DNA experts help solve boner pulled by developer

DNA experts in Shaanxi province were able to put a grave dispute to rest after a real estate developer exhumed the tombs on two family plots and accidentally mixed up the remains.

Family members delivered the mixed bag of bones to a DNA center in Xi'an earlier this month, where it took lab technicians more than 20 days to genetically identify and separate them.

The remains, which included nearly 100 bones, are believed to be for woman who died more than 30 years ago and a man who passed away 10 years after.

They were removed from two family plots during a recent development project in Yan'an.

Unwilling to risk burying unidentified bones on a family plot, relatives from both families turned to scientists for help after police were unable to resolve the issue.