More remains located on Long Neck Community Bank site

LONG NECK — Less than 10 days after a revised site plan was approved by Sussex County — including provisions to secure a small cemetery on a lot slated for a Community Bank branch — an unmarked burial was discovered there.

An archaeologist from the Delaware Division of Historical & Cultural Affairs has been on-site investigating since Tuesday, but there is no timeline for findings to be revealed, said Dana Behling, the division’s communications manager.

Under Delaware Code, such discoveries fall under the purview of Ms. Behling’s agency, she explained.

“In consultation with the Delaware Department of Justice, an investigation by the division is ongoing,” she said, adding that, upon the discovery of human skeletal remains or unmarked burials as a result of construction, ground-disturbing activities in the area must immediately cease.

Further, the medical examiner must determine whether law enforcement should be involved “as soon as possible.”

If no foul play is suspected, the director of the Division of Historical & Cultural Affairs, Suzanne Savery, retains authority.

Once the disposition of the case is decided, timelines appear in the code. If the remains are found to be Native American, the director must submit a written plan for their treatment within 60 days of the finding. Otherwise, reports of the findings are required to be advertised in a newspaper, in an attempt to find descendants.

Without any relatives stepping forward within 30 days, the director has another month to develop a plan for the remains.

According to the bank’s revised site plan, approved by the county in early April, a fenced area outlining the cemetery is too small. A ground radar study that had been provided by the company as part of the process located more graves and offered to expand the enclosed area.

“On the site plan, it was grass,” Community Bank president Jack Riddle said previously. He explained that it was never intended to be anything other than a buffer zone, without parking spots, streetlights or trash cans.

In a video released early this year, Mr. Riddle also said, “Please know that the location of the bank building is nowhere near the cemetery.”