#agdsb

  HAVING ABSOLUTELY NO clue what I was looking for, I spent the next several weeks trying to organize what I had. Almost immediately number of very distinct patterns began jumping out at me. The same sentencing judges over & over again, the SAME sentence length OR lack there of & a crap load of blank spaces; Specifically under the “WHEN/HOW RELEASED” columns. One would expect that any institution handling children would be required to keep detailed & accurate records of ALL of its charges, especially when it comes to their last known whereabouts BUT that would make too much sense, now wouldn’t it…

        THE INFO THAT I had gotten was only from the latest volume of the ledgers & didn’t even make a dent in the number of boys that had been shoved through the doors to be reformed. I knew there were hundreds OR even thousands of names in those books. I maybe had a few hundred at the most. By now, I had gotten used to what I like to call the “Hurry Up & Stop” method of researching. Basically I’d need specific info, finally get said info ONLY to start looking it over & promptly figure out that I needed additional material OR even worse, I’d need something entirely different altogether. In this case, I had just assumed that I’d eventually be making another trip to the Archives; That is until I ended up becoming involved with Bob Straley & taking over his website…And right there on one of the site pages was a link to the detailed, handwritten notes that WHB Mr. Andrew Puel had spent hours putting together.

Mr. Andrew Puel At The State Archives…Sitting In The EXACT Same Spot That I Did When I Was There!

      NOT IT!!

WHEN I SAW that link, I was beyond thrilled! I was finally going to have something reliable to validate what I had come up with! I had spoken with Andrew at Bob Straley’s memorial service & knew that any research he had done would be the best & most accurate info that I could possibly get. When the page loaded, it definitely did NOT show what I had been hoping for; In all actuality, it showed nothing but this:

    ODDLY THE INFO was missing! I started clicking on some of the other older links on the website & sure enough, there were quite a few that led to nowhere. I don’t know why it gone OR where it went, only that it’s not there. I tried not to get to aggravated, thinking that there had to be a hard copy among the thousands of documents that I have. I spent the next several weeks going through EVERY page, folder, digital file, etc. & found nothing. Bob kept everything, so to say I was puzzled that he wouldn’t have a copy of something so important was a huge understatement. I did another look through, literally taking out every piece of paper, one by one; Still nothing.

  Well Damn….

    AN EVENING IN GAINESVILLE

ON A FRIDAY in late February, I made the 3 hour trip to Gaineville. With me was a small black bag filled with what I believed to be the most important material related to the Arthur G Dozier School for Boys. I pulled up to a beautiful home, tucked back in a quiet sub division that was surrounded by forest. Standing outside was a familiar face, Mr. Bryant Middleton. The “Whitehouse Boy” greeted me with a smile & a brief hug before inviting me inside to meet his wife. Both graciously spent several hours telling their personal story of Dozier & how the WHB’s Organization was founded. They were both lovely people & I was grateful that they had been so willing to meet with me & be as open as they were. When we finally moved into the dining room to look over the things that I had brought, I began pulling things out. I yanked a folder out that had been wedged inside of my over full bag & a stack of papers fell out. The stack was stapled together & folded in half. I picked it up to see what it was & as I unfolded it, my jaw hit the floor!

    OH…MY…GOD…It was a hard copy of the list of missing boys! The same list that I had just spent weeks trying to find! The stuff inside of that bag was the stuff that I pulled out & reviewed quite frequently & there’s absolutely NO way that I would missed that thick stack of ledger pages! I slid the stack across the table, explaining to Bryant why I was a bit stunned at finding them. He thought it was strange as well. I’m not going to get into the specifics of my time with the Middletons in this post, although I will say that I’m very fortunate to have met with them. They’re great people & they continue to work toward keeping the future from repeating the past.

    WHERE COULD THEY BE?

OF COURSE THERE is minimal info on the boys on this list. What is known is that most were listed as escaped but never recovered. A lot lacked permanent homes OR guardians, so there wouldn’t have been any concerned parents wondering about the whereabouts of their lost boy. It should also be noted that the last place they were seen was the Dozier School for Boys in Marianna. That leaves so many unanswered questions; Could ALL 185 boys on that list have actually successfully escaped & moved on to a better life? Even if that did happen, would it be possible that NOT 1 single child ever be heard from again? I suppose it could be possible for some BUT for All 185? I seriously have my doubts & given the history of Dozier, I’d say that’s highly unlikely. Especially considering the significant proof of other burial sites on the school’s 1200+ acres.Whether or not they continued life after Dozier OR their lives were taken at the school, they each deserve to be recognized. I’ll let them speak for themselves….

☆☆☆☆☆☆

  JOSEPH WILK – 17 JAME HENRY COLSON SMITH – 16 BEHARD STEPHENS – 15 JOHNNIE J. RICHARDSON – 17 AB DURDEN – 16 WILLIAM RICHARD WHITE – 16 MONROE ROGERS – 16 NOWLA (SONNY) VENOS – 16 BERNARD WILLIAMS – 15 WILLIAM NICOLAS BURNETT – 15 FRED RUSH – 16 HORACE MECHOM – 16 J.W. HARRILL, JR. – 14 EDWARD MATTHEW MITCHELL – 17 LARRY DAVIS – 14. ALFONSO DEWEY DAVIS – 16 JAMES ARTHUR HARELL – 13 CARROL PITTMAN – 15 CARL HUBBARD REWLS – 14 RICHARD PEUDRY TYLER – 15 HAROLD OLDS – 14 LYNVILLE RAY – 16 LAIRD WILDES (age unknown) ALFRED SMITH GOODSON – 16 QUINCY LEWIS – 16

☆☆☆☆☆☆

ZANE HOPKINS – 12 ROBERT WALKER – 13 WILLIE FRANKLIN FARROW – 13 EUGENE JOHNS – 14 GABE BELL – 15 WILLIAM DEWARS – 15 LELAND LLOYD BRADY – 16 JASPER ALLEN HOLDER – 15 WILLIAM JOHNSON – 16 GEORGE HENRY ABBEY – 16 HARRY L. SAULS – 15 BEN BUNDRICK – 15 LOUIS VALOIS COUTURE – 16 ROBERT GILBERT ALBRITTON – 16 LAUDRIC BASKIN – 17 JAME HENRY COLSON SMITH – 16 JOHN JOSEPH COOGAN, JR – 16 ARINAUDO MACHIN, JR – 16 JULIAN GREEN – 15 CARL UNDERHILL – 16 WILLIAM DANIEL HATCHER – 17 DWIGHT SPRINGER – 14 JASON EDWARD LOGAN – 15 PAUL HERSHEY, JR – 17 CLARENCE C. RAULERSON – 16

