Mississippi Police Killed Her Son, Then Buried Him in a Pauper's Grave Without Telling Her

Even though Jackson, Mississippi, police knew they had killed 37-year-old Dexter Wade, they didn't inform his mother and allowed him to be buried in a penal farm.

Bettersten Wade had been searching for her missing adult son for seven months when she finally learned what happened to him. Just minutes after leaving home in March, 37-year-old Dexter Wade had been struck and killed by a police cruiser. Police didn't inform any family members about Dexter Wade's death, eventually burying him on the grounds of a penal farm.

On March 5, Dexter Wade left his mother's home in Jackson, Mississippi, following an argument the two had over a broken window in the house. After not hearing from him for days, Bettersten Wade reported him missing to the local police.

Bettersten Wade told NBC News that she had been hesitant to call Jackson police after an officer killed her brother in 2019—an incident that resulted in the responsible officer being found guilty of manslaughter.

"My mama told me, 'They're not going to do anything,'" she told NBC. "But I had to do something to find Dexter, and I thought that was the best way." 

According to NBC, Bettersten Wade did everything she could to help find her son. "Bettersten said she kept in regular touch with police, asking for updates and requesting that they put his picture on TV," wrote NBC's Jon Schuppe. "She did her own search, checking out abandoned homes and driving around her neighborhood asking if anyone had seen him." Despite repeated calls, police consistently told her they had no new information about her son.

But it turned out the police knew all along what had happened to Dexter Wade. He had been run over and killed by a police car, less than a mile from his mother's home and less than an hour after leaving.

According to legal documents provided to NBC, an investigator was able to identify Bettersten Wade as Dexter Wade's next of kin just three days after his death, on March 8. But the investigator only attempted to call her once—Bettersten Wade, for her own part, says she does not recall receiving a phone call from the investigator. 

Jackson police were tasked with continuing to contact Bettersten Wade to properly notify her of her son's death. They failed to do so. By the end of the month, NBC says that the coroner's office had filed documents requesting to bury Dexter Wade on the grounds of a penal farm, as no one had come to claim his body.

Despite Bettersten Wade's repeated attempts to find her son and frequent contact with police, she wasn't informed of his death until a new investigator was assigned to his case. 

"They had me looking for him all that time, and they knew who he was," she told NBC.

While Bettersten Wade plans to have her son's body removed and properly buried, the ordeal is still devastating. Dexter Wade left behind two young daughters.

"The hardest thing I ever had to do is tell my girls that their dad is never coming back," the children's mother told NBC. "I just want someone to answer for what happened. I want to know what really happened." 

According to NBC, Jackson police have not responded to questions about the circumstances of Dexter Wade's killing or why they refused to inform Bettersten Wade about her son's death. When contacted by Reason, the department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Comments

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

https://notthebee.com/article/look-at-how-nbc-framed-this-story-let-me-tell-you-what-really-happened

A much different take.

[ElvisIsReal]

None of that meaningfully changes the story.

[m1shu]

None of that meaningfully changes the story.

Fact:
He then called the mother and left a voicemail for her after identifying her as Wade's next of kin.

Reason/NBC propaganda:
they didn't inform his mother

[KiwiDude]

Fact: He claims he left a voice message

Shirley no one believes the cop lied about that

[Social Justice is neither]

Surely nobody believes people would lie or were distraught and miss such a thing and lie when a million dollar payout is on the line.

[mad.casual]

Also, surely no one on an American libertarian site would assert guilt without evidence.

I mean, I could point out that she had a seemingly at least one unemployed drug user in the house. That she didn't get the voicemail *and* claims to be unable to access the account records that would demonstrate if a voicemail were left and somebody went in and deleted it. I could point out that it's convenient to her she's unable to access the digital papertrail of all of it, without implicating exactly who, if anyone, left the voicemail and who, if anyone, didn't receive it.

But that would require people to acknowledge that there are unknowable facts, people on both sides can/be are lying, disingenuous assholes, punishments for accidents at the taxpayer's expense is no more, and arguably less, conforming to notions of justice than hitting someone with a car.

[Wizard4169]

I'm seeing zero mention of so much as a one dollar payout.

