Rich Phillips
CNN
December 16, 2008
MARIANNA, Florida (CNN) — Leaning against his cane, Bryant Middleton shuffled toward the makeshift cemetery. Tears welled in his eyes as he leaned down to touch one of the crosses.
- A d v e r t i s e m e n t
“This shouldn’t be,” he said. “This shouldn’t be.”
Thirty-one crosses made of tubular steel and painted white line up unevenly in the grass and weeds of what used to be the grounds of a reform school in Marianna, Florida. The anonymous crosses are rusting away but their secrets may soon be exposed.
When boys disappeared from the school, administrators explained it away, said former student Roger Kiser.
They’d say, “Well, he ran away and the swamp got him,” Kiser recalled. Or, “The gators got him.” Or, ‘Water moccasins got him.”
Kiser and other former students believe authorities will soon find the remains of children and teens sent to the Florida School for Boys half a century ago.
On the orders of Gov. Charlie Crist, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement last week opened an investigation to determine if anyone is buried here, whether crimes were committed, and if so, who was responsible.
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