Good morning everyone. Today we have some sad news for the blog, first off Builders have bulldozed one of the largest Mayan Pyramids in Belize to use the remains for gravel for road building. What a complete senseless waste of their heritage and destruction of potential knowledge and history.

Secondly, I am announcing my stepping back into an associate member role in the United Paranormal Project. For many years I have been involved with the members of the UPP and I have nothing but good things to say about them as a group and as individuals. My circumstances and life has changed dramatically with my marriage and two children and my free time and ability to pursue a full-time schedule with the UPP has become impaired. I wish Eric Glosser and all of the UPP members good hunting and hope that one day i will be able to return to full participation in the field.

Builders bulldoze big Mayan pyramid in Belize for road construction paving gravel

BELIZE CITY (AP) — A construction company has essentially destroyed one of Belize's largest Mayan pyramids with backhoes and bulldozers to extract crushed rock for a road-building project, authorities announced on Monday.

The head of the Belize Institute of Archaeology, Jaime Awe, said the destruction at the Nohmul complex in northern Belize was detected late last week. The ceremonial center dates back at least 2,300 years and is the most important site in northern Belize, near the border with Mexico.

"It's a feeling of Incredible disbelief because of the ignorance and the insensitivity ... they were using this for road fill," Awe said. "It's like being punched in the stomach, it's just so horrendous."

Nohmul sat in the middle of a privately owned sugar cane field, and lacked the even stone sides frequently seen in reconstructed or better-preserved pyramids. But Awe said the builders could not possibly have mistaken the pyramid mound, which is about 100 feet tall, for a natural hill because the ruins were well-known and the landscape there is naturally flat.

"These guys knew that this was an ancient structure. It's just bloody laziness", Awe said.

Photos from the scene showed backhoes clawing away at the pyramid's sloping sides, leaving an isolated core of limestone cobbles at the center, with what appears to be a narrow Mayan chamber dangling above one clawed-out section.

"Just to realize that the ancient Maya acquired all this building material to erect these buildings, using nothing more than stone tools and quarried the stone, and carried this material on their heads, using tump lines," said Awe. "To think that today we have modern equipment, that you can go and excavate in a quarry anywhere, but that this company would completely disregard that and completely destroyed this building. Why can't these people just go and quarry somewhere that has no cultural significance? It's mind-boggling."

Belizean police said they are conducting an investigation and criminal charges are possible. The Nohmul complex sits on private land, but Belizean law says that any pre-Hispanic ruins are under government protection.

The Belize community-action group Citizens Organized for Liberty Through Action called the destruction of the archaeological site "an obscene example of disrespect for the environment and history."

It is not the first time it's happened in Belize, a country of about 350,000 people that is largely covered in jungle and dotted with hundreds of Mayan ruin sites, though few as large as Nohmul.

Norman Hammond, an emeritus professor of archaeology at Boston University who worked in Belizean research projects in the 1980s, wrote in an email that "bulldozing Maya mounds for road fill is an endemic problem in Belize (the whole of the San Estevan center has gone, both of the major pyramids at Louisville, other structures at Nohmul, many smaller sites), but this sounds like the biggest yet."

Arlen Chase, chairman of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Central Florida, said, "Archaeologists are disturbed when such things occur, but there is only a very limited infrastructure in Belize that can be applied to cultural heritage management."

"Unfortunately, they (destruction of sites) are all too common, but not usually in the center of a large Maya site," Chase wrote.

He said there had probably still been much to learn from the site. "A great deal of archaeology was undertaken at Nohmul in the '70s and '80s, but this only sampled a small part of this large center."

Belize isn't the only place where the handiwork of the far-flung and enormously prolific Maya builders is being destroyed. The ancient Mayas spread across southeastern Mexico and through Guatemala, Honduras and Belize.

"I don't think I am exaggerating if I say that every day a Maya mound is being destroyed for construction in one of the countries where the Maya lived," wrote Francisco Estrada-Belli, a professor at Tulane University's Anthropology Department.

"Unfortunately, this destruction of our heritage is irreversible but many don't take it seriously," he added. "The only way to stop it is by showing that it is a major crime and people can and will go to jail for it."