☆☆☆☆☆☆

EVERETT BRADDOCK – 15 HAROLD EUGENE NORMAN – 16 RICHARD RUSSEL TODD – 14 EDWARD POOLE – 14 BILLY RAY BURNS – 16 MARCO GUTIERREZ – 14 WALTER C. GREEN – 16 LEON MANNING – 16 LEONARD JAMES NELSON – 16 GODSON WHITTAKER – 15 ROBERT GORDON – 15 ROBERT LAURIN GODDARD – 15 KENNETH LEE YORK – 17 TRUBEE BYRD – 17 ROWANE HOLLIDAY – 16 BOBBY WHITEHEAD – 15 WILLIAM EDWARD LEGGETT – 16 ROBERT HELGRAN – 13 OSCAR EUGENE MCCURDY – 16 WILLIAM RIVERA EMANUEL, JR – 16 JOHN LENNARD NAVE – 16 JACKIE CREWS – 16 ERNEST WOODARD – 16 ARTHUR KENT PATTERSON (aka William S. Johnson) – 14 DAVID EVANS HARRIS – 16

☆☆☆☆☆☆

JOHN HARRIMAN – 16 GB IRWIN – 14 HOWARD MCCALL – 17 OSCAR LEE CALDWELL – 14 JD THOMAS – 13 GEORGE F. CLAY – 13 WILLIS BUNYAN – 16 JAMES CAMPBELL – 15 BERTRAM THOMPSON – 16 WILLIE JAMES MURPHY – 17 SANDY JONES – 15 RALPH HALL – 16 MELVIN FALSON – 13 HERBERT LEE COVINGTON – 14 LUKE BENJAMIN – 16 TOMMIE L. WOOTEN – 15 WALTER ADAMS – 15 DAVID JONES (aka Cockran) – 15 EDWARD BROWN – 14 EDWARD DEMERRITT – 16 WILLIAM JENKINS – 13 MATEO BENARD COLUMBUS – 14 WILLIE C. MITCHELL – 13 CLARENCE MORTON, JR – 15 JOSEPH JOHNSON – 16

☆☆☆☆☆☆

CURTIS WILSON – 10 EUGENE FULLER – 16 THOMAS BOWERS – 15 LEON DUNBAR – 16 DAVID EAGLETON – 14 HENRY JUNIOR JOHNSON – 14 EDWARD FOSTER – 15 GEORGE EDWARD THOMAS – 17 ODIS SINGLETON – 16 JAMES WILEY BRYANT – 14 CURTIS DOWNING – 15 WALTER LEE NIXON – 15 JOHN TYLER – 16 ELMORE JOHNSON – 15 HENRY MELVIN JONES – 16 DOCK SMITH – 15 ROBERT LEE KING – 16 WILLARD LAMAR SHELTON – 16 ROBERT HAYS – 16 CHAS W. CHAMBERS – 16 RUSSEL HUTTON – 15 HOWARD CAYWOOD – 15 BOBBY HAYES – 16 BILLY CAUDELL – 16 WALTER R. HAYES – 17

☆☆☆☆☆☆

ARTHUR KENT PITTEBON(?) – (age unknown) WILLIAM P. NUNES – 16 EDWIN T. FINNIE – 15 MILTON LEDBETTER – (age unknown) LEROY SMITH (aka Leroy Gregory) – 17 JOE RODRIGUEZ – 17 BENARD MIXON – 15 ROBERT WESLEY DAVIS – 16 PAUL DAVID HUGES – 12 ROY JOHNSON – 13 LENARD JAMES LOTT – 16 JERRY LLOYD – 16 GABRIEL THURMAN – 16 ROBERT LEE BOSTIC – 14 GEORGE HILL – 13 JOHN ALBURY – 14 NATHANIEL TURNER – 15 LEO COLLIER – 17 TEEVESTER JAMES – 15 FLOYD RILEY, JR – 17 GEORGE NELSON – 15 NORMAN MCAULEY – 15 LYLE MACK PAULK – 16 EDWARD GIBSON – 14 WILLIAM EDWARD CORTEZ – 16

☆☆☆☆☆☆

ROBERT CHRISTMAN – 16 HUBERT BERRYMAN – 15 CHARLES LACGUEY – 16 CHARLES EDWARD KIDDY – 15 JOHN CHARLES CLANCEY – 15 DANNY LEE BOWMAN – 16 HOWARD GEORGE FAGG – (age unknown)

ROBERT ALTON SINGLETARY – 17 ELLIS MARLOWE HASKIN – 16 JAMES PHILLIP SLAWSON – 16 JAMES JOHNS – 17 BENARD JACKSON – 14 ARLISS BLACKMON – 15 BENJAMIN UDEL – 13 NATHANIEL BOWLES – 16 ROLAHO LYLES – 16 CLARENCE BOBBY BROWN – 15 WILLIE BRADFORD – 16 BILLY JACKSON – 13 RICHARD GILLYARD – 14 LEONARD WHITEHEAD – 15 FREDERICK NATHANIEL HARREL – 16 HENRY MCLENDON – 17 SAMOLE DARBY – 17 WILLIE LEE DOUGLAS – 15

☆☆☆☆☆☆

MOZELL BRADLEY, JR – 16 J.C. STEPHENS – 15 CHARLES BROWN – 15 GRANT BERNARD KEMP – 13 RONNIE FRANKIE ROSE – 16 JOE EDWARD ALLEN – 15 VICTOR STEPHEN GRICE – 16 TOMMY COOK (Mathias) – 15 JERRY COOK – 16 JOHNNY LEON WRIGHT – 16

  IT’S AN ENTIRELY different feeling you get when you’re able to put names to the children you’ve been speaking of….

  ♤Please Consider Helping In The Fight For Justice By Signing The 1st Petition: https://www.change.org/p/jenn-moslek-re-investigation-of-the-arthur-g-dozier-school-for-boys♤

  ☆ IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW SUFFERED ABUSE, PASSED AWAY, WENT MISSING OR WITNESSED ANY WRONGDOINGS WHILE AT “THE FLORIDA INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS” AKA “THE ARTHUR G. DOZIER SCHOOL FOR BOYS” OR THE OKEECHOBEE SCHOOL FOR BOYS, PLEASE REACH OUT VIA HERE AT findingflorida.blog OR ANY OF THE CONTACT INFO LISTED BELOW!!☆

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    FOR PRIVATE CONTACT SEND EMAILS TO:  [email protected]

