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Author Topic: Grave Exhumations & Investigation at The Dozier School for Boys, Marianna, FL  (Read 36892 times)
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MuffyBee
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« Reply #60 on: September 24, 2014, 10:44:20 PM »

http://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/post/usf-announce-names-two-more-dozier-remains
USF to Announce Names of Two More Dozier Remains
September 24, 2014


Thomas Varnadoe (right) in an undated family photo. Varnadoe died in 1934 at the age of 13 at the Dozier Reform School for Boys.
Credit USF Dept. of Anthropology



University of South Florida researchers will announce Thursday afternoon that they've determined the identities of two more sets of remains buried on the grounds of the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys.

The Ledger and a release from Senator Bill Nelson's office say that one is Thomas Varnadoe, 13, who died in 1934, a month after arriving at Dozier.

Nelson says the second boy, Earl Wilson, 12, died in 1944 under circumstances that were never satisfactorily explained by Dozier officials.

USF officials won't confirm either name.
 
Glen Varnadoe told WUSF's Florida Matters in February 2013 that Thomas and his older brother Hubert were sent to Dozier in 1934 for allegedly stealing a typewriter from the home of a local teacher. Thomas died of pneumonia less than a month after arriving there.

Varnadoe said his family wasn't notified of Thomas' death until almost two weeks later. That, along with the fact he was buried in an unmarked grave, led them to long wonder what happened to Thomas.

"I think there's questions about records being destroyed and how many records were available and just total denial I think from the state's part of not embracing this and bringing closure to this horrible chapter in Florida's history," Glen said.

Glen's father, Hubert Varnadoe, returned home from Dozier after nine months. Hubert and Thomas' brother, Joseph, told WUSF's University Beat in December 2012 that Hubert never said anything about his time there.

“He would not speak to anybody about the conditions there or the people there or anything else. He was so traumatized by being there, to start with, and going through what they went through, that he would not talk about it," Hubert, then 83, said.


Last month, USF researchers announced DNA testing helped them identify the first set of remains as George Owen Smith, 14, of Auburndale, who died in 1940, reportedly after running away from the school. Smith's sister, Ovell Krell, told The Ledger she recently buried her brother next to their parents.
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MuffyBee
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« Reply #61 on: September 24, 2014, 10:48:48 PM »

http://www.theledger.com/article/20140923/NEWS/140929628
Investigation Into Dozier School's Unmarked Graves Bring Peace to Lakeland Family
September 23, 2014


This undated photo, as part of the USF report, identified the boy in the front as Thomas Varnadoe, 3, and the taller boy in the background as Hubert Varnadoe. Hubert is the father of Lakeland resident Glen Varnadoe, and Thomas is his uncle. Thomas Varnadoe was one the victims of the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys and his remains were identified recently.
SPECIAL TO THE LEDGER

"It was a moral issue for our family because these boys were never tried or convicted of anything," said Glen Varnadoe, 64, of Lakeland, referring to Hubert Varnadoe and Thomas Varnadoe. The brothers were sent to the former Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in 1934.

Only his late father, Hubert, returned from Dozier after a nine-month stay, Varnadoe said. Thomas Varnadoe died at age 13 just 34 days after his arrival.

"I'm very pleased with the outcome. My mission all along was to bring back my uncle's remains," Varnadoe said. "Now I can return his remains back from that atrocity-laden soil."

Varnadoe spoke to The Ledger on Tuesday about the identification of his uncle's remains. Researchers told him there was too little left of his uncle's skeletal remains to determine a cause of death, he said.

There have been numerous accounts from former Dozier residents and investigations into severe physical abuse, some of which may have resulted in deaths, at Dozier during its 111-year history. Stories have appeared in news media and books during the past several years, including a series of Ledger stories in March based on the testimony of local families and former Dozier residents.

USF has scheduled a news conference at 1 p.m. Thursday in the Galleria at the university's Research Park to discuss further results from its investigation headed by an associate professor, Erin Kimmerle, a forensic anthropologist.


Although his father never talked to him about Dozier, Glen Varnadoe said, the brothers' experiences there became part of the family history.

In 1988, his mother told him a little bit of what she learned from Hubert, he said. Glen Varnadoe visited Dozier the following year and has been looking into its history and what happened to his family ever since.

"I've been on this a long time. I'm glad it's over," Varnadoe said Tuesday.

According to Varnadoe, based on records he and USF researchers uncovered, Hubert and his younger brother Thomas were arrested near their Brooksville home after a local teacher reported the theft of a typewriter from her front porch. Although there was no evidence linking them to the theft, the teacher reported they were the only people she saw on her property that day.

The boys were charged with "malicious trespassing" and taken to Dozier the same day. Thomas died Oct. 26, 1934, of pneumonia, according to an article in the school newspaper, which also reported the 13-year-old had suffered from poor health for many years until his arrival there.
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« Reply #62 on: September 25, 2014, 03:53:04 PM »

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/crime/2014/09/25/dna-id-dozier-school-remains-tampa-unt/16209115/
UNT helps ID remains found at Fla. school
September 25, 2014

Years of hard work and research are finally helping to bring closure to families who sons, brothers, and love ones died at the school decades ago.

TAMPA -- Researchers at the University of South Florida say they have successfully identified two more sets of skeletal remains from Florida's Dozier School for Boys.

On Thursday, officials say the remains of 13-year-old Thomas Varnadoe and 12-year-old Earl Wilson will be the second and third children recovered from unmarked graves to be returned to family members. Wilson is the first African American student to be identified.
Years of hard work and research are finally helping to bring closure to families who sons, brothers, and love ones died at the school decades ago.

Dozens of bodies have been found in unmarked graves at the former youth detention facility in Marianna, Florida.

Early last month, with the help of researchers at the University of North Texas, the first set of remains were identified as George Smith.

Smith's family attended a press conference where state dignitaries, researchers, and family members gathered to discuss the findings.

"At least I know he's dead," said Smith's sister, Ovell Krell, 85. "We didn't know for 73-and-a-half years."

Smith's bones were the first of 55 sets of remains to be identified using DNA, found by University of South Florida researchers.

Last month, state officials also agreed to allow USF to continue its research at Dozier for at least another year, through August 2015.

It's unknown just how many young boys, most of them African-American, were abused and killed at Dozier over the decades, but the state appears to be committed to uncovering the secretive, dark and shameful story of what happened there.

There are stories of beatings, floggings, and death for young prisoners, who in many cases were used for low-cost or even slave labor.

At the news conference where USF researchers identified Smith, they told the public they were close to identify at least three more sets of remains using DNA. Thursday's announcement appears to be for two of those three.
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  " Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."  - Daniel Moynihan
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