Robert Rosenswig, an archaeologist at the State University of New York at Albany, described the difficult and heartbreaking work of trying to salvage information at the nearby site of San Estevan following similar destruction around 2005.

"Bulldozing damage at San Estevan is extensive and the site is littered with Classic period potsherds," he wrote in an academic paper describing the scene. "We spent a number of days at the beginning of the 2005 season trying to figure out the extent of the damage .... after scratching our heads for many days, a bulldozer showed up and we realized that what appear to be mounds, when overgrown with chest-high vegetation, are actually recently bulldozed garbage piles."

However small the compensation, bulldozing pyramids is one very brutal way of revealing the inner cores of the structures, which were often built up in periodic stages of construction.

"The one advantage of this massive destruction, to the core site, is that the remains of early domestic activity are now visible on the surface," Rosenswig wrote.

Good morning everyone. Today's blog article discusses new technologies used to find grave sites.

It's hard to convict someone of murder if their victim's body is never found. And it's hard to find a body once it's underground.

This is the problem troubling researchers from the National University of Colombia in Bogota. The group of forensic geophysicists is developing techniques that may help officials locate clandestine graves, including mass graves where the victims of war crimes are often buried.

The researchers plan to simulate clandestine mass graves by burying pig carcasses in eight different soils and climates throughout Colombia. They will then study the graves using technological methods like ground penetrating radar, electrical resistivity, conductivity and magnetometry.

"Nowadays, there are thousands of missing people around the world that could have been tortured and killed and buried in clandestine graves," said Jamie Pringle of the School of Physical Sciences and Geography at Keele University in the United Kingdom.

"This is a huge problem for their families and governments that are responsible for the human rights of everybody. These people need to be found and the related crime cases need to be resolved."

Pringle, who is leading the Colombian study, has already conducted similar studies throughout his career as a forensic geophysicist. His work with simulated clandestine graves in the U.K. taught him that the detection of corpses depends greatly on understanding how the body decomposes in different soils and climates.

By monitoring soil gases and fluids, researchers are able to better understand these processes and apply them to real-life forensic cases.

The Colombian study will survey eight distinct geological locations over the course of 18 months. And the scientists hope that their research will also allow them to gather clues about time of death and burial, which are important details during a murder trial.

International collaborations among forensic geophysicists have already proven helpful in locating the clandestine graves of IRA victims in Northern Ireland as well as the current excavations of mass graves in Spain that date back to that country's Civil War.

NY's largest cemetery celebrates 175th anniversary

Today's blog is an interesting story about a town, and its cemetery, that spent a couple decades underwater after a disaster flooded it, only to reappear as the waters at last receded.

Eerie Ghost Town Comes Up For Air

By: Paul Byrne
AP
May 10th, 2013

Read More: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-photos-eerie-ghost-town-comes-air-120211018.html

EPECUEN, Argentina (AP) — A strange ghost town that spent a quarter century under water is coming up for air again in the Argentine farmlands southwest of Buenos Aires.

Grave robbing? NJ's cemetery grab leaves church without a prayer

By: Perry Chiaramonte
Fox News
May 7th 2013

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/06/grave-robbing-nj-cemetery-grab-leaves-church-without-prayer/?test=latestnews#ixzz2Snh8JSTn

When it comes to the value of a piece of land in New Jersey, there's a big separation of church and state.

New Jersey invoked eminent domain to grab the land for a highway project, and offered the Catholic diocese in Camden $1.9 million, even though church officials say the 6-acre parcel is worth ten times that figure. The land, part of a cemetery but containing no graves, will go to an extensive road-widening project after the state's Supreme Court declined to hear the church's appeal. Diocese officials claim the state low-balled them.

"We are disappointed by the state's approach," Diocese of Camden spokesman Peter Feuerherd told FoxNews.com.

Church officials had asked for $19.4 million for the tract at New St. Mary’s Cemetery in Bellmawr, basing its estimate on the value of the land and the cost of relocating graves whose "tranquility" might be disturbed by the roadwork. But the state Department of Transportation used a 2007 appraisal of the land, even ignoring a subsequent valuation of  $3.5 million, Feuerherd said.

"We are disappointed by the state's approach." - Diocese spokesman Peter Feuerherd

The state moved to condemn the parcel in June 2010, and an appellate court sided with the state last October. Earlier this week, the state's top court refused to hear the case, leaving the diocese without a prayer.