[BillEverman]

[BillEverman]

Assuming that the cop wasn’t lying or didn’t get a wrong number, who the fuck thinks a “hey, your kid’s dead” voicemail is appropriate?!? It’s easy enough to knock on a door if they smell weed, but if one of theirs hits and kills your family member with a car, one voicemail and no follow-up whatsoever is acceptable. Hope the boot you’re licking tastes good.

[mad.casual]

who the fuck thinks a “hey, your kid’s dead” voicemail is appropriate?!?

I love the subhuman, brain dead, sociopathic retards calling out the inept, authoritarian retards. Really undermines the stupid self-righteousness on both sides and drive home the fact that there are actual injustices but, more often, it's just "everyone is assholes".

[mad.casual]

Even further,

Fact:
He then called the mother and left a voicemail for her after identifying her as Wade’s next of kin.

*Her own assertion*:
She has since lost access to the phone number/account or other ability to confirm a VM was left.

Reason/NBC propaganda:
they didn’t inform his mother

[MatthewSlyfield]

Fact:
He then called the mother and left a voicemail for her after identifying her as Wade’s next of kin.

Fact: The mother claims she did not receive any call from the investigator.

Surely if the police are telling the truth they could produce phone company record proving that the call was made.

That they aren't doing that is telling.

[mad.casual]

Did you ask them for the records and yourself know they haven’t provided them, or are they guilty because you did the less investigative work that the people you’re trying portray as somewhere between morally bankrupt and criminally negligent for not having done the appropriate amount of investigative work?

Because the original story notes that Wade says she lost access to the account and/or records that would show the call was completed/verified from her end.

[RJ Mathews]

Why would it matter even if they did leave one voicemail? Is that really the extent of the effort to let someone know their son is dead? And what about the months they spent supposedly helping to search for him?

The bottom line is that this young man’s life meant absolutely nothing to those police officers and that is absolutely shameful - both as human beings and as a police force charged with protecting and serving all citizens (even black people, drug addicts, etc.)

This is precisely what the George Floyd protests and riots were all about

[bacchys]

No, but it expresses their Outrage! over anyone thinking black people could possibly be mistreated by police.

[Agammamon]

Here's the thing, sure, Wade isn't someone who bettered the world while alive - doesn't excuse the police for their laxity in the aftermath.

[A Cynical Asshole]

Nah, only people who aren't criminals and/or druggies deserve to have their remains treated with respect or have their next of kin notified when they croak.

[Agammamon]

At least twice. And then send somebody by the house to leave a note.

'yah, I left a voicemail' doesn't cut it.

[Social Justice is neither]

How much are they supposed to call you about the body of your son before you start saying they're harassing/taunting her about it? She had been contacted by the police a week before she reported anything.

Seriously, that's some extremely dishonest agenda driven reporting by both NBC and Reason.

[bacchys]

More than once. And I doubt anyone would say they were harassing her by trying to notify her of her son's death. As for the claim of a voicemail: let's see the evidence.

[Agammamon]

At least twice. And then send somebody by the house to leave a note.

‘yah, I left a voicemail’ doesn’t cut it.

[RJ Mathews]

What an insanely idiotic comment

[Rossami]

No, not different in any meaningful way at all.

[SRG2]

Both stories agree on the relevant facts.

Police killed a man, and buried him, without taking much effort to inform anyone, and despite his mother’s efforts for months, they still kept her in the dark.

Only your link does some burying of its own: “but for some reason, Jackson PD didn’t connect the dots” – most of the way down the story,

The rest of your story is about how the man was a criminal, subtext, “he deserved what he got and we shouldn’t feel sorry for his family, and in any event he was black so who GAF?”

Are we still in a situation where the defence of government abuses or incompetence is “but he was a criminal!”

[AT]

Only your link does some burying of its own: “but for some reason, Jackson PD didn’t connect the dots”

Because it speaks for itself.

Jackson is one of the murder capitals of America. Their crime rates are out of control. BLM activism has helped underfund and understaff their police resources. Their Democratic leadership would rather blame guns and further demonize police than address their own failed policies that contribute to the crime rates.

