2023-10-27 13:50:39
She searched for him for months without knowing that he had been dead and buried for a long time. After reporting his disappearance last March, a mother from Mississippi (United States) has just learned that her son, Dexter Wade, 37, was knocked down by a police officer and then buried in a mass grave.
According to this story, entrusted to NBC, on March 5, Dexter Wade left his mother’s house in Jackson, the capital of Mississippi. Less than an hour later, while crossing Interstate 55, the young black American was hit by a police SUV driven by an off-duty officer.
Four days later, Dexter Wade was identified by county authorities, and according to NBC information, contact details of his relatives were passed on to Jackson police. But Bettersten Wade, 65, who reported her son missing a week after she last saw him, was never informed.
Three months later, Dexter Wade’s unclaimed body was buried in a rocky field in a county mass grave, number 172. “They let me look all this time while they knew who he was,” his mother cried to NBC. Bettersten Wade did not know the fate of her son until 172 days after his disappearance.
“He didn’t seem to be in a bad way”
During this period, she made numerous calls on social networks, regularly contacted the police, and begged investigators to pay attention to the disappearance of her son. No leads, he will be told again. Jackson police say a call was made to them. But she has no trace of it, she assures us.
So, what could be the reason for this police indifference? At the time of his death, the 30-year-old had ingested PCP, a powerful hallucinogen, and methamphetamine. His death was considered accidental, even though the police officer driving the car in question did not undergo an alcohol test.
There is also the young man’s criminal record. If he was identified by the police, it was because his fingerprints were on file: Dexter Wade served a sentence until 2017 for attempted car theft and armed robbery. After his release, he was also diagnosed with bipolarity and schizophrenia. But his mother assures NBC that lately, he has been weaning himself off his drug addiction and showing himself to be there for his daughters.
Victim’s uncle killed by police officer
The thirty-year-old also participated in community life: he liked to distribute homemade ice cream and offer food to the homeless. According to his mother, he rarely left the house for more than a day or two. “He didn’t seem to be in a bad way,” she said. But I don’t know what happened that day. »
Police negligence may also be due to family history. Because this is not the first time that this black American family has confronted the police. In 2019, Bettersten Wade’s brother was killed by a police officer. The latter was found guilty of manslaughter and his appeal is said to be ongoing.
“The hardest thing I ever had to do was tell her daughters that their father would never come back,” confides the grieving mother, who is looking for answers: “I just want someone to answer for this. that happened. I want to know what really happened. » Dexter Wade’s mother is now raising funds to be able to exhume her son and bury him in a new grave.
“There was a communication problem, but there was no malicious intent in this situation,” a Jackson police spokesperson simply responded.
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