  FOR ALL DOZIER RELATED INFO:

http://thewhitehouseboysonline.com

AND

http://www.whitehouseboys2007.com

  FOR FULL PHOTO GALLERIES & ADDITIONAL LOCATION INFO FOLLOW ME ON FB AT:  @GRAVEAdventuresFL

YES THEY DO! The thing is, we don’t always hear them because we’re not paying attention. AND sometimes we hear the message BUT it’s the messenger that we don’t want to hear from. AND SOMETIMES THAT MESSENGER FOLLOWS YOU HOME… February 2020 EVERY TRIP TO the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys has been eventful in some way, shape OR form. There’s always some knew find, whether it be an old dorm that…

WHILE I DO consider myself lucky to be able to help, this was one of those times when being “first” was definitely NOT something that I was excited about. If anything, I felt angry, sad & disgusted because had evil NEVER crossed the paths of these boys, this place would be nothing more than a bunch of abandoned buildings that yet another small town decided to let nature have its way with. Believe it OR not, I’d much rather be boring people with random photos of old cemeteries, instead of driving everybody in my world bat sh$t crazy with my incessant need to help get justice…Especially if it means that the events of Dozier NEVER happened! caged in AFTER SPENDING A considerable amount of time taking video of the front room, I could NO longer stall. It was time to see the rest. CLICK FOR VIDEO: Whitehouse Damage THE HALLWAY WAS not very long BUT the amount of horror packed into it was neverending. It was dimly lit, however, it was still easy to see the 3 narrow openings lining each side. They were doorways. I stepped through the 1st on the left & found myself standing in a room not much bigger than a broom closet.

NEAR THE TOP of the back wall was a small rectangle that allowed just enough light in to avoid being in total darkness. There was grating secured to the opening which casted a creepy pattern on the walls.

a room with NO view

ONE OF THE most disturbing things about these wannabe windows was how from the outside they looked full size. Whether they had originally been OR not, I don’t know BUT my gut tells me that they were intentionally built this way as to fool the outside world into thinking that all was on the up & up. THE NEXT TWO “rooms” were similar. The 4th had what looked to be some type of spigot coming out of the wall & the last room on the right had a toilet in the back corner. It then dawned on me that these were tiny jail cells. I looked more closely at the door frame & could see thick, rusted metal joints where the doors had once been attached. I WAS WELL aware of the claim that the Whitehouse was built specifically to be used for “solitary confinement”, however, the place wasn’t fit to hold animals let alone children. As I crossed the hall to enter the last room, I noticed a broken wood panel that sectioned off the hallway from a slightly larger room in the back. Carved into the wood were a bunch of names… “We Were Here” I RAN MY hand over the wood & closed my eyes for a second…And nearly peed my pants when a voice broke the silence! “I don’t think you’re supposed to be in here.” It was my husband (Did I mention that the hubs had come with me? No? Well it’s probably because he stayed in the car 95% of the time we were there!) who had apparently come in behind me. Even he was a shocked, commenting on how extreme it was to put children into such inhumane conditions. WELL NO SHIT…

THINGS CAN ALWAYS GET WORSE! YES THEY CAN! I would have NEVER believed that after what I’d already seen BUT I had yet to go into the horror that was the last room, so I had NO clue what was waiting for me…

the last room on the left

IT WAS THE 6th & final room (I’d find out at a later date that this wasn’t the last!) The last room on the right. This time there was a door on the back wall that led to the outside, although it appeared to be sealed off from the inside. The floors were caked with layers of muck but it was the back, right corner that had me concerned as on top of the old debris there were a bunch of pine needles, some of them singed, were arranged into a pile. There were cigarette butts stacked in & around the pine needles & ALL of it was covered with some type of oily substance. In the moment, I didn’t really know the importance of what I was looking at BUT I would soon enough…

THE ROOM WAS something out of a horror movie! If you want to see what it’s like fro the comfort of your own home, you can check out the movie “Saw”…You’ll get the picture. EVERY one of the 4 walls were covered with old stains…There were blood stains as well as stains that I’m pretty sure came from vomit if the smell was any indicator. Additionally, I noticed some paint in several places throughout the room. The pattern showed that it had been dripping down the walls, drying in the process. The paint was dark green, the exact shade of the outer trim was painted.

AND THEN THERE were the handprints…NOT just Handprints BUT also claw marks. So Long & deep that it was as if they were embedded into soft clay instead of the hard surfaces of the walls. They were everywhere. There was even one that looked like it was gripping the door frame, as if they were trying to prevent someone from dragging them off.

AFTER SPENDING A considerable amount of time inside of the hell hole called the Whitehouse, I honestly couldn’t stand to be inside of it for even one more minute. I felt that I had gotten as much evidence as I could get. I walked out with 2 videos & at least 200 photos. I took another few minutes to take a few more of the back & sides of the building, focusing on a particular depression in the ground. I had been given info from several former students that remains may be buried next to the WH. The depression was a perfect rectangle & the grass on top was brown. The grass all around this one spot was full & green, making it really stand out.

WHETHER OR NOT this is a grave, I really can’t say BUT I will say that I wouldn’t be shocked if it was.

A SIGN FROM BEYOND? I WAS BUMMED that it was almost time to leave. There was roughly 1200 acres that I wanted to explore & I knew that there was NO way I would be seeing even 1 entire acre. Every trip leaves me with the fear that something major will happen before I can get back. This time wasn’t any different. The ONLY bright spot of this trip were the big, beautiful butterflies all around me. In the past, it has always been still & quiet. NO animals (sans the freaking snakes!), NO crickets chirping, NO birds singing. Other than the constant buzzing of the prehistoric sized mosquitoes there was NOTHING!

IN MY HEART I’d like to believe that they were a sign of good things to come…Maybe even sent by the boys who had yet to make it home. In any case, it was encouraging to see a little bit of life in such a dark place.

PANDORA’S BOX IS WIDE OPEN A WEEK LATER I was back home editing the photos I had taken & decided to send an email to “M”, who had given me the info about the vandalism of the Whitehouse. I explained that the original photos he’d received (the same photos he’d sent to me) did NOT accurately depict the amount of damage that had actually been done. I also told him about the empty containers of flammable liquid that I found stuffed under a work trailer just a few yards away from the WH (Remember that oily residue & the singed pine needle in the WH that I mentioned earlier? Makes more sense now, doesn’t it?). The response I got was a mixture of excitement & frustration, along with a request to see the photos that I had taken.

flammable liquid

OF COURSE I immediately agreed & spent the next few days going through them all, picking out what I felt were the most important & numbering each one. I then created an index that included a description of every single photo & emailed everything as requested. Initially I held back on sending the videos that I had taken because I have tremendous respect for this man & his family…The last thing that I wanted to do is cause them ANY more pain.

