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Investigating reform school's past won't be easy

  • Story Highlights
  • Probe will determine if anyone is buried under 31 white crosses
  • Former residents say boys were beaten, disappeared
  • "Gators got him," was one explanation given, former student says
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By Rich Phillips
CNN Senior Producer
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MARIANNA, Florida (CNN) -- Disturbing memories came rushing back when four men in their 60s, who call themselves the "White House Boys," started sharing stories over the Internet about their experiences at the Florida School for Boys.

Thirty-one crosses dot a clearing on the grounds of the former Florida School for Boys in Marianna, Florida.

Roger Kiser, Dick Colon, Robert Straley and Michael O'McCarthy allege that unspeakable acts of torture happened at that reform school nearly half a century ago -- that boys died, and that their deaths were covered up.

"Well, he ran away, and the swamp got him," was one story Kiser said school administrators told him. "The gators got him. Water moccasins got him" were others.

The White House Boys pushed Gov. Charlie Crist for an investigation.

Last week, Crist ordered the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to look into who might lie beneath the 31 anonymous crosses on the grounds of the school, just south of the Alabama border. Video Watch a former student kneel by the crosses »

"If there's an opportunity to find out exactly what happened there, to be able to verify if these kinds of horrible atrocities potentially occurred, we have a duty to do so," the governor said.

The Florida law enforcement agency said it is up to the task.

"We are confident that we can conduct a thorough and methodical investigation and establish as much as we can about what happened here and what lies beneath in those grave sites," the agency's Heather Smith said.

But no one is saying it will be easy.

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Finding records and witnesses from decades ago is a massive task and investigators are asking for the public's help. Records can be lost or destroyed and memories can fade or distort what happened.

And so, it may be months before authorities decide whether to dig under the 31 white crosses. It could take years for the investigation to be completed.

Some nagging questions are bound to come up. Where was the public outcry? Why did no one speak out until now? Why weren't the families searching for their missing sons?

The Florida School for Boys no longer is in operation and the campus is now used as a school for academic achievers. CNN was unable to locate anyone connected with the reform school's administration, and has been unable to speak with anyone affiliated with the school at the time in question.

Marianna Police Chief Hayes Baggett told CNN that he, too, has heard the rumors and horror stories about the old Florida School for Boys. Asked if boys who attended the school were reported missing back in the 1950s and '60s, he replied: "Not to my knowledge."

Another complication: Many of the supervisors and administrators of the school have died.

One man, Troy Tidwell, a former supervisor, still lives in Marianna. He would not talk with a CNN crew that visited his home, but recently told the Miami Herald that guards did spank the boys with a long board, and later a strap.

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''Kids that were chronic cases, getting in trouble all the time, running away and what have you, they used that as a last resort,'' Tidwell told the Herald. "We would take them to a little building near the dining room and spank the boys there when we felt it was necessary."

But the White House Boys say they have waited most of their lives for justice. They say they'll wait as long as it takes.

All About Florida Department of Law EnforcementCharlie Crist

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