A former Black cemetery was discovered at a U.S. Air Force base in Florida with as many as 121 unmarked graves, Associated Press reports.

The MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa is the site where a “non-intrusive archaeological survey” was conducted for the last two years and the results were “58 probable graves and 63 possible graves” were identified.

Lt. Laura Anderson, a spokesperson for the base said the officials are dedicated the rectifying the situation.

“We know obviously there was wrong done in the past, but we’re working together with our community members,” Anderson said in a statement. “We want to make what was wrong right.”

In 2019, MacDill was first notified by the Tampa Bay History Center about the possibility of a Black cemetery, The Guardian. To honor the deceased, a memorial ceremony was held in 2021.

Following the announcement of the discovery of the graves, base officials will be planning on expanding the search area throughout the year with expert teams using ground-penetrating radar and cadaver dogs. Additionally, the base will collaborate with the local community “to determine how to best document the site and to pay respect to the people buried there.” 

The discovery of the unmarked graves in Florida is one of the latest examples of how Black bodies have been disposed of and disregarded in death. 

In December, civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump called for a federal investigation following the discovery of 215 bodies that were buried in a cemetery behind a pauper’s cemetery at the Hinds County Penal Farm. According to the report, many of the family members were not aware that their loved ones were deceased.

“People all across America are scratching their heads in disbelief about what’s happening in Jackson, Mississippi, with this pauper’s graveyard,” Crump said at news conferences in December. “It went from talking about the water” that was non-existent or contaminated, “to now we’re talking about the graveyard." What is going on in Jackson, Mississippi?”

Crump also accused the authorities in charge of the jail of “neglect and said that the families deserved to be informed of their loved ones' death with dignity.”