Could mystery bones found in attic of Civil War-era home belong to runaway slaves who sought shelter with Underground Railroad sympathizer?

Four partial sets of human remains dating back more than 100 years will finally be laid to rest on Saturday in a 19th century-style ceremony in Union City, Michigan.



A horse-drawn hearse will carry the bones of two males and two females from the First Congregational Church to their final resting place - a donated cemetery plot at Riverside Cemetery - while townspeople dressed in period clothing will look on.

But while the bones are being laid to rest, the story behind them remains a mystery.



Mystery bones: Four partial sets of human remains dating back more than 100 years were found earlier this year

The house was built in 1839 and once served as a hideout for slaves escaping by way of the Underground Railroad organization

The remains were found underneath the floorboard of an historic Michigan home last January

They were found earlier this year in the attic of a house built in 1839. The same house had once served as a hideout for slaves escaping by way of the Underground Railroad, which helped 19th-century black slaves escape to free states and Canada.



The bones were sent to Michigan State University, where the forensics lab established that they dated back more than 100 years and had belonged to four different people. The collection included a lower jaw with teeth, vertebrae and ribs, but no head, feet or hands.



However once forensic anthropologists determined that no current crime had been committed, efforts were abandoned to uncover the age and race of the individuals due to the expense involved.



The home is currently owned by the McIntosh family and one of their daughters discovered the bones after looking under the attic floorboards.

A forensics lab established that the bones dated back more than 100 years and had belonged to four different people

Once forensic anthropologists determined that no current crime had been committed, efforts were abandoned to uncover the age and race of the individuals due to the expense

The collection of bones included a lower jaw with teeth

Were the four individuals victims of a crime, or were their partial remains placed there after their deaths?



'Just the fact that they're underneath the floorboards is strange. But there's nothing that suggests a crime, either,' Lt. Chris Mathis of the Union City Police Department told FoxNews.com .