If you're a cop working in one of America's armpit cities, with rampant crime depleting all your available resources, while an ineffective government just keeps enabling more crime - is it really that hard to believe that some missing person's inquiry on some random junkie gets tossed on the "VERY low priority" pile?

[jimc5499]

"Sorry I can't respond to that armed gunman in a school call. I have to keep trying to notify next of kin in this case so we don't get sued."

[bacchys]

Your claims about BLM are the typical white nationalist, authoritarian lies.

Jebus: WTF is your fascist ass doing in a libertarian site?

[One-Punch_Man]

Really. BLM matter doesn't support Israel’s eradication? You better tell them that.

Hey, how are the cities that wanted to defund the police doing?

And there of looting, torching places or anything doing ‘BLM’ protests right?

[Agammamon]

It wasn't a missing person report - it was a dead body. Killed by a cop - rightly or wrongly.

[Djea3]

WRONG, this was about a person who died at the hand of a city vehicle, a police cruiser, and the cop was supposedly off duty.
Regardless of anything the city KNEW it had liability. My guess is that they were hoping never to be found out. They already killed one son of this woman and it was declared murder.

A second son would inflame and create riots in the area most likely. I say that this was a constructed cover up. Place me on the jury and I would award at least 10M PLUS punitive damages.

[AT]

Keywords: "my guess." *eyeroll*

Go back and re-read the facts. Heck, you can even read them from NBC's slanted garbage.

A) AFTER having an argument with him, Mom waited for NINE DAYS to report him missing.

B) Mom didn't WANT to call the police, and was instructed by other family NOT to call the police.

C) As soon as she finally did, the cops immediately showed up to take a statement and get photo ID, and provided her an open case number.

D) The CSI Investigator is the one who finally identified the dead junkie, and reached out to Mom for contact. Mom NEVER answered or called back.

E) Since it's not CSI's job, he passed it along to Jackson PD accident investigation.

- Now is the part where you should go back up and re-read my post -

F) In the months following, Mom still makes little to no effort to locate the guy. Instead, she seemed to spend her time on social media.

G) CSI followed up several times with Jackson PD - mainly hoping they found something so they could figure out what to do with the corpse. Four months later with the County Board concluded that nobody gave a f about some dead junkie, and buried him.

Regardless of anything the city KNEW it had liability.

No it didn't. The investigated the accident and found that the was absolutely no wrongdoing whatsoever on the part of the driver - whether it was a cop or anyone else - because who could possibly expect some junkie stoned out of his gourd to be meandering across a six-lane highway at night. It's not like he was at a crosswalk on a well-lit street in a residential neighborhood.

Mississippi is a comparative negligence state, and there is NO WAY that a jury is not going to find some whacked out idiot junkie primarily at fault for being on a highway at night, or that the driver who hit him should have expected and been able to take any kind of reasonable precautions to avoid it doing highway speeds in ordinary highway traffic.

Your "guess" that this is a "constructed cover up" is nonsense on its face. You're buying the narrative instead of reading the facts and using your own brain.

Be a better human.

[RJ Mathews]

Yes! That’s hard to believe and completely inexcusable every single time. Is this really a serious comment?

[AT]

Why?

I mean, you realize there's a hierarchy of priority to investigations, right? Murder takes priority over assaults, assaults take priority over drug crimes, sex crimes are way up on the list unless they involve sex workers, while petty property crimes get put on a pile and no-fault accidents with unclaimed bodies get buried behind them.

We're talking about an accident investigation in which there was no wrongdoing found, on a corpse whose only known kin didn't even know or care he was missing until a week AFTER investigators tried to contact her (on what turned out to be a burner phone). When she finally got around to filing a missing person's report - I guarantee you it got stuck on a low priority stack because SHE never bothered to follow up, deciding instead to spend the next four months playing on Facebook.

Meanwhile, CSI handed Jackson AI what little contact information he had which had already proved futile. 30 days passed, nobody put together a single half-hearted missing person's report (with no follow-up from the reporting party for months after) with the unclaimed corpse, and the State did what the State does with unclaimed corpses.

