Walton County, Florida
The headstone was unearthed last week as construction crews building a retention pond worked in an isolated wooded area about three miles south of Interstate 10, Satter said.
It was weathered and possibly damaged by construction equipment, Satter said, but the stone clearly revealed that the person it belonged to had lived from Jan. 28 1940 until July 2, 1966.
“It has been suggested to us” that the name on the grave stone is Inez Woosley," Satter said. “The department has not confirmed that.”
That name raises questions of its own, though, as a search of the FindAGrave website reveals a grave marking the final resting place of Inez Woosley, same date of birth and death, presently occupies a spot in the Corner Creek Upper Cemetery in Geneva, Alabama.
Updated Monday,November 9, 2015
Florida Department of Transportation officials confirmed there is not a grave or body present under a tombstone in Walton County. Crews found it about two weeks ago while working on the Highway 331 widening project.
Archaeologists came in from Gainesville to dig up two areas that seemed out of the ordinary based on a scan of the area.
After two days of digging about seven feet into the ground, FDOT officials claim the only unusual thing found was a significant amount of iron in the sand.
Archaeologists filled the holes back in on Tuesday.
FDOT officials tell us the headstone does belong to Inez Woosley and will be returned to the family if they want it.
As workers continue to clear the vegetation an archaeologist will be on hand to make sure nothing else is there.
"So why what's going on, what is it why is it here?" Kevin Hamilton, a local resident, said.
Residents have many questions ever since search archaeologists detected two different out of the ordinary areas near an abandoned tombstone two weeks ago.
To answer those questions, Florida Department of Transportation officials brought back four archaeologists to dig up those areas.
"There were two areas where they couldn't quite pinpoint what exactly they were looking at," FDOT Spokesperson Ian Satter said. "The discoveries were linear in shape, about one to two meters below the surface of the ground."
According to archaeologists, those shapes appear to be rectangular, similar to that of a grave shaft. But after Monday's search, the only thing detected was iron in the soil.
"It's hard to understand why anybody would put anything down here, because if you'd seen this before, it was like that, it was that thick," Hamilton said.
Since NewsChannel 7 broke the story, FDOT officials say their phones have been ringing off the hook.
"We have had several people that have contacted us," Satter said. "That say they are familiar with the family that this tombstone might belong to."
One person in particular claims to be the sister-in-law of Inez Woosley, a 26-year-old who was killed in a car accident with her husband in Arkansas.
Birth and death dates legible on the tombstone match that of Woosley, however, the caller says the young woman was buried in Alabama 49 years ago. Her tombstone was replaced in 2002.
FDOT officials are wondering why Inez Woosley's grave stone would be in DeFuniak Springs if her body is in Alabama. Neighbors wonder the same thing.
"I kind of wonder if nobody is there then why was the stone put there, you know, and the flowers," Tom Rush, another local resident, said. "Why was anything put there?"
"We're going to keep digging until we find out exactly what we're dealing with," Satter said.
Regardless of what is found, Rush says his Native American heritage is tempting him to move.
"Most the Native Americans said, 'Move,'" Rush said. "Even if there isn't a body there, there could still be spirits."
FDOT officials say archaeologists will dig about three more feet Tuesday to see why those two areas were detected on their radar.
The headstone was unearthed last week as construction crews building a retention pond worked in an isolated wooded area about three miles south of Interstate 10, Satter said.
It was weathered and possibly damaged by construction equipment, Satter said, but the stone clearly revealed that the person it belonged to had lived from Jan. 28 1940 until July 2, 1966.
“It has been suggested to us” that the name on the grave stone is Inez Woosley," Satter said. “The department has not confirmed that.”
That name raises questions of its own, though, as a search of the FindAGrave website reveals a grave marking the final resting place of Inez Woosley, same date of birth and death, presently occupies a spot in the Corner Creek Upper Cemetery in Geneva, Alabama.
Updated Monday,November 9, 2015
Florida Department of Transportation officials confirmed there is not a grave or body present under a tombstone in Walton County. Crews found it about two weeks ago while working on the Highway 331 widening project.
Archaeologists came in from Gainesville to dig up two areas that seemed out of the ordinary based on a scan of the area.
After two days of digging about seven feet into the ground, FDOT officials claim the only unusual thing found was a significant amount of iron in the sand.