IN THE END, I mentioned that I had them & finally decided to send them. CLICK FOR VIDEO: Whitehouse Video OUT OF THE SHADOWS WHEN I FIRST emailed those photos, I knew that they were going to be turned over to officials as proof that Marianna was still as corrupt as ever, however, it never occurred to me that the watermark on those photos would basically “Out” me! Fortunately, “M” caught it & was nice enough to ask me if I was Ok with having people know where they came from. I took a minute to consider the impact of my name being out there & decided to go for it. I told him to send everything as. I’d much rather know & be prepared than not know & be ambushed. If I made the decision at least I’d have some control (At least I hope!!) over the situation. AS OF TODAY, those 30 photos & 2 videos are continuing to create quite a stir around Tallahassee. In an email that I received around Thanksgiving, I was informed that “M’s” phone started ringing off the hook within 24 hours of him forwarding everything. He also told me that what I was doing was important, that I was doing a great job & it would be me & my generation that would ultimately see this through to the end once he & all of the others were gone. That made me sad to hear as I want him & the other WHBs to see a resolution in their lifetime. They deserve their happy ending. *CLICK LINK FOR MORE PHOTOS* Dozier Nov 2019 Full Album HIS WORDS MEANT so much to me. This is why I will continue to fight with them, even on the hardest days…And I will do my damndest NOT to let them down.

☆ IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW SUFFERED ABUSE, PASSED AWAY, WENT MISSING OR WITNESSED ANY WRONGDOINGS WHILE AT “THE FLORIDA INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS” AKA “THE ARTHUR G. DOZIER SCHOOL FOR BOYS” OR THE OKEECHOBEE SCHOOL FOR BOYS, PLEASE REACH OUT AT findingflorida.blog OR ANY OF THE CONTACT INFO LISTED BELOW!!☆

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ON A CHILLY morning in early November, under a clear blue sky, we pulled up to the South Campus of the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. This would be my 7th trip to the school BUT this time would be very different! This time I wouldn’t be standing outside of the fence that surrounded the South Campus, trying to concoct a scheme to get inside because there was NO longer a reason to do so. While the tall fence remained in place, the gate keeping the world from finding out the truth was gone. I was FINALLY going to get inside! It was ALL happening on my 41st birthday…Talk about having a full circle moment! THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE WE DROVE RIGHT onto the main road that wound its way through the 1200 acres that made up the South Campus…And straight into the line of sight of a Jackson County Sheriff’s Deputy who was exiting the campus. Well Damn, Here it was! I had fought for 4 years for access ONLY to be thrown back off when I was only feet inside! I held my breath & braced for a confrontation…It NEVER came! The deputy never even slowed down. He just looked over at us, saluted & nodded. WTF is up with this place??? An Old Guard Shack At The South Campus Entrance AS WE FOLLOWED the road up a steep hill, I tried to take it all in. There were buildings as far as the eye could see & a bunch of dorms off in the distance. Remnants of the havoc that Hurricane Michael had unleashed on the Panhandle were still visible everywhere BUT for the most part, this side of the road appeared to be in much better shape than the side that was the North Campus. WHEN WE FINALLY stopped, I got out to try to get my bearings. As I stood there & took everything in, I was amazed at how different it all looked closeup…And then I happened to look up & was surprised to see that I was standing under the AGDSB water tower. It was so massive that it looked like it was next to the sun.

MY PRIORITY WAS to find the Whitehouse & photograph it. A little over a month before, I had been given info that the WH had been vandalized. Upon being called out on this, an official responded to to a WHB (whom I’ll be referring to as “M” from now on) regarding the issue by sending a half-ass promise to look into the matter along with several photos of the outside of the small building. Unfortunately, the photos were taken from a good distance away & ALL of them were at an angle, so you couldn’t see much…Other than the yellow crime scene tape around the outside. For some reason “M” had been kind enough to forward me the entire interaction, photos & all. That was the exact moment that I had decided it was time to make another trip to Marianna. TAKING A DETOUR THERE ARE A number of things that the Arthur G Dozier School For Boys are known for (besides child abuse & murder). One of those things is the campus print shop. Initially, the print shop was used to print campus publications like “The Light”, however, it soon became another way to exploit the boys in order to make money by offering up printing services all over the State of Florida. At one point, ALL of the printing for our fine politicians in Tallahassee came out of Dozier…Guess that’s one way to get politicians in your back pocket… Boys Working In The Printshop ~ 1950’s

THE BUILDING AS a whole seemed to be holding up well, although a number of the windows had been broken. I stepped inside into a small room that was empty except for some type of equipment on the floor in one of the corners.

THE ROOM TO the left was large & bright with concrete floors. It looked like a garage with its big bay doors. Of course, those doors were broken BUT hey, at least the view of the property behind it was unobstructed.

ON THE OTHER side was a small,  L-shaped room. It was dark & the focal point of the room was some type of old printing machinery that was still bolted to the wall. Directly across from it was a door that stood partially open. I peeked in BUT there was NO way in Hell that I was going all the way inside because it was pitch black! I pulled out my flashlight & used it to scan the room. I was able to make out some shallow sinks on one side & a bunch of metal racks on another. A 3rd wall had some type of long, man made wooden table against it. Maybe this was an area used for photo development?

HAVING SEEN ALL there was to see, I  exited out the same way that I had come in & started back up the steep concrete path. It was as I reached the top of that incline that I saw it.                                             

A TIME CAPSULE FOR EVIL

THE MOST NOTORIOUS building at the AGDSB sat at the top of a hill, its white cinderblocks forming a perfect square. Looking at it from the outside one might think it was just another empty structure, quite possibly passing right by it…Except for the bright yellow crime scene tape framing its perimeter.

FEELING THE URGENCY to get to it, I started to run. It was when I was only about a foot away that I noticed the that the front door was slightly ajar. I was totally confused because that door should have been padlocked as the building had been permanently sealed back in a small ceremony back in 2008. I quickly closed the remaining distance & sure enough that door was open! But it wasn’t just open like somebody forgot to shut the door on their way out, it had been kicked in. In fact, whomever had broken in had used such force that the steel plate holding the padlock in place had been torn from the door, taking the wood with it.

IN MY OPINION, it was complete overkill considering that the OPEN padlock was hanging from the door frame, leaving me to believe that it was an inside job & the intention was to make it look like vandals came along & broke in.

front door damage

WHY GO TO such lengths to make people think that this was a random attack? Why even bother to vandalize the WH at all?? It’s been sitting here, locked up tight for over 11 years now & suddenly people are going to start strolling onto the property, bypassing 100 other buildings that were NOT secured, ONLY to come upon this postage stamp sized building, kick in the door & start wreaking havoc on the inside?? Oh, and let’s NOT forget that since Hurricane Michael, the AGDSB South Campus has had a new tenant; The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office…Located a mere 317 yards away from the WH! I CAN GIVE 2 words to sum up my thoughts on the random vandal theory; BULL SH$T!!!

