Ep 2. Hunting The Mummy Of Lincoln's Assassin

In "Mummies Unwrapped" Season 1 Episode 2, titled "Hunting The Mummy Of Lincoln's Assassin," the team of experts led by Egyptologist Ramy Romany, sets out to explore the possible existence of a mummy that holds the key to decoding one of America's most infamous murders - the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

The episode starts with the team visiting the Ford's Theater, the scene of the crime where Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth in 1865. The team examines the official autopsy report that describes Lincoln's injuries and the details of Booth's escape. They also look at a replica of Booth's diary, which was found to contain a message in code that has remained uncracked for over 150 years.

Ramy and the team believe that the mummy of John Wilkes Booth may hold the key to decoding the message. According to historical accounts, Booth's body was mummified and embalmed before being returned to his family. However, the exact location of his final resting place remains a mystery.

The team travels to several locations to investigate potential leads, including Booth's birthplace in Maryland and his relatives' gravesites. They also speak to experts in forensic pathology and embalming practices of the 19th century to gain a better understanding of the possibilities and limitations of mummification in that era.

As they continue their search, the team encounters several roadblocks, including false leads and missing records, which increase the challenge of finding the mummy. A breakthrough comes when the team quotes academic journals that suggest that Booth was mummified and placed in a public display in the Smithsonian, resulting in several calls from the public to help find the mummy.

Through their investigation, the team discovered that Booth's mummified remains were in fact destroyed in a fire in 1867, along with other artifacts, hindering the efforts to decode the message in his diary.

The episode ends with a sense of bittersweetness as the team realizes that their long search was fruitless and that the identity of the mysterious code remains a mystery to this day. However, the exploration shed light on the history of mummification and embalming practices of the United States during the 19th century and provides a captivating account of the events that led to Lincoln's assassination.