Expert: John Shea - 4/14/2011

Question
I found the following article posted in Ancestry.com today:

"A Curious Circumstance -- A Petrified human body. -- Some seven years since says the Elmira Advertiser, Whittington Sayre, a gentleman extensively engaged in the lumber business in that place, and highly respected by a large circle of acquaintances, went on a visit to a couple of sons near Milwaukee, Wis., but shortly after arriving there he was taken ill, died and was buried in one of the grave yards of that city. A few weeks since on account of a road being about to be opened through the ground where his remains were deposited, it was determined to disinter them for burial elsewhere. On removing the earth from the coffin (which was considerably decayed) it was found that Mr. Sayre's body was in as good a state of preservation as when interred. It was taken from the grave and examined by a large number of people. The general opinion was that the petrifaction had been occasioned by some action of the soil; but when the remains of others, in the adjoining graves were taken up, they were found to be almost entirely decomposed. Every feature of Mr. Sayre's face was perfectly preserved and the whole body was as hard as the hardest stone. This is a remarkable case, and will give rise to some speculation among the scientific and curious."

My question is: If those remains have been saved over the years, do you think that a Y-Chromosome DNA could be extracted from it?

I would guess "not," but thought it worth asking.

Answer
This is a hoax.  It is based on a newspaper story circulated around 1916 in which finds of 7ft tall petrified individuals with horns on their heads were said to be found at the Sayre Mound in Pennsylvania.  The finds in question were shipped to a museum in Pennsylvania (Area 51 had not yet been built apparently), only they disappeared en route.
As you will learn if you read about Mark Twain's journalistic career, newspapers often made up stories like this to fill space during times when not much happened.
Sincerely,
John Shea