Unearthed bones to be reinterred

Published 1:43 am Saturday, April 7, 2012

The owner of a Thomasville vault company has volunteered to reinter bones found scattered Sunday at a private Thomas County cemetery off B Green Road.

Part of a skull and other large bones were found in a pile of dirt at Carroll Hill Community Cemetery. Elsewhere in the cemetery — six miles southwest of Boston — a jaw bone, among other bones, along with casket handles, were discovered. A wooden casket had disintegrated.

Rain had beat down dirt to expose the bones, which were exposed over a period of time, said Lt. Tim Watkins, Thomas County Sheriff’s Office chief investigator.

The broken slab from the grave was found concealed in nearby woods.

The woman who was buried in the grave was born in 1917 and died in 1946. Her name — Berthene Range — was established by piecing together parts of the broken slab.

Watkins said the 72-year-old grave was intentionally dug up and contents moved with machinery.

No family members came forward to say where the grave had been.

Moses Gross, owner of a Thomasville vault company, volunteered to provide a new vault and reinter the bones.

See Saturday’s edition for more details.