Police Wrongly Tell Woman Her Husband Was Killed on His Motorcycle

The moment police walk up to your door and tell you a loved one- a spouse or child in particular- has died is often the very worst moment anyone will ever experience… but could you imagine a situation in which police wrongly told you your husband had died in a motorcycle crash?

31-year-old Melody Halls experienced that exact situation, and while it turned out well for she and her husband, it was emotionally trying nonetheless. The Medicine Hat woman was stunned when officers in uniform and a grief counselor showed up at her door, but luckily for her mental state, she almost immediately knew something was off in what cops told her about her husband’s supposed death:

ABC explains that police say Halls down and told her that her husband was killed in a crash at 1 AM, but the young wife had seen her spouse alive more than six hours after that:

“As soon as he said that, I knew something was wrong. … I’d seen my husband at 7 a.m.,” Halls said. “It was instant disbelief because it’s the worst thing that anyone can ever say to you — that your husband has been killed this morning.”

Police inquired after whether her husband, like the crash’s victim, had tattoos. Halls said he did, but on his forearm and back- the man who died in the motorcycle collision was tattooed on his back and stomach.

Halls then took police out to their back shed, where the lock had been broken and the motorcycle stolen. The Medicine Hat woman says that more than anything, her husband is upset that his bike was taken and that someone was killed using it.

Medicine Hat Police Service Deputy Chief Richard Wigle said in a statement about Halls’ experience:

“Although efforts were made to identify the victim of the collision based on the information available at the time, the Medicine Hat Police Service sincerely apologizes for the distress that was caused to the family of the motorcycle owner, when they were incorrectly notified.”

Police have not named the man who died on Melody Halls’ husband’s bike, but she tells press that the victim was a neighbor.