'VAMPIRE' RISES FROM THE GRAVE
Researchers ID Conn. ‘undead’ man
Researchers have identified an early 19th century “vampire” thanks to some cutting-edge technology.
The man’s remains were discovered in 1990 in Griswold, Conn.
He was found with his arms in an X shape — a burial practice believed to prevent blood-suckers rising from the grave to feed upon the living.
Thanks to bioinformatic DNA analyses, researchers learned the middleaged man was named John Barber and he suffered from tuberculosis.
Symptoms of tuberculosis include sweating, losing weight, a swelling neck and coughing up blood — which may have led paranoid locals to suspect vampirism.
Parabon NanoLabs and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory released their findings at a recent conference in Washington, DC, SWNS reported.
Not only did the lab work reveal his identity, but researchers were also able to use machinelearning models to digitally replicate Barber’s appearance.
Thom Shaw, a certified forensic artist at Parabon, reconstructed Barber’s face and predicted he had fair skin, brown eyes, brown or black hair and freckles.
A search of historical records yielded an obituary for another person buried in the cemetery that mentioned a man named John Barber, but no other records were found for him. DNA analysis found what researchers believe to be a third-degree, first-cousin relationship to Barber.
GEDmatch — an online service that compares DNA data files from testing companies — traced ancestors with the surname Barber living in New England in the 18th and 19th centuries, supporting the hypothesis that his identity was most likely John Barber.
“Tales of the undead consuming the blood of living beings have been around for centuries,” Parabon NanoLabs said in a statement. “Before scientific and clinical knowledge were used to explain infectious diseases and medical disorders, communities hit with epidemics turned to folklore for explanations.
“They often blamed vampirism for the change in appearance, erratic behavior and deaths of their friends and family who actually suffered from conditions such as porphyria, pellagra, rabies and tuberculosis,” the statement continued.
“It is speculated that he [John Barber] was later disinterred and reburied because his limbs had been placed atop his chest in an X in a skull-and-crossbones configuration — a burial practice used to prevent purported vampires from rising from the grave to feed upon the living,” Parabon said.