Grave excavation work begins at US school site

Researchers from a Florida university began work to exhume dozens of graves today at a notorious former reform school where ex-inmates from the 1950s and 1960s have detailed horrific beatings that took place in a small, white concrete block building at the facility.
A group of survivors that call themselves the "White House Boys" have pushed for five years for an investigation into the graves at the former Dozier Boys School, which was plagued by scandal almost from its inception; tales of physical, mental and sexual abuse of the children have been documented.
After the state ended an investigation in 2010 and said it could not substantiate or refute claims that boys died at the hands of staff, the University of South Florida began its own research.

USF researchers have verified the deaths of two adult staff members and 96 children between 1914 and 1973 at the school. Records indicated that 45 individuals were buried on the 1,400-acre tract from 1914 to 1952 while 31 bodies were sent elsewhere for burial. That leaves at least 22 bodies unaccounted for.
Researchers from the university are measuring and marking the site, spokeswoman Laura Wade said. They then will remove dirt with trowels and by hand to find the remains, which are believed to be 19 inches to 3-plus feet under the surface.
"In these historic cases, it's really about having an accurate record and finding out what happened and knowing the truth about what happened," said Erin Kimmerle, a USF anthropologist who is leading the excavation.

The school segregated white and black inmates and the remains are located where black inmates were held, Robert Straley, a spokesman for the group said. He suspects there is another white cemetery that hasn't been discovered.

"I think that there are at least 100 more bodies up there," he said. "At some point they are going to find more bodies, I'm dead certain of that. There has to be a white graveyard on the white side."
USF will work at the site until Tuesday and hopes to unearth the remains of two to four boys before resuming the excavation at a later date, Kimmerle said. The initial work will ensure that the process works smoothly before researchers return to the site.

DNA obtained at the site will be sent to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification for analysis. The hope is that it can be matched to relatives. Ten families have contacted researchers in hopes of identifying relatives that might be buried at Dozier.