WELD COUNTY, Colo. -- Twenty three years ago, Pauli Smith spotted a grave marker beneath 6-foot tall weeds while walking along a dirt road in Weld County. It became her mission to care for the neglected site. Today, the Highland Lake Pioneer Cemetery is well manicured, but many mysteries remain.

"This is the oldest known burial in the cemetery, of 1878," Smith said, while giving me a tour.

The historic cemetery, near Mead, contains 110 burial plots, but only half bear a marker.

"When they were buried here originally they had headstones, they had crosses, and they wanted to be remembered. And those have disappeared," said Smith

Her long-time dream of locating and documenting unmarked graves in the cemetery may soon become reality, with the help of radar technology.

"We are sending radar waves into the ground and they are reflecting off of caskets, off of burial shafts," said Larry Conyers, professor of anthropology at the University of Denver.

He and a group of volunteer students will create a 3D map of the cemetery using data from the ground penetrating radar, as well as, good old fashioned measurements.

Besides the historic significance of trying to determine exactly who is buried where, there's also an economic benefit. The historic society, which is headed by Smith, plans to sell any unused plots to maintain the cemetery for years to come."

"This is where I'm going to be buried," Smith said with a laugh. "I want this cemetery maintained."

Empty plots won't go to just anyone. To be eligible, you must have lived within two miles of the cemetery for at least 20 years, or be a direct descendant of someone who's buried there.