Arkansas Woman Sentenced Probation Restitution Excavating Native American Remains

Kristy Loree Gordon, a 43-year-old woman from Quitman, Arkansas, was sentenced to four years’ probation after pleading guilty to excavating, removing, and damaging Native American human skeletal remains and archaeological resources from a public land site in the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest. The investigation began in November 2020 when hikers reported discovering human skeletal remains near Pouge Springs, leading law enforcement and the U.S. Forest Service to find extensive unauthorized excavation and multiple dug holes at the site, which is a known Native American archeological location. Gordon initially claimed she found the remains while digging with another hiker and covered them back up before notifying authorities, but later admitted she had been digging for artifacts, took some bones including a human skull home, and then returned them to the site. She also agreed to pay over $16,000 in restitution for restoration and repair of the archaeological site. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and the sentence was issued by United States District Judge D. P. Marshall Jr. Gordon’s actions violated laws protecting archaeological resources on public lands, and the site was processed to recover human remains and artifacts including tools and tool fragments.