The federal government is hoping that dead men can tell tales. Investigators unearthed the body of Emmett Till Wednesday in suburban Chicago hoping to find some information that will help them in the reopened murder case. Till, 14, was lynched in 1955 in Mississippi in a case that galvanized the civil rights movement.

Frank Bochte, an FBI spokesman, explained the reason for exhuming Till's body. 'One purpose of this is to positively identify the remains and dispel any rumors as to whether it is truly Emmett Till or not,' Frank Bochte said. He added the investigators wanted to 'see if any further evidence can be looked at to help Mississippi officials bring additional charges if warranted.'

The case became reopened after new information became available. Documentary filmmaker Keith Beauchamp was a key figure in obtaining the new information for investigators.

Till was kidnapped from his uncle's Money, Mississippi farm on August 28, 1955. The 14-year-old boy was abducted for allegedly whistling at a white woman. Three days later, his mutilated remains were found in the Tallahatchie River.

Till's mother had an open casket at his funeral so that her son's mutilated remains could be seen by the entire nation as a symbol of the oppression blacks faced in the Jim Crow south at that time.

Two white men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam were later tried for the murder but acquitted by an all-white jury. They later confessed to the murder in an interview with 'Look' magazine. Both of them are now dead but the FBI believes others who may have assisted Bryant and Milam may still be alive and can be brought to justice.