Thousands of bodies discovered at a former lunatic asylum sounds like something straight from a horror movie. But in 2014, it was a reality for Mississippi. The harrowing discovery made national headlines, leaving many wondering about the identities of the forgotten-about corpses. Keep reading to learn more about the eerie find.

The bodies were discovered at Jackson’s University of Mississippi Medical Center after work began on a new parking garage.
University of Mississippi Medical Center/Facebook
Though the 2014 discovery was the largest, it wasn’t the first time bodies were found on the UMMC campus. Sixty-six corpses were found during a 2013 construction project.
The initial body count from the 2014 find was 2,000. However, an underground radar later revealed that there were at least 7,000 coffins spread out over 20 acres.
umc.edu
The campus sits on the same plat of land that was once occupied by the Mississippi Asylum for the Insane, so the corpses are assumed to be deceased patients from the asylum.
misspreservation.com
Normally, after a patient passed away, their family claimed their body. Those that weren’t claimed were buried on the asylum’s property.

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During its operation from 1855 to 1935, the asylum treated about 35,000 patients for depression, schizophrenia, and other mental illnesses.
Ron Collins/FindAGrave
Since mental illness had such a stigma at the time, a portion of the patients were sent to the asylum against their will by spouses or relatives.
Prior to the establishment of the facility, which was originally known as the Mississippi State Lunatic Asylum, the living conditions of the state’s mentally ill was compared to "jails and dungeons."
umc.edu
Dorthea Dix, a social reformer known as "the Angel of Madhouses," had a lot to do with the opening of the asylum.
By the late 1920s, work began on a new institution in Whitfield, MS. Named the Mississippi State Hospital, the new hospital opened its doors in 1935 at which time the asylum closed for good.
umc.edu
Since exhuming and reburying the bodies would be extremely expensive (an estimated $21 million), the medical center has come up with an alternative – exhuming just a few of the bodies and building a memorial to the patients.
umc.edu
The new addition would include a memorial, visitors center, and laboratory where researchers could examine the exhumed remains for scientific research.

So, do you remember when this mass grave was discovered? Or is this your first time hearing about it? Tell us in the comments section.

If you enjoyed this, be sure to check out “This One Creepy Ghost Town In Mississippi Is The Stuff Nightmares Are Made Of.“

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