Lemon Grove Girl was discovered twice: first in 1966 and later in 1980. To my mind, she is the loneliest mummy in the world. Here's why:
The First Discovery
In 1966, she was discovered by two American teenagers in a cave near Chihuahua, Mexico. 
The teens had gone to Mexico in search of their very own mummy. They had heard that local Indian tribes had once buried their dead in caves around Chihuahua; because of the cool dry air of the caves, the bodies often became mummified naturally.
They were quite serious about wanting to find a mummy. Consequently, they spent more than a month exploring caves. Finally, they found not one, but two mummies: a 15 year-old girl and a 1 year-old girl. The teens packed their mummies, smuggled them across the border and took them home.
But what do you do with two mummies when you get home?
Turn them into lamps?
Use them as a foot rest?
Display them as art objects?
The teens had no idea either. And because they did not want to share this information with their parents, they eventually asked a friend if they could store a box in her garage in Lemon Grove, California.
The Second Discovery
For 14 years, the mummies of the girl and the infant remained in the Lemon Grove garage, until the mother of the friend began to clean out her garage. Of course, she was shocked to find the body of the girl in a carton. She thought a murder had taken place. Shaken, she called the police. When they arrived and inspected the box, they realized that two bodies were in the box (the girl and the infant) and that both were mummies, not necessarily murder victims.
While the police conducted their investigation, the mummies were taken to the Museum of Man.
Shortly, the police tracked down the two teens, now men. They told police how they had found the mummies, smuggled them into the U.S., and stored them in their friend's garage. Now, to make amends, they wanted to donate the mummies to the Museum of Man. Of course, the mummies were not theirs to donate. This would be similar to a robber stealing your car and then donating it to a charitable organization; the car was not his to donate.
This did not stop the museum, however, from pursuing the donation. Museum officials contacted Mexican authorities and asked for permission to keep the mummies, to use them in an upcoming exhibit and then as an addition to the permanent collection. Permission was granted, and the Museum carefully studied the mummies before placing them on exhibit.
Interestingly, if the mummies had been American Indians, they would have been repatriated to their ancestral tribe and reburied. Because they came from Mexico, where no such laws about mummies apparently exist, they were allowed to remain on display at the Museum of Mandden, until 2017 when they were removed from exhibit.
Copyright © James M. Deem. Originally published in How to Make a Mummy Talk (Houghton Mifflin, 1995). All rights reserved.
Other Mummy Stories by James M Deem
Curse of Tut's Tomb Elmer McCurdy The Franklin Expedition Lemon Grove Girl
Lindow Man, Bog Body Nesyamun Rosalia Lombardo
The Titanic Mummy Tollund Man, Bog Body
Tollund Man, Bog Body