PHOTOSPEAKS
WTH: Mom Furious That Police Used Facebook To Inform Her Of Her Son’s Death
A Clayton County mom is “furious” that police used a new feature on Facebook to contact her about her son’s death. Anna Lamb-Creasey searched for her son Rickie Lamb for weeks after he went missing on Jan. 25. Lamb-Creasy told WSB Channel 2′s Tom Jones she called hospitals and checked jails for her missing son.
She even posted messages on the 30-year-old’s Facebook page. So when she found strange messages in a Facebook message folder that she didn’t know existed called “other”, she ignored them. She said the messages were sent from a user named “Misty Hancock. And I’m like who is this Misty Hancock,” Lamb-Creasey said. She was also thrown off by the profile picture of rapper T.I.
Lamb-Creasey told Channel 2′s Tom Jones she had no idea if someone who is not a “friend” sends her a message it goes to a box called “other” in the message folder. “I’m like, OK. I’m thinking it’s just fake,” she said.
Then, on Valentine’s day, Lamb-Creasy’s daughter finally called the number on the Misty Hancock page and an officer informed her that Rickie died when he was struck by a car as he crossed Tara Boulevard and Old Dixie road Jan. 24.
The driver wasn’t ticketed. Lamb-Creasy was furious that police didn’t use more conventional means to notify her until 20 days after her son’s death. Lamb-Creasey says they should have used a police department Facebook profile.
“People need to know that it’s a police department trying to contact them. If you just have a picture of a rapper T.I. no one’s gonna take that serious,” said Melissa Wilson, a friend of Lamb-Creasy.
From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Clayton County police told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution they made every effort to contact the family in a more conventional way. They said they checked several addresses and never could reach anyone. They’re still looking into why that Facebook account was used.
Lamb’s funeral is set for Saturday.
If you’d like to help with funeral expenses, Lamb-Creasey’s job has set up an account at any Chase Bank. Just refer to account number 183503217.
