Pa. Town Will Keep Jim Thorpe's Remains

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The remains of famed athlete Jim Thorpe will remain in the Pennsylvania town where he was laid to rest six decades ago.

A federal appeals court has thrown out a ruling that could have resulted in the remains' removal to American Indian land in Oklahoma.

Thorpe's surviving sons had been fighting to move the body to Sac and Fox land in the state where he was born. U.S. District Judge Richard Caputo had ruled in their favor.

But the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Thursday that Thorpe's body should remain in the town named after him.

Thorpe was a football, baseball and track star who won the decathlon and pentathlon in the 1912 Olympics. He died in 1953.

His remains are kept in a mausoleum surrounded by statues and interpretive signage.

Philadelphia