This Florida panhandle town is the home of a mystery that has become quite a scandal in recent months. A small cemetery buried deep into the grounds of a now-defunct boys reform school dates back to the early 1900s. Rusting white steel crosses mark the graves of 31 unidentified former students, and approximately 81 boys in total are known to have died there. The location of the remaining bodies is yet unknown, and is the center of investigation even now.
Throughout its 113-year history, the Dozier School for Boys gained a notorious reputation for beatings, rapes, torture, and even killings perpetrated by staff on students. Despite periodic investigations, changes of leadership, and promises to improve, the allegations of cruelty and abuse continued until confirmed by separate investigations by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in 2010 and the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice in 2011. These investigations prompted state authorities to finally close the school for good.
In recent months, researchers from the University of South Florida have been on the school grounds using ground penetrating radar in a search for unmarked graves, hoping to determine just how many children were murdered here.
posted from Bloggeroid
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