So in my opinion, the evidence clearly points clearly to the missing body being that of Anastasia. Of course, I do have my doubts about these being the authentic bones of Nicholas II, but if they truly are, then Marie is probably among them.

I agree with you Caleb. But, I do think these are the remains of the IF. What are the odds of finding a grave that matches the descriptions of their murderers, and  the bodies of the people matching the descriptions of the victims??? I don't see how it can't be them.

I agree with you Caleb. But, I do think these are the remains of the IF. What are the odds of finding a grave that matches the descriptions of their murderers, and  the bodies of the people matching the descriptions of the victims??? I don't see how it can't be them.

Well, the fact is that two bodies are missing, so therefore it's not true that they would match the physical descriptions exactly. And of course, so many people were being killed during the revolution. Those bones could be anyone. Although testing by Dr. Peter Gill and Dr. Mary-Claire King put that doubt to rest when they concluded that the mtDNA of 4 of the females matched that of Prince Philip exactly. However, Dr. Knight and others think that a match like that is really not likely with old decayed bones. To put this theory to the test, Grand Duchess Elizabeth's finger which had been held in a wooden box when Ella's grave was opened in 1982 failed to match the DNA of her OWN SISTER! Then a hankerchief with Nicholas's blood on it from the 19th century failed to match the DNA of the Tsar himself. If this isn't contradicting each other then I don't know what it is. I don't know what this says about one of the two sets of DNA analysis (those done in the early 90's and those conducted recently). But I'm not going to make up my mind until more DNA analysis is done.

The finger was not Ella's (we have no clue who it was - I think someone said Varvara?), and the handkerchief had been manhandled to hell and back.

Course anyone who believes AA=AN will not relent so why am I saying this?

Thats true Lanie!  

I really don't believe in Anna Anderson's story!
She was desperate for attention.

But you must also take into the account that Russian scientists did not want Anastasia to be missing. They wanted to disprove the Western myths. You must also take into account that the Russian scientists only concluded that Anastasia was among the bodies by a method of matching a skeleton with a face. However, the Americans and Dr. Maples not only noticed that Anastasia was the shortest of the Grand Duchesses, but that all of the vertebrae had rings fully conected on them. In a girl just turned 17, you would most likely not see rings connected at all, while if they were, that would most likely not be fully connected. So in my opinion, the evidence clearly points clearly to the missing body being that of Anastasia. Of course, I do have my doubts about these being the authentic bones of Nicholas II, but if they truly are, then Marie is probably among them.

Did you actually know that skeleton that was found was very short? That couldn't be Maria, Maria was wasn't short she was tall, she was maybe even tall as Tatiana.
So, I think we most conclude that Anastasia is indeed among the dead, on that night.

Caleb,
once again you just dont do your research. It has been explained over and over that there is a very good chance that the finger came from Sister Varvara, Ella's companion, who's body was in the mine with hers. They were both dressed identically and it could have been a simple switch of identification. Second, there is no stable chain of possession of the finger, which was kept in a small box and trotted out hundreds of times and handled by hundreds of strangers.

Really, your genuine lack of understanding HOW dna testing works and the science underneath it is appalling...

Did you actually know that skeleton that was found was very short? That couldn't be Maria, Maria was wasn't short she was tall, she was maybe even tall as Tatiana.
So, I think we most conclude that Anastasia is indeed among the dead, on that night.

No. The bodies were all too tall to be Anastasia.

Caleb,
once again you just dont do your research. It has been explained over and over that there is a very good chance that the finger came from Sister Varvara, Ella's companion, who's body was in the mine with hers. They were both dressed identically and it could have been a simple switch of identification. Second, there is no stable chain of possession of the finger, which was kept in a small box and trotted out hundreds of times and handled by hundreds of strangers.

Really, your genuine lack of understanding HOW dna testing works and the science underneath it is appalling...

Sorry Forum Admin, but plainly, you do not know whose body the finger came from. Nor does thinking that the finger could have come from Elizabeth have anything to do with understanding DNA testing. All I stated was that I could not be 100% certain of the bone's authenticity, I never declared they were not, yet that didn't stop all of you from attacking me.

Sorry Forum Admin, but plainly, you do not know whose body the finger came from. Nor does thinking that the finger could have come from Elizabeth have anything to do with understanding DNA testing. All I stated was that I could not be 100% certain of the bone's authenticity, I never declared they were not, yet that didn't stop all of you from attacking me.

Lord you aren't even capable of critical thinking?? First you say "You still can't explain why you think Ella's finger was not her's, despite that fact that it obviously was."...Now, Look at your one statement "plainly, you do not knw whose body the finger came from." EXACTLY THE POINT. NO ONE knows who's body the finger came from.  THAT nullifies the use of the finger for dna testing completely as it is not a reliable source.  SO stop citing the testing the finger dna as evidence of ANYTHING.

EXACTLY!!! Thank GOd for Admin!!

No. The bodies were all too tall to be Anastasia.

My information was the skeleton was short.

And, indeed Holly, Thank for Forum Administrator!

Lord you aren't even capable of critical thinking?? First you say "You still can't explain why you think Ella's finger was not her's, despite that fact that it obviously was."...Now, Look at your one statement "plainly, you do not knw whose body the finger came from." EXACTLY THE POINT. NO ONE knows who's body the finger came from.  THAT nullifies the use of the finger for dna testing completely as it is not a reliable source.  SO stop citing the testing the finger dna as evidence of ANYTHING.

I think this is very rude and all I did was make a suggestion that it was probably Ella's finger. I did not deserve to be attacked.