Researcher reflects on investigation into abuse at Dozier School

TAMPA - University of South Florida researchers, who uncovered decades of torture and abuse at Dozier School, are reflecting on their investigation one day after the Florida Senate unanimously approved $20 million for abuse survivors. 

"I think it's just really monumental," USF forensic anthropologist Dr. Erin Kimmerle said. "I think more than anything, it's really that acknowledgment that this happened to them. And so I'm very happy for them."

Kimmerle, who led the USF team and investigated the 1400-acre Marianna site from 2012-2016, wrote a book detailing her work at Dozier School, once one of the largest reform schools in the country.

"It's just a physically, very big school, very big complex," Kimmerle said. "But then the more we dove into the history and the records, of course, it became clear that it was also very large in terms of how many boys were incarcerated."

Those who attended the school from 1940 to 1975 describe the school as a prison.

"The abuse, the beatings, the rapes: It just seemed to never end, and that’s why I tried to kill myself," Dozier School survivor Captain Bill Nelson told FOX 13. 

Over 100 boys died at the school, according to Kimmerle. Her mission was to give them a voice. 

Her team began their work in 2011 after the school finally closed. 

"There were a lot of families who had been asking for the remains of their brothers and uncles back. And they wanted to know what happened," Kimmerle said.

Kimmerle describes the Marianna property as a working farm and industrial complex.  

"Where were the old barns that no longer exist? Where were the roads? How did people move around the space? Because when you're trying to find burials, you're essentially recreating that. Where is the likely place, where could you drive and get access?" Kimmerle said. 

Through historical maps, archival research, and ground-penetrating radar, Kimmerle’s team found 55 burials: Eight were positively identified using DNA, and 15 more were presumptively identified, giving closure to dozens of families. 

"It was a very positive experience to be able to help them find the answers that they had been looking for a lifetime," Kimmerle said.

To this day, the remains of dozens of former students still have never been located.  

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