I mean, what did you really expect here? That Jackson PD would spend each and every of the next thirty days calling a number that doesn't pick up, on a service provider that rotates those numbers out on a regular basis? Pouring over missing persons reports to see if they sync with any unclaimed bodies? Scour all of Facebook to see if they can Friend Request potential known associates? Exactly how plentiful do you think Jackson PD resources and manpower are in a place like Jackson, Miss?

And, let's be honest - for what? Some strung out junkie who didn't even have the sense that small children do to avoid playing in traffic at night, whose only direct line of communication to ANY known associate is a single burner phone that doesn't pick up?

I mean, I get that you've got probably a lot of pre-loaded bias and prejudice that's driving your narrative on the subject - and BS articles that paint a distorted view of reality like Reason/NBC did here don't help - but dude. Step back, look objectively, and see the whole picture for what it is.

Is it a tragedy what this family went through? Absolutely. Can we Monday Morning Quarterback it until we're blue in the face? Sure. But the simple reality is... well, what it is.

[Dirk Honkler]

The only meaningful distinction here is that reason seems to have omitted he apparently ran across a highway while high on PCP and meth. While I think those should both carry no penalty, and be legally obtainable, that piece of evidence does change how I perceive this story.

That doesn't mean notthebee's article isn't somewhat abhorrent. Someone lost their life, others lost their father or their son, and that's tragic, even if he was likely at fault.

[Elmer Fudd the CHUD 2: Steampunk Boogaloo]

Really tired of Reason leaving relevant facts out of their stories. But then, their credibility is pretty much gone at this point anyway.

[EdG]

What you mean to say is that an off-duty police officer hit and killed him and then CLAIMED that he walked (walked, not ran in the linked story) across the highway. Fortunately for the officer, there was no dashcam video because he was off-duty. Fortunately for you blame the victim types, there's no autopsy report, no detail about how much PCP and meth he took, and how impaired -- if any, since habitual drug users have a high tolerance -- he actually was. Neither Reason nor Not the Bee give the full story and because Not the Bee sensationalized the story, I discount their version.

[Dirk Honkler]

It seems most likely he made a poor decision walking across a highway, rather than a homicidal cop was looking to run over people crossing highways, but that’s a possibility. All three publications intentionally try to paint their own picture, unfortunately. The police dropped the ball here, sounds like the investigator was just biding his time until retirement.

[markm23]

I wouldn't expect it was a homicidal cop, but a _drunk_ cop seems pretty likely.

[One-Punch_Man]

Of course you discount it, because it can't fit your tiny view.

Here's a question - what if it wasn't a cop. What if it was you that hit him. Who's fault, yours or his?

You and Reason "I'm a cop. There is someone walking on the street. I'm going to run him over."

[Agammamon]

I don't think it's meaningful - except to counter the article's implication that the local cops are bad.

Whether it was the deceased's fault or not - the department badly dropped the ball in the aftermath.

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

Yes, the police didn't behave well. Yes, the cop should have followed up when his message wasn't returned.

But when cops screw up on purpose, they do it for a reason, and there's no reason to lie here about leaving a message. If nothing else, phone records would show who's lying, and even dumb cops aren't usually that dumb. Seems more likely to me that a mother who hates cops (possibly for a good reason) would ignore and forget a message from a cop.

What bothered me about this FA was its reliance on NBC. As much as I don't trust cops or their employers, I trust NBC news and the media in general even less.

This FA is just a stupid article. It's a brickbat blown up into general outrage instead of the snickers it deserves. As with most of these Reason outrage articles, they pick some of the most scummy bad guys to generate fake sympathy.

[EdG]

Even allegedly bad guys don't deserve to be run over and then buried in a pauper's grave. If he had such a lengthy criminal history, why didn't the cops recognize him?

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

You make it sound like the cop intentionally ran over the guy. He didn't. The guy ran into traffic. You are taking the same biased attitude.

[Djea3]

They did recognize him and admit that. They had is Rx bottle and name. They did not make any LEGAL notification to next of Kin. Legal notification is NOT a telephone message. IN fact in courts of law there is no consideration given to a phone message on any machine at all. IT must be LEGAL notification and the POLICE know this.
This is evidence of a cover up in itself, just as it would be for any commercial enterprise doing something similar.

