Skeletal Remains Identified

MARIANNA, FL. (WTXL) - University of South Florida researchers are expected to hold a news conference Thursday to announce the identification of two sets of remains found at the site of a former Northwest Florida reform school.

Researchers say, they have identified the remains of George Owen Smith, who went to the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys at age 14 in 1940 and was never seen by his family again.

The announcement Thursday will involve two sets of additional remains. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, who helped get U.S. Department of Justice funding for DNA research, is expected to take part in the news conference. University researchers began digging for remains last year at the site of the former reform school, which operated for decades in the Jackson County community of Marianna.

Questions have risen about whether boys suffered abuse and died at the school, with their bodies buried in unmarked graves.