Mother Learns Of Son’s Death Through Facebook Message From Police [Photos]

Clayton County, GA – An Atlanta mother is furious with police after receiving a cryptic Facebook message that led to the discovery of her son’s death almost a month after he died.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Anna Lamb-Creasey had been trying to track down her son, Rickie, for weeks after he went missing on January 25. She called hospitals and jails only to find no trace of her boy. Lamb-Creasey then posted on her son’s Facebook page, hoping to find some information about where he was. “Rickie where are you,” she wrote. “Love mom.”

Posting on Facebook worked, but not in the way anyone — least of all a worried mother — would ever expect. Lamb-Creasey received messages in the “Other” folder, which many Facebook users are unaware exists. The messages were from someone named “Misty Hancock,” whose profile picture was of rapper T.I. Lamb-Creasey’s daughter also received the message.

“I’m like, OK. I’m thinking it’s just fake,” Lamb-Creasey said.

That would have been the end of it if it weren’t for Lamb-Creasey’s daughter, who finally called the number listed on Misty Hancock’s Facebook page, on Valentine’s Day.

The person on the other end was a police officer who had been trying to reach Lamb-Creasey with terrible news: Her 30-year-old son was dead. Rickie Lamb had been hit by a driver on January 24. He had been dead for almost a month before his mother learned of his death.

“They told me that they did the best that they can do. But I’m not sure about that. (Because) if they can track a criminal down, they couldn’t track me down? They could have done better,” Lamb-Creasey said. “I’ve been on my job 13 years. They could have found me.”

Lamb-Creasey also said she didn’t understand why the police department used the Misty Hancock profile to reach her. Clayton County police said they made every effort to notify the family using conventional means, but, after checking several addresses, they had to resort to Facebook. Clarence Cox, a spokesperson for the Clayton County Police, told The Huffington Post the profile had been used “in an undercover capacity.”

This isn’t the first time a parent had to learn about their child’s death through Facebook. Last November, 17-year-old Jasmine Benjamin died in her dorm room, and it wasn’t until her parents saw a message of condolence on their daughter’s profile that they learned of her death. An ex-boyfriend, Darien Meheux, was recently arrested for Jasmine Benjamin’s murder.