Anna Lamb-Creasey An American woman who learned about her son's death through Facebook Country: USA

1. Anna Lam-Krissi: A Tragic Discovery through Facebook
2. A Mysterious Facebook Message
3. A Desperate Search
4. A Heartbreaking Revelation
5. Previous Similar Cases

Anna Lam-Krissi: A Tragic Discovery through Facebook

Anna Lam-Krissi, an American woman from Clayton County, Georgia, learned about the death of her son through a Facebook message sent from a secret police account. It took her almost a month to find out about her son's death, as she did not receive the news from the media or her neighbors. Anna's son, Rickie Lamb, was fatally struck by a vehicle in Forest Park during the last week of January 2013. According to a post left on a fundraising website for Rickie's funeral expenses, Anna was unaware of her son's passing until Valentine's Day.

A Mysterious Facebook Message

Clarence Cox, a representative of the Clayton County Police, revealed that they sent the message to Anna through an account named Misty Hancock, which had a profile picture of the rapper TI. This account was used by the police for undercover communication purposes. However, it remains unknown why the message was not sent from an official police account. Cox also stated that the police had exhausted all traditional methods to reach Anna or any of Rickie's close relatives before resorting to Facebook.

A Desperate Search

As reported by the local channel WSBTV, Anna Lam-Krissi went to great lengths to locate her son. She called hospitals and prisons, desperately trying to find information about Rickie's whereabouts. Unbeknownst to her, she had already received a message on Facebook. However, since it was not from a friend, the message was filtered as unwanted. WSBTV clarified that Anna's daughter also received a similar message from Misty Hancock, requesting a callback. Neither Anna nor her daughter realized that the request came from a police officer, despite the mention of Officer Schindler's name in the text.

A Heartbreaking Revelation

After almost a month of confusion, Anna's daughter finally dialed the provided number and spoke to the officer on the other end. It was then that they learned about Rickie's tragic accident on January 24, 2013, when he was hit and killed while crossing the street. His body had been lying in the morgue for three weeks. Although it is not a standard procedure for the police, they have increasingly turned to Facebook to notify family members about the death of their loved ones, as social media platforms become the primary source of news.

Previous Similar Cases

The use of Facebook as a means of informing families about tragic events is not a new phenomenon. In November 2012, the Associated Press reported a story about a couple from Atlanta who discovered the death of their 17-year-old daughter through a Facebook post. The college freshman was found dead on a couch in a dormitory at Valdosta State University, located 400 kilometers south of their home. Just a few months earlier, the Huffington Post covered the story of Ariell Taylor-Brown, the wife of a military member who learned about her husband's death in Afghanistan through a Facebook message from another soldier in his unit.