(WSBT) It's been 100 years since Belle Gunness of LaPorte killed dozens of people, but the case still inspires fascination. Now, researchers are trying to solve another mystery. Did Gunness really die in a fire at her LaPorte farm house in 1908, or did she fake her death and go on to kill again?

Remains of Gunness Exhumed

Last week, a team of graduate students from the University of Indianapolis traveled to Forest Park, Ill. Ted Hartzell, Metro Editor for the Herald-Palladium was the only journalist to go along on the trip. He wrote in the LaPorte County Herald-Argus that researchers worked into the night, painstakingly examining and then removing the century-old remains.

To view photos from the exhumation, click on the links in the Related Content box.

The researchers will use DNA from the remains and DNA from the envelopes of letters written by Gunness to see if they match. Hartzell is donating those envelopes to the researchers.

The LaPorte County Historical Society Museum now has pieces of Gunness' casket that were dug up during the exhumation.

“We'll find out once and for all whether it was Belle's body in the grave or not, because nobody really knows,” said Susie Richter, assistant curator of the museum.

A Sordid Tale

Historians say Gunness lured dozens of men to her LaPorte farm house by placing ads in Chicago newspapers, saying she was a wealthy widow in need of a new husband.

After a period of time, she killed them and collected the life insurance money.

In spring of 1908, the brother of a man killed by Gunness threatened to investigate. A short time later, the house burned to the ground, with Gunness and three children supposedly inside. But many people had doubts whether the woman in the casket was really Belle Gunness.

“There's been sightings,” Richter said. “People have said they saw her get on a train later on that night.”

Others say she moved to Los Angeles, changed her name to Esther Carlson and killed someone else. Carlson died while awaiting trial in 1931. If it turns out the remains exhumed in Illinois are not those of Gunness, researchers will likely test Carlson’s DNA to see if it matches with Gunness' DNA.

Interest in Case Remains Strong

Decades after Gunness committed those heinous crimes, the fascination with what happened continues.

“I think it just amazed people, especially her being a woman, the way she killed people for greed and the way men flocked to her,” said Ruth Lawson of LaPorte, while visiting the Gunness exhibit at the LaPorte Historical Society Museum.

Determining whether Gunness died in the fire will take a couple of months, but that likely won't put an end to the fascination with the case. The LaPorte County Historical Society is planning a series of events to mark the 100th anniversary of the fire including a memorial service for Gunness' victims.