At the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson Mississippi, about 2,000 unmarked graves were recently uncovered when starting a new expansion of the center. The medical center sits on the same ground that the Mississippi State Lunatic Asylum was once located. Coffins had previously been found in small quantities on the property, but this amount was a first for the construction workers. Expansion of the center was put on hold until a solution is found for the mass unmarked graves.

As patients in the asylum died, very few were claimed by families because of the cost associated with transporting the bodies. This was the start of the unmarked cemetery. The use of a ground penetrating radar was used to see how many and where the rest of the graves were located on the property. The amount of bodies found with the radar was shocking. The center decided they would have to research other locations to expand because of the expenses required to relocate all the bodies at approximately $3,000 each.

When the public found out about the discovery of the graves, the requests of families began to pour in. People wanted to know if their relatives were buried there. The Mississippi State Archive has 16 bound volumes of records of patients in the asylum from 1855 to 1935. Each record has a detailed report on each patient including when they were admitted into the asylum and their cause of death. Using DNA testing and the records, the bodies can come closer to being identified, it will however, be a time consuming process. With less than 12 people on the research team, it may take many years to find the answers people are searching for.