MELBOURNE, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- The remains of Australian convict Ned Kelly will be buried in secret by his descendants after a property developer was ordered to relinquish them.
Victorian government officials Wednesday issued an exhumation permit for Kelly's remains, ending the plans of Pentridge Village developer Leigh Chiavaroli to use the bushranger's remains as part of a museum, the Melbourne Herald-Sun reported Thursday.
Still missing, however, is Kelly's skull, which was stolen from an Old Melbourne Gaol (jail) display case in 1978, The Australian reported.
Kelly was hanged in 1880 for killing three police officers but the location of his remains was unknown until last year. Two dozen skeletons were exhumed from Melbourne's Pentridge Prison and scientists identified Kelly's bones through DNA testing.
The great grand-daughter of Ned Kelly's sister Kate Kelly, Ellen Hollow, hailed the decision.
"Both the Kelly and King families are glad to have matters resolved and to be granted the variation to the exhumation license to have Ned's final wish granted," Hollow said. "The Kelly family will now make arrangements for Ned's final burial. We also appeal to the person who has the skull in their possession to return it to [the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine], so that when the time comes for Ned to be laid to rest his remains can be complete."
