SAINT PETERSBURG, Fla. — When confronted with credible evidence suggesting graves from erased cemeteries could be on their property, the Tampa Housing Authority, MacDill Air Force Base, FrankCrum, Hillsborough County Schools, Pinellas County Schools and even the city of St. Petersburg hired archaeologists to search and shared results with the public.
Aillen Henderson wants to know why the Diocese of St. Petersburg won’t do the same at the old Sacred Heart Academy along N. Florida Ave. in Tampa – once the site of St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery.
Henderson is the founder of The Cemetery Society, and for years has worked to protect local cemeteries threatened by sale or development.
But now, her fight feels personal.
“My mother was a very active participant with Sacred Heart Church. She passed last December, unexpectedly,” she said. “Before she passed, she had shared with me that she thinks that we have my great-grandmother’s baby twin was buried at St. Mary’s, so she was asking me a lot of questions about the cemetery."
The Diocese says all the graves were moved before it took over the land from the Diocese of St. Augustine in 1968. Newspaper clippings from the 1920s document a move to a section of Myrtle Hill Cemetery, but only make mention of 100 graves being moved. Those accounts also only mention 400 total graves.
But a growing number of death records compiled by Ray Reed, the former Hillsborough County worker whose research helped uncover hundreds of graves from Zion Cemetery at the Tampa Housing Authority’s Robles Park Village and from Ridgewood Cemetery at King High School, suggest there could be as many as 900 graves at the site.
He says the math does not add up. Henderson says an archaeological scan of the ground with ground-penetrating radar could help solve the equation.
“If they’ve all been moved, then show us the documentation to show us where they are so we can let other family members know where their family is,” Henderson said. “And if they all have been moved, then let us do a GPR to prove it. Because we’re providing the documentation saying they’re still here. There’s no documentation that they were reinterred anywhere else.”
The Diocese of St. Petersburg said in a statement it has records, but they are not available to the public. The diocese rejected multiple requests for a sit-down interview about St. Mary’s Cemetery, but 10 Investigates caught up with Bishop Gregory Parkes at a Catholic Charities event.
“Our diocese is working to resolve that issue, and we’re committed to doing so. We’re doing our part to do the research and to research the history there,” he said.
While Bishop Parkes said the diocese is committed to helping families resolve their concerns about missing loved ones, when asked about graves, he said, “I’m not going to discuss that.” He also said he would not answer questions about whether the diocese would take steps like hiring archaeologists to scan the ground for graves.
For those like Alexia Svejda, it provides little closure. She reached out to 10 Investigates in 2021 about her great-grandfather after being unable to find his grave. 10 Investigates confirmed records that showed he was buried in St. Mary’s, but there is no record of where his grave might be today.
“I was quite convinced then, and I’m even more convinced now that his remains were never moved,” she said during a 2022 interview.
Archaeologists who’ve worked on uncovering erased cemeteries across the Tampa Bay area say attempts to move cemeteries are often incomplete.
"The likelihood there are still some remains there are high and especially over the lessons that we've learned over the last several years,” archaeologist Jeff Moates previously told 10 Investigates. “Relocating human burials is a difficult process and it's not always the most thorough -- and that understanding the law that human remains are protected whether they are on public or private property."
It's unclear what steps the diocese will take next, but a spokesperson said in a statement: “Our faith teaches us that human remains must be cared for with dignity and respect. This is what we have done and will continue to do.”
They encourage anyone with questions or concerns about where a loved one from St. Mary’s might be to reach out with the understanding that proof of next of kin will be required for any release of information.
“Our hearts go out to anyone who cannot find a loved one after he/she has been buried. This is a sad reality that some are facing, and it should not be this way,” a diocese statement said.
Henderson has her own message back to the diocese – one she hopes leaders will heed.
“My message is, look at the documentation, open your hearts. Pray. And I know that the message will come to you to do the right thing,” she said. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
Emerald Morrow is an investigative reporter with 10 Tampa Bay. Like her on Facebook and follow her on X. You can also email her at emorrow@10tampabay.com. If you need to contact the Diocese of St. Petersburg, please call 727-344-1611.