[bacchys]

Cops lie because they can do so without consequences. Including about something like leaving a voicemail message.

[One-Punch_Man]

Bacchys lies every time he types. No consequences.

Hey, if we are assuming stuff and painting with big brushes

[mad.casual]

Yes, the police didn’t behave well. Yes, the cop should have followed up when his message wasn’t returned.

But when cops screw up on purpose, they do it for a reason, and there’s no reason to lie here about leaving a message. If nothing else, phone records would show who’s lying, and even dumb cops aren’t usually that dumb. Seems more likely to me that a mother who hates cops (possibly for a good reason) would ignore and forget a message from a cop.

The original article (she) asserts that she's lost access to the account and records that would show any calls received or voicemails left.

Which makes the police leaving a VM, subsequently discovering the number to be disconnected, and *then* giving up, possible. Entirely as undocumented and possible as them leaving a single voicemail, or not, and then giving up.

[MatthewSlyfield]

Even if the number was already disconnected when police made the first call, they should be able to get phone company records proving that the call was made.

[mad.casual]

So, in your estimation of the law, they're guilty until they prove their innocence. Even if, in producing said evidence, they couldn't exonerate themselves or change anything without her side of the call log.

Again, it's hilarious to watch the far more inept and ravenously sociopathic idiots take the ready-made ANTIFA/BLM narrative's side, if only to further discredit anything even remotely associated with the movement.

[One-Punch_Man]

Or just as likely NBC/Reason have an agenda. Hey, and the mom can have a lawsuit too.

But hey you have to prove you are not guilty right?

[Agammamon]

No one's going to get the phone records to check.

[mad.casual]

Unless they're being disclosed in a lawsuit they should be open to FOIA request.

And, again, even in the most sympathetic telling to Wade they state: "she doesn’t remember receiving a call from him, and was not able to access her Boost Mobile phone records to check"

Meaning even if they did call her a hundred times, we can't know, from her side, whether the phone was out of range, whether the number/account was in service/good standing, whether someone else took her phone somewhere else and deleted the VMs without her knowing, etc., etc., etc. even from just a completely impartial "If the problem was a completely impartial telco service provider issue, how would we fix it?" stance.

[Djea3]

First off, LEAVING A PHONE MESSAGE IS NOT LEGAL NOTIFICATION OF ANYTHING UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, so I REJECT the entire plausibility of any notification as required under law.

Notice that they said "off Duty police officer, yet he was in is cruiser, which makes the city of the officer liable regardless of findings of criminal complaint against the officer.

EVERY driver has the DUTY to see and avoid at all times. I find the entire episode suspect.

Place me on the damned civil jury. At least $10 Million PLUS punitive damages of up to three times that for the non-notification and for the apparent not following of law at all.

There is NO WAY that this story makes sense at all. Notifications are done daily and legally all the time. Usually within hours and directly and in person most of the time. Also, why was there no story in the paper? who covered it up?

No, you are wrong to make the assumption just because of Babylon Bee telling you otherwise. I like the Bee, but this story does not make sense with reality.

[Wizard4169]

Wow, gotta say that steaming pile of shit reduced my opinion of the Babylon Bee, which was never high to begin with. The fact that the guy was hardly a saint changes nothing. I'm willing to buy that his death was a legit accident. What I'm not willing to accept as reasonable behavior is that the cops, even by their own admission, gave up after one (alleged) attempt to contact his next of kin. People make more effort to confirm an appointment for a routine dental checkup.

[Dillinger]

>>police consistently told her they had no new information about her son.

factual.

[Nazi-Chipping Warlock]

I'm already going to hell so I might as well laugh at this... 😀

[Minadin]

From a different department. Sounds like a lot of very sloppy police work and bureaucratic uncountability combined with things like the guy in charge of the file retiring and one department completely dropping the ball when the case was handed off.

Also, apparently the first department tried to notify the mom in this case immediately and she did not return their calls.

[EdG]

The first department says they left one voicemail message. We don't even know if they called the right phone number. Most people no longer identify themselves on their voicemail greeting because they're afraid. Especially elderly women.

