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MARIANNA, Fla. — The number of unmarked graves believed to belong to boys killed when abuse went too far at Florida's infamous Dozier School for Boys has risen to nearly 50.
Eighteen more graves were discovered at a small cemetery where there were already 31 crosses for boys who died at the institution, which was closed in June 2011.
Investigations into the school have yielded no proof of abuse, but a group of men who call themselves the "White House Boys" say there are probably many bodies unaccounted for.
"From 1900 to 1910, God knows how many died! Because the conditions were even worse," Robert Straley, a White House Boy, told WFSU
Straley said he was abused in the mid-1960s in a room known as the "White House." Records show 84 boys died at the institution between 1910 and the mid-1970s, but no records exist for the first decade of the 20th century. Straley says the lack of records is why he believes there are more graves to be found.
At the time of its closing, the school had been plagued by scandal since 1903, when an inspection found that children at the school were commonly kept in leg irons. A fire at the school in 1914 killed six boys and two staff members.
A gubernatorial visit to the school in 1968 revealed poor conditions and overcrowding, and Gov. Claude Kirk said "somebody should have blown the whistle a long time ago."
A 1982 inspection of the school found boys hogtied and kept in isolation for weeks at a time.
The acting superintendent of the school and one other employee were fired in 2007 following allegations of abuse of inmates.
A 2009 inspection found the school had failed to address complaints of mistreatment by guards. It was concluded that the school had a longstanding "culture of violence and abuse"
Budget cuts forced the closure of the school in 2011.
That is what led University of South Florida researcher Erin Kimmerle to conduct a search of the area. Kimmerle and her team petitioned the state of Florida to use ground penetrating radar to try to find a second cemetery. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement had found 31 graves during a 2009 investigation, but it was always suspected that was not the correct number.
The state originally denied Kimmerle's request, as the land was set to be auctioned to the public. But the Department of Juvenile Justice reversed its decision on Thursday after a family member of one of the White House Boys filed a lawsuit to stop the sale of the land.
Researchers have 120 days to work on the property before the sale will be allowed, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Along with the 49 likely graves, researchers also found evidence of another clandestine cemetery on school property, in an area of the campus that had been reserved for white students during segregation.
Kimmerle said it was customary to have segregated cemeteries until 1968, but there was no evidence of segregation found at the current burial site.
Both the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and historians have acknowledged that the stories of missing bodies could be true, although some historians say some of the boys buried could have died during a fire at the school or during an influenza outbreak.
Historian Dale Cox told WJHG he does not believe the graves prove anything.
"Let's dig up the whole campus- let's spend millions" Cox said. "Let's dig it all up, let's get to the bottom of this. And when it's all said and done, if there is no evidence of additional murder victims out there, then I think the University of South Florida owes the people of Jackson County an apology."