I WAS SO pissed that I didn’t even realize that I had stepped inside. If I had to describe my 1st impression in 3 words, I would say it was filthy, musty & cold. It felt like the air inside was electric…Charged with decades of hate & fear. The front room ran the length of the building & wasn’t very wide. There were 2 good sized windows, letting plenty of the late afternoon sunlight in, so it was well lit…Of course after taking a look around I almost wished that it wasn’t.

THE ROOM HELD a small bathroom at one end & the dirty concrete floor had trash, including an empty cigarette pack that was too clean to have been there for long. An old fire extinguisher was lying on the floor next to the front door & there was graffiti on the walls which made me wonder exactly how long had this door been open?

WANTING TO DOCUMENT everything I saw, I took out my phone & started taking video. I spent a few more minutes in the front room making sure to capture the kicked in door, the graffiti, the garbage left behind, etc. & then stepped through the open doorway into that hall…What I saw will be with me forever.

TO BE CONTINUED…

☆ IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW SUFFERED ABUSE, PASSED AWAY, WENT MISSING OR WITNESSED ANY WRONGDOINGS WHILE AT “THE FLORIDA INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS” AKA “THE ARTHUR G. DOZIER SCHOOL FOR BOYS” OR THE OKEECHOBEE SCHOOL FOR BOYS, PLEASE REACH OUT AT findingflorida.blog OR ANY OF THE CONTACT INFO LISTED BELOW!!☆

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I AM WRITING this to implore you to step up and finally do the right thing regarding the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys (formerly the Florida Industrial School). For years, representatives of Marianna and its residents have spent much of their time and energy disputing and distorting the facts of this situation. You have put maximum effort into denying what happened at Dozier and at times have flat out lied/covered up the details of the horrendous events that took place for over 100 years while an entire town chose to look the other way.

MILTON AND DOZIER were given proper burials and rest in peace in a well kept graveyard. Both are memorialized with marble headstones & elaborate monuments, surrounded by their families. The same cannot be said about Dozier’s “students.” They were dumped into the ground secretly, under the cover of night. NO beautiful headstone confirming their short existence on this earth. NO family there to say goodbye. NO pomp and NO circumstance for them because in the eyes of Marianna, they meant nothing.

YOU HAVE CONTINUALLY painted CHILD ABUSERS, SEXUAL PREDATORS and MURDERERS as town heroes. Arthur Dozier is NOT a hero (nor are his predecessors, successors and ALL of the other disturbed individuals that spent countless hours abusing young boys). Senator W.H. Milton is certainly NOT a hero as it was he who started Marianna down the path of destruction, fighting to have the school built in Marianna and springing into action each time an FISB/AGDSB superintendent approached him with some “innovative” way to increase the school’s profit. YOUR TOWN HAS canonized them, protecting and defending them and ALL of the others involved. Arthur Dozier was given a memorial on school grounds; The same grounds where countless children were raped, beaten and murdered. The school became his legacy, eventually bearing his name. But sometimes fate has a way of biting back as Arthur Dozier, the man, will now forever be synonymous with a notoriously brutal reform school.

THERE ARE PEOPLE in Marianna who know and have the power to finally give these families closure and yet you choose to keep your secrets buried. I ask you, where’s the humanity in that?

YOU BELIEVED THAT you were untouchable. As the decades passed, the views and practices of the world were ever evolving but NOT in Marianna. You stayed true to your cruelty, convinced that the laws protecting children were NOT for you to follow. You almost got away with it, however, you became over confident, leaving behind many witnesses. They were victimized BUT they are NOT victims. They are survivors and they are brave. They WILL now be YOUR undoing. You call them liars but have you asked yourselves what purpose it would serve for NOT one, NOT ten, NOT fifty BUT hundreds to step into the public eye and tell millions of strangers that they were abused in the most heinous of ways? Having worked with abused children myself, for many years, I can assure you that there isn’t ANY. Of the many ways one can gain notoriety, publicly declaring yourself a victim of the most horrific abuse imaginable is NOT very high on the list. Having hundreds speak of the same instances is unheard of.

IT WAS YOU that caused these men to go to the public. It was YOU that set these events in motion. YOU had an opportunity to listen to these men, acknowledge their pain and suffering, empathize with what they had gone through and offer a sincere apology. By failing to do even one of these things and continuing to taunt, slander and bully, you threw gasoline on a fire that has been smoldering since the day that the very first adult fist was raised to strike a child residing at AGDSB. YOU have nobody to blame but yourself. Your behavior is shameful.

YOU SAID THAT there were NO undocumented burials on school land and yet the remains of 24 boys were found in unmarked graves on the property, with evidence that there are many, many more. Even after that YOU still minimalized the situation, intentionally setting out to deceive.

WE ALL KNOW that there are former Dozier staff in your community that shouldn’t be free and definitely should NOT be within 50 miles of ANY child.

SOON THE ENTIRE world will have heard of Marianna, Florida and the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. You can’t change the past, however, What you now need to decide is what you will be known for from this moment forward. Will you forever be known as the town that did nothing while children were tortured and murdered OR will you be the town that refuses to allow its dark history to define it. The sins of the father do NOT have to be passed to the child.

I CHALLENGE YOUR town to come together, admit to what has taken place and issue a sincere apology to ALL affected by what took place at the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. It’s time for you to let go of the reigns as they don’t belong to you…They never really have. What’s happened can NO longer be covered up. You are NO longer in charge and with so many people standing behind the survivors, you are starting to lose what little control of the situation that you have left. Take a moment to let that sink in, swallow your pride and step aside. If there is anyone having an issue with this request, remember this:

WE ALL KNOW what you did and we are ALL watching you…

☆ IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW SUFFERED ABUSE, PASSED AWAY, WENT MISSING OR WITNESSED ANY WRONGDOINGS WHILE AT “THE FLORIDA INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS” AKA “THE ARTHUR G. DOZIER SCHOOL FOR BOYS” OR THE OKEECHOBEE SCHOOL FOR BOYS, PLEASE REACH OUT AT findingflorida.blog OR ANY OF THE CONTACT INFO LISTED BELOW!!☆

PLEASE SUPPORT FINDING FLORIDA BY “SUBSCRIBING” & “SHARING”

FOLLOW FINDING FLORIDA: FACEBOOK: FIND PAGE: fb.me/findingfloridablog MESSENGER: m.me/findingfloridablog INSTAGRAM:  findingflorida.blog YOUTUBE URL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsnmCP5RB2BHct4mTb4FWZQ CONTACT ME AT: [email protected] FOR ALL DOZIER RELATED INFO: http://thewhitehouseboysonline.com AND http://www.whitehouseboys2007.com

  ☆  ☆  ☆

    JUDGING BY THE NUMBER of messages & comments I’ve received, I’m pretty sure that most of Y’all already have already heard about the newest discovery at the Dozier School for Boys, located near the Florida Panhandle. If for some reason you haven’t, allow me to fill you in on the events that unfolded on a warm Spring morning, a couple of weeks into April. But first, I need to quickly graze over one particularly disturbing event that happened in November of 2018, during one of our trips back to the tiny town of Marianna, Florida. 

