Bodies found at Ole Miss

Thousands of bodies may be buried at the University of Mississippi Medical Center campus. They are former patients of a 19th century mental institution that once stood on a wooded area on the campus of Ole Miss.
With plans in the works to build a new parking garage, it’s believed that up to 7,000 graves stretch across several acres where the construction would take place.
Now officials are facing the dilemma of how to respectfully deal with the issue. Relocating the bodies is expected to cost upwards of $21 million.
The university is looking at ways to handle the situation, create a memorial to honor the patients, and preserve their remains. Director of UMMC Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities Dr. Ralph Didlake said, “These individuals represent all 82 counties in Mississippi and we want to be respectful and we want to be deeply engaged in the descendant community. We ask the questions ‘how many more are there?’ and with that question comes ‘what is our responsibility to manage the situation responsibly?’”
At the moment, there are no plans to identify the deceased patients, but officials say they would be open to allowing that kind of research in the future.