[Wizard4169]

Call, singular, by their own account. People make more effort to confirm an appointment for a routine dental checkup.

[mad.casual]

According to NBC, Bettersten Wade did everything she could to help find her son.

Similarly factual.

[ElvisIsReal]

Fired first, then a criminal trial.

[A Cynical Asshole]

Just minutes after leaving home in March, 37-year-old Dexter Wade had been struck and killed by a police cruiser. Police didn't inform any family members about Dexter Wade's death, eventually burying him on the grounds of a penal farm.

On March 5, Dexter Wade left his mother's home in Jackson, Mississippi, following an argument the two had over a broken window in the house.

Are we sure this isn't some new kind of "broken windows policing?"

[The Margrave of Azilia]

OK, you have to read the full article to get the context. Doesn't change the principle that everyone, even those who were criminals in life, deserves a respectful burial. There's a whole Greek tragedy about the subject.

The most serious thing is that a cop killed the brother and was convicted of manslaughter. That sounds really bad, if the cop was guilty.

[mad.casual]

Doesn’t change the principle that everyone, even those who were criminals in life, deserves a respectful burial.

What are you? Jewish?

[Ezra MacVie]

The dead man will have been a drug dealer who fell behind on his protection payments to the police. It was a collection action.

[Thoritsu]

Does qualified immunity work for a hit and run? This needs to end immediately.

[DesigNate]

It wasn’t a hit and run….

[Djea3]

No, there is no qualified immunity for an officer off duty and not answering a crime as allowed under law. The city has no qualified immunity with regard to the accident or the actions of the CORONER and every other office that has standard practices to follow and did not. Each of them has no immunity under these circumstances as there is no possible way any rational person could say that there is and was good faith.

[sarcasmic]

This is obviously a case for qualified immunity. There's no way that police could possibly consider notifying the next of kin. So what if they do that for every dead body they come across? It's different because the officer who killed him was charged with manslaughter. How could they know they're supposed to notify the next of kin when the person was killed by one of their buddies who was then charged with a crime? That's never happened before! No way they could know! No way!

[Rev Arthur L kuckland]

Your a lying cunt, you need to kill yourself

[A Thinking Mind]

Speaking of our brave brothers in blue, apparently they went to the residence of the Maine shooting suspect, surrounded it, and shouted into a megaphone for him to come outside. They then left the area before announcing, "We don't know if he's inside." Then they had to come back.

Way to be thorough on that one. Nobody even went inside before the first wave of like 8 police SUVs all seemingly left the area. At least we now know that the Uvalde cops were able to find new jobs.

[Rev Arthur L kuckland]

She did everything she could, except listen to her voice mail where they tell her what happened. Seriously, this like Rick and morty quickest solved crimes.

[A Thinking Mind]

Well, let's hedge just slightly and leave room that perhaps the cops called the wrong number, or just lied about calling. The only confirmation about their supposed call is that they said they called.

[Social Justice is neither]

Do we do the same doubt for the person looking for a payout or is that sacrosanct?

[AT]

Wait wait wait wait – what’s your argument here? That the cops assigned an investigator to figure out who this dude was, who then cobbled together what little evidence he could, which he then followed until he was able to identify him, made the identification with certainty, located next of kin – and then flubbed the VM or faked it outright?

How’s that story go in fiction? “And after the hazardous trek through the Misty Mountains, escaping the Balrog of Moria, suffering betrayal and deception at every step, being captured by Shelob and later by the Orcs of Cirith Ungol – Sam and Frodo finally reached Mordor and the foothills of Mount Doom. And then said, “Eh, the hell with it.”

I mean, come on. It’s fine to have a healthy distrust/dislike of cops, but we don’t have to be willfully stupid about it.

[Rev Arthur L kuckland]

They confirmed the number they called with the mom

[EdG]

And you've never received a wrong number call where somebody misdialed or transposed numbers? And very few people put identifying information on their voicemail anymore, so when you leave a message, are you really, really sure you're leaving it for the right person?

