‘Mummified’ infant found buried at Florida site prompts hunt for more graves, cops say

UPDATE: The search for additional graves at the construction site found no other burials. However, more remains of the same dead infant were found and have been turned over to the Medical Examiner’s Office, according to the Gulf County Sheriff’s Office. Construction work will resume at the site.



The original story is below.

Human remains believed to be a dead infant were found buried at a Florida construction site, and investigators are searching for “additional grave sites” on the property, according to the Gulf County Sheriff’s Office.

The remains were described as “mummified,” a term applied to once-living things that appear to have been preserved by hot, dry conditions.

Investigators say the discovery was reported Tuesday, May 31, in Wewahitchka, a city of about 1,800 people on the Florida Panhandle. Wewahitchka is about 75 miles southwest of downtown Tallahassee.

“The Gulf County Sheriff’s Office received a call today, at approximately 2:47 (p.m.), about the discovery of possible human remains,” the sheriff’s office reported in a Facebook post.

“The preliminary investigation revealed the mummified remains of an infant were discovered by workers in a mound of dirt. Investigators are working with the Medical Examiner’s Office for the 14th Judicial Circuit and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.”

The age of the remains and possible cause of death are not known.

Investigators say the discovery was made near the intersection of State Road 71 and Chipola Avenue, a neighborhood that has a mix of single-family homes, businesses and empty lots.

A search of the construction site continued Wednesday, June 1, including the use of a dog skilled at finding human remains, the sheriff’s office said. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement planned to visit the property June 2, with ground-penetrating radar equipment, officials said.

“We will do everything we can to try and unravel this mystery,” Sheriff Mike Harrison said in a release. “We want to eliminate the (possibility) of any additional grave sites.”

A preliminary report from the Medical Examiner’s Office is expected June 2, he said.

It’s at least the second time since April that human remains have been found at a Florida construction site.

The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office reported April 12 that a collection of bones was found by workers at a site in Fernandina Beach, about 35 miles northeast of downtown Jacksonville.

“The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office believes these are very old bones and they have called in an anthropologist with Florida Gulf Coast University to study them and help determine who died, how they died, and how long ago this individual may have been deceased,” the sheriff’s office said.

This story was originally published June 1, 2022 at 10:01 AM with the headline "‘Mummified’ infant found buried at Florida site prompts hunt for more graves, cops say."