An Update on Florida’s Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys

MARIANNA, FLORIDA—University of South Florida forensic archaeologist Erin Kimmerle continues to investigate the claims of abuse made by men who attended the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in the 1950s and 60s. The remains of 55 children have been exhumed from a cemetery on the grounds of the state-run boys’ reform school. The school did not keep a master list for the burial ground, so Kimmerle and her team are attempting to identify the remains so that they can be returned to the families. “It wasn’t something that was an option in the past when the deaths occurred,” she told BBC News. Kimmerle has not yet ruled out foul play in the deaths of any of the recovered individuals. The investigation has revealed that those who died in a fire had been locked in their rooms and were unable to escape. Others who died in a flu epidemic had been left without food or medicine. The researchers are searching for human remains on other parts of the campus with canine recovery teams.