        THE FIRST GRAVE?

   IT WAS DURING that trip last Fall, our 5th, that we found what we believed was a possible grave shaft. We took photos & videos of the spot as well as the area surrounding it. Something in my gut told me we had found something hugely significant BUT finding a person that I could trust enough to pass the evidence to was proving to be a daunting task . Whoever this person was, they definitely couldn’t have ties to the school, the City of Marianna OR Jackson County. I feared that I wouldn’t find anyone that fit the bill, So I kept what I had to mostly to myself…For awhile.

      I FINALLY BIT the bullet & emailed a journalist who has reported on Dozier from the beginning. I explained what I  we had found & after a brief exchange over the next several days, I finally sent him photos on Google Earth showing the approximate location. Even though I felt I could trust him, I still held back the exact coordinates of that spot…I may be a newcomer to this situation BUT I’m definitely NOT a fool! 

            BREAKING NEWS!

ON THURSDAY APRIL 11th, I received an email from Whitehouse Boy, Bryant Middleton. He was responding to a previous email  regarding some documents that I had sent to him several weeks prior. Our conversation was pleasant as always BUT it was the last few sentences that had me hollering “WTF??”

  “DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE 27 NEW GRAVES THAT WERE JUST FOUND AT THE SCHOOL?”

    OH MY GOD! The only response I could come up with was to ask for details. “Who found them?”  “Where were they??” I don’t know why, but for some reason I assumed that they were located on the South Campus. The answers came quickly; They were discovered by an independent survey company testing for possible contamination on the grounds…Approximately a few hundred yards from Boothill. The hair stood up on the back of my neck. I replied:

    “THAT’S THE AREA THAT WE WERE IN LAST NOVEMBER!”; “THE AREA WHERE WE FOUND A POSSIBLE BURIAL SITE!”

        I’M SURE THE uncovering of even more graves totally frosts the asses of the older generation of Marianna residents…I can live with that.

        ☆  ☆  ☆

    WHAT NOW?

THE NEXT LOGICAL step is for whatever agency taking the lead, hopefully USF, to begin the process of obtaining the appropriate clearance OR permitting needed to complete additional testing on those 27 anomalies. This initial process is merely a formality as most, myself included, are pretty damn sure that these “anomalies” are graves, PERIOD. We’ve ALL heard the saying “If It Looks Like A Duck…”

  WELL QUACK FREAKING QUACK….

      OUR NEW GOVERNOR seems to be on board with finding out the truth, promising to make Jackson County cooperate with any investigation necessary to get to the bottom of things.

        IF GOVERNOR DESANTIS is really serious about trying to make this right, he needs to order a complete investigation of ALL Dozier property, including The Okeechobee School for Boys. The use of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) will be the key to FINALLY bringing the lost boys of Dozier home. 

    SO FOR NOW, I’m gonna say that I’m cautiously optimistic. Nobody knows what the outcome will be BUT there’s one thing that I know for sure…

    I think it’s time to take another trip to Marianna.

  ♤Please Consider Helping In The Fight For Justice By Signing The 1st Petition: https://www.change.org/p/jenn-moslek-re-investigation-of-the-arthur-g-dozier-school-for-boys♤

  ☆ IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW SUFFERED ABUSE, PASSED AWAY, WENT MISSING OR WITNESSED ANY WRONGDOINGS WHILE AT “THE FLORIDA INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS” AKA “THE ARTHUR G. DOZIER SCHOOL FOR BOYS” OR THE OKEECHOBEE SCHOOL FOR BOYS, PLEASE REACH OUT AT findingflorida.blog OR ANY OF THE CONTACT INFO LISTED BELOW!!☆

  PLEASE SUPPORT “FINDING FLORIDA” BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING PART OF THE FF FAM!

        FOR PRIVATE CONTACT SEND EMAILS TO:

[email protected]

  FOR ALL DOZIER RELATED INFO:

http://thewhitehouseboysonline.com

AND

http://www.whitehouseboys2007.com

  FOR FULL PHOTO GALLERIES & ADDITIONAL LOCATION INFO FOLLOW ME ON FB AT:  @GRAVEAdventuresFL

    NEWS STORY LINKS:

ABC ACTION NEWS:  https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/state/crews-discover-27-more-possible-graves-near-dozier-school-for-boys

https://www.abcactionnews.com/orange-white/acc-news/florida-state/gov-desantis-asking-for-clarity-on-more-possible-graves-at-dozier-school-for-boys

DAILY MAIL UK:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6932095/Surviving-students-hellish-Florida-reform-school-flogged-bits-metal.html

TAMPA BAY TIMES:  https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/2019/04/11/more-possible-graves-found-at-dozier-school-of-boys/%3ftemplate=amp

  AFTER BEING DECLARED “incompetent” by a Jackson County court, a 15 year-old boy is transferred into the custody of the Florida State hospital; Within 48 hours of his arrival, he is pronounced dead. But Cause of death? Well that would depend on which page of the boy’s file that you’re looking at. Only one of many questionable things that could be found within the roughly 200 pages that I was handed back in August of 2018. By the time I read through the content, I would be so confused that I would have to go back & read through the pages two more times, spending considerable time on each individual page taking notes; So many things failed to make sense, reminding me just how evil what we were dealing with was.

      THOMAS HERBERT WIGGINS

BORN TO OLLIE & Jeffie Wiggins in March of 1937, Thomas Herbert Wiggins was the youngest of 2 boys. His life would begin in Opp, Alabama but the Wiggins family would eventually relocate to the Florida Panhandle to continue raising their boys. At 1st they would report only seeing subtle differences between their oldest & youngest sons. Where Thomas’s big brother was very social & outgoing, Thomas was extremely introverted, preferring to be by himself. He showed no interest in playing sports OR becoming involved in other activities, unlike his sibling who excelled in both sports & academics & was also popular amongst his peers. While this may have been reason to give pause for a moment Mr. & Mrs. Wiggins didn’t panic initially, however, by age 11, Thomas began showing signs of extreme paranoia. He started to fixate on his food being poisoned. His course of action would be to refuse food, often go days without eating.

