The Florida Cabinet is meeting Tuesday to consider a request to unearth the remains of boys believed to have died at a former North Florida reform school. The move comes as a group of researchers have been trying for months to exhume the bodies of boys some claim were killed due to the alleged abuse at the Dozier School for Boys in Marianna.
Last year, University of South Florida researchers found about 50 unmarked graves on the grounds of Dozier. And, if the four-member Cabinet, which includes Governor Rick Scott, approves their latest request, lead researcher Christian Wells says they can begin to exhume the bodies later this month.
“We just need three votes to get this passed. And, this is important at the most basic level because the families of the children have a legal and civil right to know what happened to these children,” said Wells.
The Florida Department of State had denied previous requests to exhume the bodies at Dozier, but Attorney General Pam Bondi then got the request on Tuesday’s Cabinet agenda.
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