Defendant: Michigan judge dismisses Gipp exhumation case

HOUGHTON, Mich. -- A defendant in a lawsuit stemming from the exhumation of Notre Dame great George Gipp's body said a judge has dismissed the case.

Two men claiming to be Gipp's cousins sued in November, contending that the remains of the player's sister, Bertha Isabelle Gipp Martin, were disturbed because workers initially dug in the wrong spot. She was buried next to her brother.

The remains of Gipp, who died in 1920 of pneumonia, were dug up Oct. 4 for DNA testing to determine whether he had fathered his girlfriend's child. The results were negative.

Mike Bynum, a Birmingham, Ala., sports writer who helped arrange the exhumation, says a Houghton County judge dismissed the case Thursday.

A message seeking comment was left with the Gipp cousins' lawyer, Torger Omdahl.