INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A Marion County judge is considering a request to open up John Dillinger’s grave to see if the famous gangster is really buried at Crown Hill Cemetery.

The request has split Dillinger’s relatives, with many of them against the proposal.

According to online court records, the judge has more motions to consider. Crown Hill Cemetery plans to file a motion to dismiss.While John Dillinger’s closest relative, a nephew named Michael Thompson said he is amending his complaint.

But Dillinger’s great-great-niece Stephanie Nix is convinced Thompson is wrong.

“John Dillinger is buried here,” she said, standing outside the gate at Crown Hill Tuesday evening.

That’s why the tug-of-war these last few months has been stressful and unpleasant.

Thompson believes there’s reason to doubt the name on the headstone and wants to run a DNA test. It’s an effort that was once associated with the History Channel but the network has since bowed out.

“It’s really sad it’s come to this,” said Nix.

In August, we told you about some of the reasons including different fingerprints, different eye color and different teeth.

Many experts believe some reasons are because Dillinger had plastic surgery to disguise his appearance. Others might be a result of decomposition as the body was on display on some of the hottest days on record in Chicago.

For Nix, her firm belief comes from Dillinger’s father, her great-great-grandfather, who promised his son would be buried next to his mother.

“That’s the way he wanted it,” she said. “I don’t believe he put a lookalike in a grave next to his mother, ever.”

News 8 also visited the Indiana Historical Society where Susan Sutton, the Director of Digitization, showed News 8 a variety of artifacts including an original wanted poster for Dillinger which lists a $20,000 reward.

Sutton said the poster resulted in dual outcomes, including to make his face well-known.

“For J. Edgar Hoover, this was a good thing,” Sutton said. “He could try to capture the man. On the other hand, it created a little more mystique, buzz or hype.”

She said his crimes resonated especially with a public which during the Great Depression often hated the very banks Dillinger was robbing.

She also showed News 8 an FBI record of Dillinger’s criminal career which spells out their belief he was deceased.

She also has a few photos of the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City which many believe shaped his criminal behavior later.

As for the current controversy, “I can see both sides of the issue,” she said.

Nix went to the courthouse Tuesday to try to find out for herself, only to find out no ruling yet.

She hopes to find out the outcome before the general public.

“It should just be left alone,” she said. “They should rest in peace, how they were intended.”

Because of the extra security measures to protect Dillinger’s body from grave robbers, she’s worried about what an exhumation will do to her family’s plot.

In fact, because of damage done over the years, Sutton said his current headstone is the third one to be placed there.

According to online records, the judge has not set the next hearing date.

News 8 reached out to Michael Thompson, Dillinger’s nephew, but he did not respond.

As News 8 reported last month, the request is for the exhumation to be done on Dec. 3 and reinterred on Dec. 17.

The first application filed by Thompson for a date in September was approved by the Indiana State Department of Health but lapsed because of the legal fight.