Archaeologists filled the holes back in on Tuesday.
FDOT officials tell us the headstone does belong to Inez Woosley and will be returned to the family if they want it.
As workers continue to clear the vegetation an archaeologist will be on hand to make sure nothing else is there.
"So why what's going on, what is it why is it here?" Kevin Hamilton, a local resident, said.
Residents have many questions ever since search archaeologists detected two different out of the ordinary areas near an abandoned tombstone two weeks ago.
To answer those questions, Florida Department of Transportation officials brought back four archaeologists to dig up those areas.
"There were two areas where they couldn't quite pinpoint what exactly they were looking at," FDOT Spokesperson Ian Satter said. "The discoveries were linear in shape, about one to two meters below the surface of the ground."
According to archaeologists, those shapes appear to be rectangular, similar to that of a grave shaft. But after Monday's search, the only thing detected was iron in the soil.
"It's hard to understand why anybody would put anything down here, because if you'd seen this before, it was like that, it was that thick," Hamilton said.
Since NewsChannel 7 broke the story, FDOT officials say their phones have been ringing off the hook.
"We have had several people that have contacted us," Satter said. "That say they are familiar with the family that this tombstone might belong to."
One person in particular claims to be the sister-in-law of Inez Woosley, a 26-year-old who was killed in a car accident with her husband in Arkansas.
Birth and death dates legible on the tombstone match that of Woosley, however, the caller says the young woman was buried in Alabama 49 years ago. Her tombstone was replaced in 2002.
FDOT officials are wondering why Inez Woosley's grave stone would be in DeFuniak Springs if her body is in Alabama. Neighbors wonder the same thing.
"I kind of wonder if nobody is there then why was the stone put there, you know, and the flowers," Tom Rush, another local resident, said. "Why was anything put there?"
"We're going to keep digging until we find out exactly what we're dealing with," Satter said.
Regardless of what is found, Rush says his Native American heritage is tempting him to move.
"Most the Native Americans said, 'Move,'" Rush said. "Even if there isn't a body there, there could still be spirits."
FDOT officials say archaeologists will dig about three more feet Tuesday to see why those two areas were detected on their radar.
Walton County, Florida
The headstone was unearthed last week as construction crews building a retention pond worked in an isolated wooded area about three miles south of Interstate 10, Satter said.
It was weathered and possibly damaged by construction equipment, Satter said, but the stone clearly revealed that the person it belonged to had lived from Jan. 28 1940 until July 2, 1966.
“It has been suggested to us” that the name on the grave stone is Inez Woosley," Satter said. “The department has not confirmed that.”
That name raises questions of its own, though, as a search of the FindAGrave website reveals a grave marking the final resting place of Inez Woosley, same date of birth and death, presently occupies a spot in the Corner Creek Upper Cemetery in Geneva, Alabama.
Updated Monday,November 9, 2015
Florida Department of Transportation officials confirmed there is not a grave or body present under a tombstone in Walton County. Crews found it about two weeks ago while working on the Highway 331 widening project.
Archaeologists came in from Gainesville to dig up two areas that seemed out of the ordinary based on a scan of the area.
After two days of digging about seven feet into the ground, FDOT officials claim the only unusual thing found was a significant amount of iron in the sand.
Archaeologists filled the holes back in on Tuesday.
FDOT officials tell us the headstone does belong to Inez Woosley and will be returned to the family if they want it.
As workers continue to clear the vegetation an archaeologist will be on hand to make sure nothing else is there.
"So why what's going on, what is it why is it here?" Kevin Hamilton, a local resident, said.
Residents have many questions ever since search archaeologists detected two different out of the ordinary areas near an abandoned tombstone two weeks ago.
To answer those questions, Florida Department of Transportation officials brought back four archaeologists to dig up those areas.
"There were two areas where they couldn't quite pinpoint what exactly they were looking at," FDOT Spokesperson Ian Satter said. "The discoveries were linear in shape, about one to two meters below the surface of the ground."
According to archaeologists, those shapes appear to be rectangular, similar to that of a grave shaft. But after Monday's search, the only thing detected was iron in the soil.
"It's hard to understand why anybody would put anything down here, because if you'd seen this before, it was like that, it was that thick," Hamilton said.
Since NewsChannel 7 broke the story, FDOT officials say their phones have been ringing off the hook.