The state wants the land for its project to improve traffic flow at a junction near Philadelphia where three major highways converge. The NJDOT’s "Direct Connection" project is intended to reduce congestion in the area where Route 42 and Interstates 76 and 295 come together by widening and redirection of lanes.

Church officials say they understand the state has power to condemn property for the public good, but say the fair value must take into account an up-to-date appraisal and the logistical problems of moving tombs and markers. In 2010, the church offered to sell the land for $19.8 million, but the state responded by moving to condemn it.

The parcel in question is close enough to a cluster of eleven communal mausoleums that hold more than 7,000 crypts and another 768 niches for storing ashes, all of which must be moved away from the proposed roadway.

“It is anticipated that mausolea and niche space will become unsalable in the future once construction on the property begins,” Feuerherd said. "And the state’s offer does not include any damages resulting from the direct connection project, the most significant of which will be the need to construct replacement mausolea.”

A spokesman for the NJDOT told FoxNews.com that he was unable to immediately comment on the matter pending research on the recent court decision.

Today's Lost and Found Ohio blog is about another ancient cemetery found underneath a parking lot. Sadly, this seems to be where many of these end up. Consider this, for every one of these that is " found " and shows up in the news, how many multitudes more are either never rediscovered, or have been purposely ignored and paved over anyway.

I am working on getting my Chicago cemetery pictures sorted out and will have some of them up on the site here soon. I also shot some video/tourage through some of the cemeteries and I'm working on a couple video clips for the website too.

Lastly, I am still adding lots of vintage macabre items to my spooky things webstore so please take a look - 

www.zazzle.com/spookythings

Ancient Roman Cemetery Discovered Beneath Parking Lot

By: Jeanna Bryner
LiveScience Managing Editor
LiveScience.com May 3rd 2013

http://news.yahoo.com/ancient-roman-cemetery-discovered-beneath-parking-lot-135234885.html

Hidden beneath a parking lot in Leicester, England, archaeologists have discovered a 1,700-year-old Roman cemetery that seemed to show no religious bias.

The new discovery, found at the junction of Newarke and Oxford Streets, includes numerous burials and skeletal remains from 13 individuals, both male and female of various ages. The cemetery is estimated to date back to around A.D. 300, according to University of Leicester archaeologists who led the dig.

"We have literally only just finished the excavation and the finds are currently in the process of being cleaned and  catalogued so that they can then be analyzed by the various specialists," John Thomas, archaeological project officer, told LiveScience in an email.

See Images of the Ancient Roman Cemetery

Paved over

Parking lots seem to be great places to look for bones these days. In February, archaeologists announced that bones excavated from underneath a parking lot in Leicester, "beyond reasonable doubt," belong to the lost and vilified English king Richard III.  More recently, the skeletal remains of a medieval knight and possibly his family crypt were unearthed from beneath a parking lot in Scotland.

Previous to the new discovery, scientists had excavated burials on Newarke Street, located to the east and north of the present site where the Roman cemetery was uncovered; these burials seemed to follow Christian traditions, in which the bodies were buried in a supine position, facing east with little or no goods buried alongside them, the researchers said.

"Unusually the 13 burials found during the recent excavations, of mixed age and sex, displayed a variety of burial traditions, including east to west and north to south-oriented graves," said Thomas, "many with personal items such as  finger rings, hairpins, buckles and hob-nailed shoes."

For instance, in paganlike tradition one grave was facing north-south with the body positioned on its side in a semi-fetal position. The head had been removed and placed near the feet alongside two pottery jars, likely for offerings for the journey to the afterlife, Thomas said. "This would seem to be  a very pagan burial," he said.

Nearby was a very Christian burial in which the individual was  facing east and wearing a polished finger ring made of jet on the left hand. The  design etched onto the ring, "IX," may have been an artistic design or could  represent an early Christian symbol taken from the initials of Jesus Christ in  Greek, known as Iota-Chi, or IX. "If so this would represent rare evidence for a  personal statement of belief from this period," Thomas said in a statement.

From the mix of burial types, Thomas said it's possible "that the cemetery catered for a range of beliefs that would have been important to people living in Leicester at this time."

