A body with a gunshot wound is the latest discovery in Tulsa’s search for victims of the 1921 Race Massacre.
The city began its fifth excavation of Oaklawn Cemetery Oct. 14. On Monday, officials said they found 42 new graves including a male gunshot victim.
Known as Burial 199, he is the seventh body discovered during the excavations to contain “evidence of trauma.” However, the official cause of death and caliber of weapon is still unknown.
Kary Stackelbeck, an archaeologist with the University of Oklahoma, said while it’s still too early to say whether he was killed during the massacre, finding him is a “very compelling piece of information.”
“It just lends credence to the fact that we believe we are in fact in the right place, working in the right area,” Stackelbeck said. “And that we have methods in place that are allowing us to recover these individuals successfully.”
The city paused this round of excavations as rainy weather moved through Tulsa but said it would resume Tuesday with heavy machinery.
This excavation comes five months after the remains of James Goings, a confirmed massacre victim, and George Melvin Gillispie, a still undetermined victim, were identified.
