As late as 2004, Gabriel Louis Duval wrote a book, "A Princess in the Family", claiming that his foster grandmother "Granny Alina" might have been the Grand Duchess Maria. According to Duval, Granny Alina married a man named Frank and emigrated to South Africa. She later lived with his family before dying in 1969. Her body was exhumed, but DNA was too degraded to be useful in determining whether she shared DNA with the imperial family. Most historians continued (later proven right) to discount the claims that Maria or any other member of the family survived the killings.