Studying the bones

Archaeologists also discovered a 17th-century ditch running alongside Newarke Street, something that would have been part of the town's defenses during the English Civil War.

The project is ongoing and the archaeologists and other scientists will analyze the human bones to determine age, sex and the likely cause of death, Thomas wrote.

"It is possible that study of the bones will also enlighten us to patterns in the individuals' diet, and wear and tear on the bones may shed light on their lifestyle or the stress put on their bodies through work," Thomas wrote. "We have also taken soil samples from the stomach area of the bodies to look for gut  parasites."

Jane of Jamestown skull shows signs of cannibalism in today Lost and found Ohio blog.

Scholars find cannibalism at Jamestown settlement

By: Brett Zongker
Associated Press
May 2nd, 2013

http://news.yahoo.com/scholars-cannibalism-jamestown-settlement-155950852.html

WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists revealed Wednesday that they have found the first solid archaeological evidence that some of the earliest American colonists at Jamestown, Va., survived harsh conditions by turning to cannibalism.

For years, there have been tales of people in the first permanent English settlement in America eating dogs, cats, rats, mice, snakes and shoe leather to stave off starvation. There were also written accounts of settlers eating their own dead, but archaeologists had been skeptical of those stories.

But now, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and archaeologists from Jamestown are announcing the discovery of the bones of a 14-year-old girl that show clear signs that she was cannibalized. Evidence indicates clumsy chops to the body and head of the girl, who appears to have already been dead at the time.

Smithsonian forensic anthropologist Douglas Owsley said the human remains date back to a deadly winter known as the "starving time" in Jamestown from 1609 to 1610. Hundreds died during the period. Scientists have said the settlers likely arrived during the worst drought in 800 years, bringing severe food shortages for the 6,000 people who lived at Jamestown between 1607 and 1625.

The historical record is chilling. Early Jamestown colony leader George Percy wrote of a "world of miseries," that included digging up corpses from their graves to eat when there was nothing else. "Nothing was spared to maintain life," he wrote.

In one case, a man killed, "salted," and began eating his pregnant wife. Both Percy and Capt. John Smith, the colony's most famous leader, documented the account in their writings. The man was later executed.

"One amongst the rest did kill his wife, powdered her, and had eaten part of her before it was known, for which he was executed, as he well deserved," Smith wrote. "Now whether she was better roasted, boiled or carbonado'd (barbecued), I know not, but of such a dish as powdered wife I never heard of."

Archaeologists at Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia were somewhat skeptical of the stories of cannibalism in the past because there was no solid proof, until now.

"Historians have questioned, well did it happen or not happen?" Owsley said. "And this is very convincing evidence that it did."

Owsley has been working with William Kelso, the chief archaeologist at Jamestown, since their first burial discovery in 1996.

The remains of the 14-year-old girl, named "Jane" by researchers, were discovered in the summer of 2012 and mark the fourth set of human remains uncovered at Jamestown outside of graves. Her remains were found in a cellar at the site that had been filled with trash, including bones of horses and other animals consumed in desperation, according to archaeologists.

The discovery detracts from the happier mythology of John Smith and Pocahontas that many associate with Jamestown. The vice president of research at nearby Colonial Williamsburg, which oversees excavations of the original Jamestown site, said visitors will have a fuller view of a terrible time in early American history.

"I think we are better served by understanding history, warts and all, because I think it gives us a better understanding of who we are as a people," James Horn said.

Owsley, who has also done forensic analysis for police investigations, examined the girl's remains and how the body had been dismembered, including chops to the front and back of the head. The girl was likely already dead at the time. There was a cultural stigma against killing someone for food.

But it was clear to Owsley immediately that there were signs of cannibalism.

"This does represent a clear case of dismemberment of the body and removing of tissues for consumption,"  he said.

It was the work of someone not skilled at butchering, Owsley said, indicating a sense of desperation.

The bones show a bizarre attempt to open the skull, he said. Animal brains and facial tissue were desirable meat in the 17th century.

The archaeologists are publishing their findings in a new book but decided against waiting to announce the discovery.

