Thomas Curry was 17 in 1925 when word reached his family that he’d died in an attempt to runaway from Florida’s Dozier School for boys. Curry’s coffin was subsequently sent to his family in Pennsylvania, but when it was exhumed earlier this week, nothing but wood was found inside, reported the Tampa Bay Times.

Thomas Curry Coffin Empty

Curry’s empty coffin is the latest in a string of suspicious incidents surrounding the erstwhile Florida Dozier School for Boys. It’s been speculated that guards often beat the boys in a manner that sometimes led to death. Over the last few years, it’s been determined that up to 100 boys who suffered from the beatings had been buried around the property. The graves were unmarked, leaving nothing to identify the remains for relatives.

The bodies buried at Dozier are being dug up and efforts are being made to identify them and send them to relatives. Thus far, two families have received the remains of their late relatives. It was hoped that upon exhuming Curry’s body, modern tests could be conducted to determine exactly what caused his death.

Back in 1925, Curry’s family was told that he had been hit by a train while running away just 29 days after entering the institution. However, they were later informed that it was possible he’d fallen from the Chattaghoochee Bridge in Florida. Documents uncovered at the school added to the mystery, suggesting that Curry’s skull had been crushed by an “unknown cause.”

It is hoped that by using the DNA of Curry’s surviving relatives, his body will turn up among those unearthed in Florida.

Investigators who’ve been looking into the reform school believe that between 1900 and 1952 more than 100 boys met untimely deaths and were ultimately murdered by the institution. Among the causes of deaths were shootings, dog attacks and beatings.