    The Oshner Clinic ~ 1950

WHEN THOMAS’S “SPELLS” became violent, his parents would finally seek help for their son. He would 1st be evaluated at Oshner Clinic in New Orleans, Louisiana.

        WHILE HE WAS there, Dr. C. Harrison Snyder & staff would perform extensive testing before issuing their findings & recommendations to the Wiggins family. Dr. Snyder reported that ALL tests were normal, including his cognitive functioning & intelligence. He recommended that Thomas be kept at home & receive plenty of love & positive attention from his family as well as be returned to his previous school where he was thriving & happy. In a nutshell, Dr. Snyder stated that being loved & cared for by his family within the security of his home would be key to Thomas being successful in life.

        IN HIS FINAL statement, the doctor requested to be notified within a month’s time of Thomas’s progress. I can say with confidence that they didn’t follow up with the Oshner Clinic as specified. I’m also positive that the Wiggins’ decided that keeping their family intact would not be an option as a little over 2 years later, he would be committed to the Florida State Hospital & when removed by his father, just 3 months after admission, they would send a letter to the medical director reporting that they were looking at boarding schools. 

        OTHER THAN THAT letter there is nothing else recorded about how Thomas was doing OR his whereabouts for over a year until he was sentenced to the Dozier School for Boys in September of 1953. It’s easy to wonder:

  WHERE THE HELL WAS THOMAS WIGGINS FOR THE YEAR IN BETWEEN??

  PAGE BY EXCRUTIATING PAGE

IT WOULD BE an impossible task to list out every page of Thomas’s file in detail BUT what I am going to do is list out some of the more interesting & questionable items that I’ve seen. For the sake of everyone’s sanity, I’m only going to talk about some of the more questionable details leading to his 1952 commitment to the State Hospital in Chattahoochee, Florida through when he would become an inmate at Dozier in September of 1953. Everything after will be covered in the next couple of posts.

  Anyone interested in reading it in its entirety can click here:

Wiggins Case File

  SO LET’S START with the basics….

      WHAT IN GOD’S NAME IS THE DIAGNOSIS??

 I COUNTED NOTHING short of half a dozen different reasons for Thomas’s commitment to the Florida State Hospital in 1952. That’s right SIX different diagnoses, ALL independent of one another, each listed on separate areas of a form OR on a completely different form altogether. Though most were pretty common by today’s standards, one REALLY stuck out like a sore thumb. See if Y’all can figure out which one I’m talking about…

  1) Schizophrenic

2) Agressive Psychosis

3) Dementia Praecox

4) Homosexuality

5) Vivid Hallucinations

6) Mental Incompetency

  DOES ANYTHING ON the list jump out at you?? If you said number 4, you’re definitely NOT alone! When I saw “Homosexuality” listed as a diagnosis, I was stunned…At least initially. It didn’t take long for the shock to wear off & everything started to make sense. I’ll cop to the possibility that Tommy may have had some serious mental health issues BUT it was all too clear that the family’s major concern was that he may be gay. 

      THIS PARTICULAR “ISSUE”  had got me thinking; Was Thomas gay & the fact that he was unable to express this the reason for some of these other issues that he was having OR did these other mental issues exist within him already, only to be exasperated by the frustration that he must have felt not being able to be his true self? 

  UNFORTUNATELY, WE WILL probably never know the answer & even if we did, it’s far too late to help Thomas now.

      THE PROOF LIES IN THE INCONSISTENCIES

OFFICIALLY LABELING THOMAS’S “problem” would NOT be the only inconsistency. I have to bring up one of the most careless, idiotic mistakes that someone in an official capacity can make; Getting a patient’s date of birth/age incorrect on forms inside of their chart. I wish I could say that this was just a one time deal that was due to a typo BUT it wasn’t.

      THIS PARTICULAR INDISCRETION became a common occurrence over a number of Thomas’s documents. His year of birth was changed from 1937 to 1938, even at one point listing his birth month as May instead of March. His age often fluctuated. For example, one form would list Thomas as being 14, however, another would show his age at 15, even though the completion date on both matched. 

  IN ALL ACTUALITY, the entire file was so chaotic that it took forever to get through. Every time I’d begin scanning a page, I’d notice something odd & have to stop to make a note about it. For instance, I’d read a doctor’s comment about how Thomas was only apt to self harm & then the next page would have that same physician noting that his “Propensity was to harm others.” My personal favorite was when the attending physician reported that there was really nothing outstanding about Tommy but immediately goes on to state that “Tommy is extremely ill.” Did this educated physician, who was the Medical Director of the Florida State Hospital, realize that he contradicted himself on a regular basis? If he DIDN’T, he’s an idiot & if he DID than he’s a jackass…Either scenario made poor Tommy up shit’s creek when it came to receiving ANY type of reliable treatment.  

  IN SPITE OF Thomas’s illness being described as dire, it ultimately didn’t prevent his father from discharging him only a few months into his treatment. Though we have no record of what happened during his year away from FSH, we can assume that he continued to decline…OR as I see it, he wouldn’t stop being gay. Thomas would resurface again BUT this time he wouldn’t be receiving hospital care, he would be sent to a brutal reform school located in Marianna, Florida where he would live out the remaining days of his way too short life.

  TO BE CONTINUED…

  ♤Please Consider Helping In The Fight For Justice By Signing The 1st Petition: https://www.change.org/p/jenn-moslek-re-investigation-of-the-arthur-g-dozier-school-for-boys♤

  ☆ IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW SUFFERED ABUSE, PASSED AWAY, WENT MISSING OR WITNESSED ANY WRONGDOINGS WHILE AT “THE FLORIDA INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS” AKA “THE ARTHUR G. DOZIER SCHOOL FOR BOYS” OR THE OKEECHOBEE SCHOOL FOR BOYS, PLEASE REACH OUT VIA findingflorida.blog OR ANY OF THE CONTACT INFO LISTED BELOW!!☆

  Want More “Finding Florida?” BE SURE TO “SUBSCRIBE”!

      FOR PRIVATE CONTACT SEND EMAILS TO:  [email protected]

  FOR ALL DOZIER RELATED INFO:

http://thewhitehouseboysonline.com

AND

http://www.whitehouseboys2007.com

  FOR FULL PHOTO GALLERIES & ADDITIONAL LOCATION INFO FOLLOW ME ON FB AT:  @GRAVEAdventuresFL

THE BOYS…

    A MOTHER’S FIGHT FOR JUSTICE

IT WAS A late December night when I would get a call that would again change the direction that I was going. I answered & heard “Jenn, It’s Dawn Chase.” I was floored. I had seen her son’s story & had felt compelled to send her an email a couple of months before. The problem was that the open letter that she had posted on the website was written years before. I knew I was taking a chance using the contact info that had been attached to it but what did I really have to lose at that point? Thankfully, she did happen to see my email!

