Fla. body to be exhumed in missing skull case
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – St. Petersburg authorities were exhuming the body of a woman buried in 1948 to see if it matches a skull found in a former gravedigger’s home.
The skull, believed to belong to Ruth Keaton, was allegedly given to Gary S. Thomas as a gift in the early 1980s. Two cemetary coworkers apparently exposed it while digging next to her burial site.
Pinellas County deputies found it on a bedroom table while responding this month to a disorderly conduct call at Thomas’ home .
On Thursday, they will be joined by anthropologists and 52-year-old Mark keaton, the deceased woman’s nephew. He forgives whoever took the skull and says he just wants it back where it belongs.
Deputies were expected to refer the case to prosecutors for possible criminal charges.