New battle over Confederate time capsule found under Orlando statue

ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Days after a Confederate statute is removed from Lake Eola, a new battle is brewing over who owns a time capsule found at the bottom of the statue.

Pat Schunrr says there's no mystery in this time capsule. She knows exactly what's inside.

"I knew it was there all the time," she says. "Confederate flags, a framed picture of General Robert E. Lee and it's a picture of him on his famous horse traveler. There is also some confederate money and some newspaper clippings dated the date they put the monument in."

Schunrr says the United Daughters of the Confederacy created the time capsule.  Now, they want it back.

"It was put in there 1911," she explains.

The capsule was found in the base of the "Johnny Reb" Confederate statue at Lake Eola Park on Tuesday, as the statues was being disassembled.  The city decided to move it to Greenwood Cemetery after some complained about the message it sent. Now, that the controversy is over, a new one emerges over the capsule.

"We just want them to give it to us and we decide what to do with it. We think it's ours," Schunrr says.

An Orlando spokesperson says their working to set up a meeting with the United Daughters of the Confederacy to figure out who owns it and how to open it.

"I was told when they took it out, it was covered with bugs and all the other stuff, and there's a slit in the side, so everything in there is probably crumbled to pieces."

But Schunrr still wants the tin box, even in pieces.

"We were the ones that paid for it, put it in there."

Schunrr says a member from Tampa plans to present the city with paperwork saying they own the capsule. The capsule is at a secure location in City Hall.