"We have had several people that have contacted us," Satter said. "That say they are familiar with the family that this tombstone might belong to."
One person in particular claims to be the sister-in-law of Inez Woosley, a 26-year-old who was killed in a car accident with her husband in Arkansas.
Birth and death dates legible on the tombstone match that of Woosley, however, the caller says the young woman was buried in Alabama 49 years ago. Her tombstone was replaced in 2002.
FDOT officials are wondering why Inez Woosley's grave stone would be in DeFuniak Springs if her body is in Alabama. Neighbors wonder the same thing.
"I kind of wonder if nobody is there then why was the stone put there, you know, and the flowers," Tom Rush, another local resident, said. "Why was anything put there?"
"We're going to keep digging until we find out exactly what we're dealing with," Satter said.
Regardless of what is found, Rush says his Native American heritage is tempting him to move.
"Most the Native Americans said, 'Move,'" Rush said. "Even if there isn't a body there, there could still be spirits."
FDOT officials say archaeologists will dig about three more feet Tuesday to see why those two areas were detected on their radar.
The headstone was unearthed last week as construction crews building a retention pond worked in an isolated wooded area about three miles south of Interstate 10, Satter said.
It was weathered and possibly damaged by construction equipment, Satter said, but the stone clearly revealed that the person it belonged to had lived from Jan. 28 1940 until July 2, 1966.
“It has been suggested to us” that the name on the grave stone is Inez Woosley," Satter said. “The department has not confirmed that.”
That name raises questions of its own, though, as a search of the FindAGrave website reveals a grave marking the final resting place of Inez Woosley, same date of birth and death, presently occupies a spot in the Corner Creek Upper Cemetery in Geneva, Alabama.
Updated Monday,November 9, 2015
Florida Department of Transportation officials confirmed there is not a grave or body present under a tombstone in Walton County. Crews found it about two weeks ago while working on the Highway 331 widening project.
Archaeologists came in from Gainesville to dig up two areas that seemed out of the ordinary based on a scan of the area.
After two days of digging about seven feet into the ground, FDOT officials claim the only unusual thing found was a significant amount of iron in the sand.
Archaeologists filled the holes back in on Tuesday.
FDOT officials tell us the headstone does belong to Inez Woosley and will be returned to the family if they want it.
As workers continue to clear the vegetation an archaeologist will be on hand to make sure nothing else is there.
"So why what's going on, what is it why is it here?" Kevin Hamilton, a local resident, said.
Residents have many questions ever since search archaeologists detected two different out of the ordinary areas near an abandoned tombstone two weeks ago.
To answer those questions, Florida Department of Transportation officials brought back four archaeologists to dig up those areas.
"There were two areas where they couldn't quite pinpoint what exactly they were looking at," FDOT Spokesperson Ian Satter said. "The discoveries were linear in shape, about one to two meters below the surface of the ground."
According to archaeologists, those shapes appear to be rectangular, similar to that of a grave shaft. But after Monday's search, the only thing detected was iron in the soil.
"It's hard to understand why anybody would put anything down here, because if you'd seen this before, it was like that, it was that thick," Hamilton said.
Since NewsChannel 7 broke the story, FDOT officials say their phones have been ringing off the hook.
"We have had several people that have contacted us," Satter said. "That say they are familiar with the family that this tombstone might belong to."
One person in particular claims to be the sister-in-law of Inez Woosley, a 26-year-old who was killed in a car accident with her husband in Arkansas.
Birth and death dates legible on the tombstone match that of Woosley, however, the caller says the young woman was buried in Alabama 49 years ago. Her tombstone was replaced in 2002.
FDOT officials are wondering why Inez Woosley's grave stone would be in DeFuniak Springs if her body is in Alabama. Neighbors wonder the same thing.
"I kind of wonder if nobody is there then why was the stone put there, you know, and the flowers," Tom Rush, another local resident, said. "Why was anything put there?"
"We're going to keep digging until we find out exactly what we're dealing with," Satter said.
Regardless of what is found, Rush says his Native American heritage is tempting him to move.
"Most the Native Americans said, 'Move,'" Rush said. "Even if there isn't a body there, there could still be spirits."
FDOT officials say archaeologists will dig about three more feet Tuesday to see why those two areas were detected on their radar.
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