Idaho students hunt lost graves with radar technology
Idaho students hunt lost graves with radar technology
https://anabaptistworld.org/idaho-students-hunt-lost-graves-with-radar-technology/
Publish Date: 2026-05-20 07:24:00
Source Domain: anabaptistworld.org
Two educational institutions in Idaho used ground-penetrating radar this spring in an effort to locate unmarked graves dating to the late 1800s in the cemetery of the former Nampa Mennonite Church.
College of Western Idaho research analyst Lazaro Martinez has been working with churches, historians and property owners to restore the cemetery.
“The end goal is to have it open to the public so the history is not forgotten,” he said.
Historical records show a range of individuals buried at the site, now located on private property. Some graves, believed to belong to infants, remain unidentified, highlighting the challenges and hardships faced by early settlers in the region.
“It’s important to find them now because this generation may be the last to have any connection,” Martinez said. “These people laid the foundation of our city.”
CWI associate professor of geosciences Ander Sundell and student Kaylene Cecil partnered with Boise State University faculty Andrew Gase and his students to use Boise State’s radar equipment.
“Participating in a service project like this allowed me to meet and help other people in my community,” Cecil said. “Previously, I had no idea that the cemetery we studied even existed, so it was very eye-opening to not only have a new learning experience, but to also get a glimpse of Idaho’s history.”
Organized in 1899, Nampa Mennonite Church changed its name to Lakeview Bible Church around 2005 and left Pacific Northwest Conference of Mennonite Church USA, joining the Fellowship of Evangelical Churches in 2008.
As of April, radar had indicated ground disturbance anomalies in a row of seven locations, only one of which is within a reasonable proximity to a grave marker.
