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Final Report on Dozier Leaves Unanswered Questions

January 21st, 2016 by Mike Vasilinda

 

The final report on 51 graves found at the now defunct Dozier School for Boys in the Panhandle Town of Marianna was presented to the Governor and Cabinet today. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the report leaves as many questions as it answered.

The Dozier excavation found the remains of 51 boys. 7 have been identified, 14 more are called presumptive. That means the possible ID is based on records, not scientific evidence. There’s also a composite of two of the 31 whose identity is still unknown.

USF Anthropologist Dr. Erin Kimmerle presented the report to the Governor and Cabinet.

“What we did is follow all leads that we could find, From witnesses, historic references, people who live in the community” the researched told the Cabinet.

A group of 230 former inmates known as the White House Boys, named for the concrete block building where beatings took place  says there are more bodies, and they are willing to help. Former inmate Charles Fudge says he walked by a grave on the white side of the compound everyday.

“There is a grave yard there that has more than 30 graves, and I ask that this does not stop” says Fudge.

Researchers say it’s impossible to rule out more bodies. But they say they did everything they could to find them.”

“Every information that we had, we looked in those areas, and haven’t found any additional burials” says Kimmerle.

Legislation moving through the Capitol would provide cash for families to bury the dead.

One of the biggest remaining questions is what happens to the remains of those boys who are unidentified.

And those who lived to tell their stories say the memories of Dozier will always haunt them. Bill Price was sent to Dozier for running away, and ran away again.

“I’m very lucky. I ran away twice. boys that were found in the woods were shot” says the Tampa man.

There is also the question of how to memorialize what happened at Dozier and what to do with the expansive property.

The pending legislation would provide up to five thousand dollar for each family who’s loved one has been identified at Dozier.

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