The human skull will be placed on display at Jamestown, and a sign will warn visitors of the room's content. At the Smithsonian, curators will display a computer-generated reconstruction of the girl's face in an exhibit about life at Jamestown.

Owsley said archaeology is helping to fill in details from a time when few records were kept — details that won't likely be found in history books.

Kelso, whose archaeology team discovered the bones, said the girl's bones will be displayed to help tell a story, not to be a spectacle. Through the remains, scientists traced her likely origin to the coast of Southern England.

"We found her in a trash dump, unceremoniously trashed and cannibalized, and now her story can be told," Kelso said. "People will be able to empathize with the time and history and think to themselves, as I do: What would I do to stay alive?"

At Jamestown, officials removed a large tarp covering the site where the remains were found for visitors to see. Tourists were told Wednesday of the discovery.

"Oh, wow," said Kim Reyes, who was on a field trip escorting fourth grade students from Alexandria, Va. "We all know the harsh conditions they were here in, but I didn't think it was that bad."

Pam Nagle's mouth dropped when she heard the announcement. The Charlottesville, Va., resident was visiting Jamestown with her children, ages 7 and 10, and her in-laws. Nagle said she had never heard any mention of cannibalism at Jamestown before.

"I was really curious whether it was pre- or post-mortem. I was really glad he said post-mortem," she said. "There was a level of desperation, but maybe perhaps it wasn't as severe as it could've been."

Good Morning everyone. Todays Blog has an interesting find, a medieval knights family crypt has been unearthed beneath a parking lot.

Okay I am back from my honeymoon trip to Chicago and getting back into gear hear at Lost and Found Ohio. Fear not, I took the oportunity to do some cemetery hopping while in Chicago and they have many excellent cemeteries. I only managed to scratch the surface there but still got to three very cool places, which i will be putting photos up of here this week. I also got to tour the Field Museum which is an amazing place with all sorts of interesting relics; including lots of mummies and other egyptian bural articfacts. Very cool stuff.

Now onto the blog - today I would like to announce another group putting on a paranormal convention at my favorite haunted location, The Twin City Opera House, on June 1st, 2013.

Into The Dark Radio -  http://www.intothedarkradio.net/

Into The Dark Radio is a paranormal podcast hosted by paranormal enthusiasts Steve Rogers and Shawn McMahon. Their podcast talks about all things related to the strange and bizarre, from ghosts to haunting's, UFO's to Cryptozoology and everything in-between.

NEWS UPDATE : This event has been changed to a private ghost hunting event by the promoters/Into The Dark Radio as of May 14th 2013!

Into The Dark Radio will now be hosting paranormal events but on a much smaller scale compared to some of the other larger events out there. This is a great way for friends of the show to get together and have a good time with presentations, food, and, as always, an overnight investigation! So join us at the Twin City Opera House June 1st, 2013 in McConnelsville Ohio  www.twincityoperahouse.com  

Click on the link  below for ticket information. Hope to see you there!

http://www.intothedarkradio.net/events.htm 

http://paranormalgathering.eventbrite.com/

I have been a bit distracted and definitely haven't been giving Lost and Found Ohio, and the blog, my full attention of late for which I apologise to all our readers and viewers. The reason is that I have a Big personal announcement , I am getting married tomorow! April 19th 2013!

My long time girlfriend/fiancee and I have held off due to financial reasons but have finally decided to take the plunge and deal with combining our finances fully. We will be going to Chicago for a honeymoon next week and hopefully wandering around enjoying the sights and a few cemeteries along the way : )

I am taking my laptop but dont know if I will actually be posting much next week however, I fully intend to come back the following week with fresh content and put my nose back to the grindstone here. I want to keep bringing you the odd news and cemetery related content we have been serving up since 2006, or so, when the blog was on Myspace and the galleries were here and keep Lost and Found Ohio up and running. I have seen most of the websites that inspired me to do this either disappear entirely or go almost completely inactive over the past couple years and I dont want to follow in their footsteps.

The good news is that my partner Tom has been in contact with some fresh new photographers who have oodles of talent and an apreciation for abandonments and who's content will soon be joining my own on the site!

I intend to continue my cemetery hopping this year and get more grand old headstones up for your viewing pleasure and hopfully have more great haunted locations to deliver to you as well so stay tuned as they used to say.