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Indian mounds in Monroe County desecrated
Reported by: Wayne Hereford
Email: whereford@wtva.com
Last Update: 10:42 am
Two arrested for digging into Indian mounds. ABERDEEN, Miss. (WTVA) -- The Monroe County Sheriff's Department says 41-year-old Jerome Daniel Young of Nettleton and 36-year-old Marty Dean Kennedy of Wren have been arrested as suspects in an ongoing investigation for violating what is known as the Antiquities Act.
The two men are accused of digging into an Indian mound in Monroe County.
Sheriff Cecil Cantrell and his men recovered five artifacts Saturday after the two had sold them to a man in Nettleton.
"They're priceless. What you're doing when you go out and dig in an Indian mound, you're digging in someone's grave," Cantrell said. "It's against the law. But the artifacts that they're selling -- we've probably recovered somewhere between, at this point, 70 [different items]."
Cantrell said the artifacts are so precious, he has them locked away in his evidence room for now.
But he says they will likely serve as the tip of the iceberg of an investigation that will include federal, state and local officials, including members of the Chickasaw nation.
It's an investigation he believes will spread throughout north Mississippi.
"There's a lot of people in trouble over these artifacts and digging in the Indian graves," Cantrell said.
The mound is located on the Canal Section of Army Corps of Engineers land in Monroe County, near James Creek, which runs into the Tenn-Tom Watwerway.
"This is a lot more serious than people may think, [more serious] than walking out and picking up an arrowhead. You cannot dig in any Indian mound in the state of Mississippi," Cantrell said. "It's against the law."
Sheriff Cantrell says the investigation is ongoing with federal authorities now involved.
The artifacts were sold for $1,300 and then sold again for a profit, Cantrell said.
Indian mounds in Monroe County desecrated
Reported by: Wayne Hereford
Email: whereford@wtva.com
Last Update: 10:42 am
Two arrested for digging into Indian mounds. ABERDEEN, Miss. (WTVA) -- The Monroe County Sheriff's Department says 41-year-old Jerome Daniel Young of Nettleton and 36-year-old Marty Dean Kennedy of Wren have been arrested as suspects in an ongoing investigation for violating what is known as the Antiquities Act.
The two men are accused of digging into an Indian mound in Monroe County.
Sheriff Cecil Cantrell and his men recovered five artifacts Saturday after the two had sold them to a man in Nettleton.
"They're priceless. What you're doing when you go out and dig in an Indian mound, you're digging in someone's grave," Cantrell said. "It's against the law. But the artifacts that they're selling -- we've probably recovered somewhere between, at this point, 70 [different items]."
Cantrell said the artifacts are so precious, he has them locked away in his evidence room for now.
But he says they will likely serve as the tip of the iceberg of an investigation that will include federal, state and local officials, including members of the Chickasaw nation.
It's an investigation he believes will spread throughout north Mississippi.
"There's a lot of people in trouble over these artifacts and digging in the Indian graves," Cantrell said.
The mound is located on the Canal Section of Army Corps of Engineers land in Monroe County, near James Creek, which runs into the Tenn-Tom Watwerway.
"This is a lot more serious than people may think, [more serious] than walking out and picking up an arrowhead. You cannot dig in any Indian mound in the state of Mississippi," Cantrell said. "It's against the law."
Sheriff Cantrell says the investigation is ongoing with federal authorities now involved.
The artifacts were sold for $1,300 and then sold again for a profit, Cantrell said.
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