Two adolescent boys killed almost a century ago were identified on Thursday from among other remains found on the site of a closed-down notorious Florida reform school, according to Reuters.
The boys,13-year-old Thomas Varnadoe and 12-year-old Earl Wilson, were buried in unmarked graves more than a half century ago, and were identified by DNA evidence from the 51 sets of remains recovered from the Dozier School for Boys in northern Florida, which was closed in 2011 after nearly a century of allegations of abuse, Reuters reported.
Varnadoe was sent to the school in 1934 age 13 after being accused of trespassing, according to the AP.
The school said he died of pneumonia 34 days after he was admitted, although his family insisted that he left home in good health, the AP reported.
Wilson is the first black student identified from the remains and arrived at Dozier in the summer of 1944 age 12, accused of riding in a car stolen by a friend, the AP reported.
Records show Wilson was moved to the "sweat box," or a small confinement area, where he reportedly was constrained and choked by other students, but other medical evidence from the time showed he died from blunt force trauma to the head, researchers said, according to the AP.
In both cases, the boy's families learned about their deaths only after they were buried at the school, researchers said, the AP reported.
"After 80 years, we will finally have closure," Glen Varnadoe, the nephew of one of the boys, told a news conference, according to Reuters. "It's been a long road," he added.
Both boys were found without clothing in wooden coffins, according to researchers at the University of South Florida in Tampa who excavated and helped to identify the bodies, Reuters reported.
"Our ability to provide answers and the physical remains of those who died to their brothers and sisters after more than 70 years is a remarkable privilege," said lead researcher Erin Kimmerle, an anthropology professor at the University of South Florida, according to Reuters.
