Ganina Yama (Russian: Ганина Яма, "Ganina's Pit") was a 9' deep pit in the Four Brothers mine near the village of Koptyaki, 15 km north from Yekaterinbur. On the night of 17 July 1918 the bodies of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family (who had been murdered at the Ipatiev House) were secretly transported to Ganina Yama and thrown into the pit.A week later, the White Army drove the Bolsheviks from the area and launched an investigation into the fate of the royal family. An extensive report concluded that the royal family's remains had been cremated at the mine, since evidence of fire was found and charred bones, but no bodies. But the Bolsheviks, realizing that the burial site was no longer a secret, had returned to the site the night after the first burial to relocate the bodies to an