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A third Mississippi family claims their son was buried in a pauper's cemetery in Hinds County without their knowledge, per CNN.
Gretchen Hankins said she found out that her missing son, Jonathan David Hankins, had died and was buried after a year and seven months of questioning his whereabouts. Journalists informed the mother earlier this month that her son was buried in the Hinds County pauper cemetery back in August 2022.
The Hankins family has retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is also representing Dexter Wade, a man fatally struck by a police cruiser and buried without his loved ones' knowledge, and Marrio Moore, who was also buried in the same pauper’s field.
Hankins said she reported her son as missing to the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department in June 2022 but never heard any updates about his whereabouts.
According to Crump, Jonathan Hankins was found dead in a hotel room in Jackson, Mississippi. Jackson police confirmed they responded to the discovery of a body in a hotel room in May 2022. The body was taken to the Hinds County Coroner's Office, and the department was unaware of the victim's identity or cause of death, police said.
Hankins’ “family did not learn about his whereabouts until a recent news report about the discovery of a body that apparently had been buried in August 2022,” according to the attorney.
“Jonathan David Hankins’ family has been desperately seeking answers about their loved one’s disappearance for more than a year. Now, to find out from news reports that his body was found in the same county where Dexter Wade’s body was buried after being struck by a police cruiser raises disturbing questions,” Crump said.
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