U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, speaking to the press in Tallahassee Wednesday morning, said its finally time to get to the truth about the mysterious deaths that happened at the former Dozier School for Boys in Marianna.
Nelson, D-Fla., is trying to secure grant money from the U.S. Department of Justice to help University of South Florida scientists in their effort to exhume bodies from the old reform school, which shut down in 2011.
The USF researchers discovered nearly 50 unmarked graves on the schools property, using ground-penetrating radar and analyzing soil samples.
Its believed the property contains the bodies of boys who died there in the 1900s but were never accounted for.
Nelson said he got involved in the case after he was contacted by families who lost relatives at the school, including a woman from Lakeland who says her brother died under suspicious circumstances there.
Nelson echoed the words of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, saying he wants the truth to come out so families can finally get closure.
This just all the more has added fuel to the fire and what I said then was, where theres smoke theres fire, and we need to get to the bottom of it.
Asked what the investigation at Dozier can accomplish, Nelson replied, First of all, you get to the truth. The second thing is, you bring a lot of closure for families like Dr. Varnadoe who contacted us in the first place. And thirdly, if crimes were committed, we now have the technical and medical capability of (finding out) what happened in a sordid past and make sure it never happens again.
Nelson said the Justice Department operates a grant program for investigations that use DNA to determine if crimes have been committed. He hopes to get some funding to assist USF researchers with their effort to exhume bodies.
Bondi is proceeding as she described earlier in the month, seeking a court order for those exhumations. She says the work could begin as soon as an order is issued.
Dave Heller is a Tallahassee freelance reporter/videographer.
