TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — University of South Florida researchers are asking state officials to reconsider their request to exhume bodies at a former state reform school in the Florida Panhandle.
Secretary of State Ken Detzner on Monday told USF his department doesn't have the authority to grant the request to exhume human remains on the site of a now-defunct reform school.
But in a statement released Tuesday USF officials said that the agency has "misunderstood" the law. USF released the statement after meeting with the office of Attorney General Pam Bondi.
USF said the remains are in danger of being destroyed.
USF researchers have verified the deaths of two adult staff members and 96 children between 1914 and 1973 at the Dozier School, located about 60 miles west of Tallahassee. At least 22 bodies remain unaccounted