    DURING THAT CALL, I told her about what I was trying to do & what had happened so far. I also told her about how I had gotten her son’s name to begin with. He had been the very last name on a list of about 15 other boys that another former Dozier boy had given to me. This list was different than the others…The Boys on this list had ALL served time at the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in the 2000’s & EVERY single one of them could attest to the abuse that was happening at the school. These Boys were “Game Changers!” NOT only would they be able to back up the claims of the Whitehouse Boys that had been there in the 50’s & 60’s BUT they could also offer proof that the abuse NEVER stopped. Marianna didn’t care about changing OR righting the wrongs of the past; They just wanted it ALL to go away, whatever the cost may be. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s a pretty safe bet that there were kids being beaten until the very day that Dozier closed its doors in 2011.

      A LIFE INTERRUPTED

HIS NAME IS Christopher Sholly. He is a son, a brother, an uncle, an aspiring model…And yes, he is also yet another unfortunate victim of the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. Chris’s story runs a bit broader though as Dozier would be only one of many stops in Florida’s Juvenile Justice system; ALL would fail him miserably. What started as a couple of tees having a fight at school would result in a 13-year-old boy becoming entangled in Florida’s corrupt Juvenile Justice System for the next 4 years; ONLY ending when he would be herded into the dark abyss of adult prison life. There would be NO trying out for his high school sports team, NO nervous fidgeting while he attempted to ask a girl to homecoming OR prom. He wouldn’t even have the luxury of celebrating the remaining birthdays of his teenage years at home with his family. All of the things that most of us take for granted.

  IT WOULD BE the Fall of 2004 when Chris would 1st come into contact with the Arthur G Dozier School for Boys. Near completion of his program at the Jackson Juvenile Offenders Center (JJOCC), he was looking forward to finally going home & getting on with his life. Claiming that they needed to free up spots for Juveniles that were considered “flight risks”, Chris was sent to Dozier.

      HE WAS ASSURED that his credits from the JJOC program would transfer with him, So he believed that he would complete his remaining time at AGDSB & be released on schedule. By now, we ALL know that Dozier doesn’t offer happy endings. Chris would be NO exception.

        FROM THE MOMENT he stepped foot onto the campus, he was taunted, severely beaten & verbally assaulted. When he wasn’t being personally abused, he had to witness others receive the same treatment. But Chris did his best to stick it out, knowing he was only a matter of weeks from getting his life back. It would be when he started to fear for his life that he would finally say something.

    DURING A PHONE call with his mom, Chris had the courage to tell her what was happening at the school. His mom, doing what most loving moms would do, immediately went to authorities. The Florida Department of Children & Families (DCF) was called in to “investigate.”

And….

      NOT ONE FREAKING thing happened! Now maybe a proper investigation was done & it was decided that this was just another case of a pissed off “juvenile delinquent” throwing around claims of abuse to get back at everyone for locking him up. That’s just got to be the case, right??

      IF THAT THOUGHT crossed your mind, I can assure you that you couldn’t be more wrong! As it turns out, the DCF caseworker assigned to investigate the claims of abuse was conveniently related to a Dozier staff member. But NOT just ANY staff member …It was THE staff member accused of abuse.

        RETALIATION

IT MAKES ME sad to think about what so many children are now privy to at such a young age. It goes way beyond a child finding out that “Santa’s NOT Real” OR discovering that NOT all fairytales will have a happy ending. It’s realizing that the “Boogeyman” not only exists BUT takes the form of a man who is given too much power & has too much evil & hate inside. Being in such a position could be a good thing, if you decide to use that power to impact a child’s life positively. Obviously, most of the Dozier staff made a very different choice OR we’d all be hearing an entirely different story today. Yet, how powerful can you possibly be when your chosen victim is a child?

      THE ANSWER IS quite simple; Beating a 13-year-old unconscious OR breaking his bones does NOT make a king BUT a coward. These real life “Boogeymen” would finally meet their match in the form of a teenaged boy. He may have been scared to death of not getting to go home OR worse, NOT making it out of the system alive, yet he decided to stand up for what was right.

      “BUT I’M NOT AN ADULT”

IN SPITE OF the extreme retaliation that he would face, Chris would continue to report the abuse to his mom during their phone calls. She, in turn, began a crusade to get her son out of Dozier. Dawn spent her days reaching out to ANY official that she thought could help. She wasn’t going to stop until her boy was either transferred to another facility OR was sent home. Chris would eventually be transferred out of Dozier, though it wouldn’t be in a positive way. With approximately 6 years left until Dozier would finally close its doors for good, they weren’t about to allow another blemish to mark their record. The superintendent came up with a plan to keep that from happening; File assault charges on Chris stating that he had assaulted a guard & this time, they would make sure that he wouldn’t step foot inside another juvenile facility…This time he would be charged as an adult.

      EVEN WITH THE evidence & witness testimony supporting Chris’s version of events, the corruption ran too deep…At just 17 years old, Chris became a child inmate sent to serve his sentence in a VERY adult prison. 

  ALTHOUGH I DID my best to tell Chris’s story, I barely scratched the surface of what he’s gone through. Fortunately, he kept a detailed journal documenting what he went through & with the help of his mom, compiled entries, letters & other important info…They then made ALL of the content public. If you’re interested in hearing his account, here is the link:

https://christophersholly.blogspot.com/2007/04/christopher-shollys-diary-abused-in.html?m=1

    I STRONGLY SUGGEST taking a few minutes to read through these entries… Besides, who better to tell this story but Chris himself?

    ♤Please Consider Helping In The Fight For Justice By Signing The 1st Petition: https://www.change.org/p/jenn-moslek-re-investigation-of-the-arthur-g-dozier-school-for-boys

  ☆ IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW SUFFERED ABUSE, PASSED AWAY, WENT MISSING OR WITNESSED ANY WRONGDOINGS WHILE  AT “THE FLORIDA INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS” AKA “THE ARTHUR G. DOZIER SCHOOL FOR BOYS” OR THE OKEECHOBEE SCHOOL FOR BOYS, PLEASE REACH OUT VIA HERE AT findingflorida.blog OR ANY OF THE CONTACT INFO LISTED BELOW!!☆

  Want More “Finding Florida?” BE SURE TO “SUBSCRIBE”! FOR PRIVATE CONTACT SEND EMAILS TO:  [email protected]

  FOR ALL DOZIER RELATED INFO:

http://thewhitehouseboysonline.com

AND

http://www.whitehouseboys2007.com

  FOR FULL PHOTO GALLERIES & ADDITIONAL LOCATION INFO FOLLOW ME ON FB AT:  @GRAVEAdventuresFL