[AT]

OH HI CNN, NBC, HUFFPO, NYT, WAPO, NPR - I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE WRITING FOR REASON NOW.

[AT]

Just minutes after leaving home in March, 37-year-old Dexter Wade had been struck and killed by a police cruiser. *omit a RIDICULOUS amount of facts and history, then begin BS misleading narrative* Police didn’t inform any family members about Dexter Wade’s death, eventually burying him on the grounds of a penal farm.

There. I fixed your article. You're welcome.

[Nardz]

Hey look- another story that's not too local!

[DRM]

So, shorn of the bullshit, this whole story comes down to this:

1) There is a dispute between the police and this woman as to whether the police left her a notification of her son's death by misadventure.

2) The police did not follow up their initial notification to make sure she received it.

3) The police as a collective in Jackson did not swiftly connect the dots between a missing person report and an already-reported death.

4) Emma Camp is persisting in her lazy pattern of taking someone else's news story or press release and rewording it just enough to serve up on Reason as outrage bait, without even the service of challenging the original's narrative.

[markm23]

AND by their own admission, the cops are callous SOB's who left a voice message instead of visiting in person.

There are a lot of ways a voice message can miscarry, but this is beside the point. That is NOT how to notify someone of a family member's death.

[mad.casual]

Could be worse, he could've been executed by a 9-3 split decision in a Florida court.

[Muzamal]

hjfug

[NOYB2]

This story counts as technically true but highly misleading, i.e. a typical Reason story.

This was an administrative screw-up because nobody cared, not some kind of cover-up of racist police violence, as the headline might lead you to believe.

[Liberty_Belle]

How hard is it to subpoena the phone records to see who's lying or not ?

If I can get a red light ticket in the mail within the same month, why can't notice that we killed your son be mailed (certified requiring signature since this is a legal liability for the police ... accident or not.)

Why isn't the police legal team all over this to preempt a lawsuit ?

[NOYB2]

The voicemail may be an issue, but it's not like "failure to call" is some kind of felony.

It was the police station that had the missing person's report that really should have connected the dots but failed to do so. That's probably because the person assigned to the case was retiring, and Wade was buried before the new person took over.

Yes, it's a screwup. But there doesn't seem to have been any maliciousness, abuse of office, or racism involved.

[TLoro]

I'd like to know what that accident report looks like.

[One-Punch_Man]

Reason - cops are bad. They aren't people even off duty.

Reason where is your story cheering the teams that intentionally ran over a retired police chief. They don't know he was a retired chief, just out having fun running over people. They also said they would be out in 30 days. In court, they laughed and flipped the family off.

I'm sure they deserved it -those bad police.

Again, there are good police and bad. It's not one size fits all. Except for Reason, and the left.

[TangoDelta]

Is it not standard practice when confronted with a missing person report to take the logical path of checking a list of the recently deceased or bodies whether they be unclaimed, in the freezer, or otherwise? I mean, simply put, it's quite literally the easiest and least thing you could do. The fact that didn't happen means they're either incompetent, negligently lazy, or trying to hide something.

As for the "left a voicemail", who bothers with voicemail? 98% of it is audible robo-spam. Sorry, nobody wants to answer the prying questions for your survey, nobody has any desire to send money to "the troopers fund", "animal rescue", "vets with debts", or any other con game you're running. I answer the phone and if I don't recognize the number, when I hear the click that transfers from the bot to the con man/woman I say, "fuck off robo, run your con somewhere else" because it saves me the time of going through the voicemail robot menu to delete the message. Pro tip - if you say something like "go robo" instead of "hello" or "hi" it will stay silent and never transfer it to a human and ultimately time out which is a mistake because the goal is to waste the other human's time just like they're wasting yours. Besides, it can be fun, get creative.

[EISTAU Gree-Vance]

“….who bothers with voicemail?….”

Well, if your junkie kid is missing you might screen those VMs a little bit. Just sayin’.

[Muzamal]

jjj

[markm23]

By their own admission, the cops are callous SOB’s who left a voice message instead of visiting in person.

It's been years since I've checked my spam-laden voicemail, but this is beside the point. A phone call is NOT how to notify someone of a family member’s death when a visit is practical.