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Last week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wrote that "anomalies consistent with potential graves" were discovered at a site near the defunct Marianna School, Florida, during a recent cleanup of the soil pollution.
Dr. Erin Kimmerle, Professor of Anthropology at the University of South Florida, has entrusted CNN with a company performing "Ground Penetration Radar" (GPR) tests in the field discovered to have discovered 27 anomalies in a wooded area about 500 meters north of the 51 boys area in 2013.
Kimmerle said the area was near an old farmhouse operating on school grounds.
According to state and school records, nearly 100 children have died as a result of a tragic fire in a dormitory in 1914 and a deadly flu epidemic in 1918 But the circumstances surrounding other deaths have remained mysterious and do not know who is buried where.
It is too early to tell if the latest discovery is a grave, said Kimmerle, and there will be other tests – including tests of "truth on the ground" – as needed. "Ground truth" tests include tedious digging of trenches and test pits to see what exactly is in the ground and confirm what GPR tests have been able to see.
"I think that needs to be checked on the ground and checked further," Kimmerle said. "Given the historical sensitivity, this must be done and put to rest."
The controversial history of the school
The state confirmed that the school grounds contained an interment site for unknown students.
In 2008, Governor Charlie Crist ordered an investigation after a group of men known as "White House Boys" had recounted that there had been beatings at inside a small white building located on the property. The men said they were beaten unconscious, or whipped until their underwear was embedded in their buttocks.
A public inquiry concluding a year later found that the evidence of abuse in Dozier was insufficient and determined that no criminal activity or abuse was associated with any of the deaths. Alumni continued to make themselves heard by telling stories of abusive administrators, beatings, murders and disappearances of other students.
The former school administrator, Troy Tidwell, said in a 2009 statement that "spankings" had occurred, but that no one had ever been beaten or killed.
Florida's Department of Juvenile Justice shut down the school in 2011, citing budget cuts.
Rich Phillips from CNN contributed to this report.
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