City workers performing routine trail maintenance this week discovered what appeared to be remnants of a casket and bone fragments in a wooded area of Tom Brown Park, prompting an investigation by state officials.
According to a Facebook post by the city of Tallahassee, the discovery was made “off the beaten path” within the park.
A small cemetery is located nearby, with headstones dating back to the early 1900s, raising questions about whether the remains may be historically significant. Officials said the age of the skeletal remains could not be immediately determined.
The State Medical Examiner’s Office and archaeologists with the Florida Department of State’s Division of Historical Resources were called to the scene and will try to determine the nature and origin of the remains, as well as what to do next.
The city’s post noted that what is now Tom Brown Park had been federal property; the park was officially dedicated on Jan. 30, 1977. It’s managed and maintained by the City of Tallahassee’s Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Affairs Department.
No further details were immediately available, and officials have not said how long the investigation is expected to take.
Records from the Find A Grave website show graves include those of the Rev. J.W. Kilpatrick and his wife Mariah, as well as a Mamie Townce.
Another man, Walter Kilpatrick, was said to have been killed; what appears to be a Tallahassee Democrat news story said he was shot dead by another man with a shotgun near his home “five miles east of the city on the St. Augustine Road.”
Jim Rosica can be reached at jrosica@tallahassee.com. Follow him on Twitter/X: @JimRosicaFL.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Bone fragments, casket remnants found in Tallahassee park