Family Searching for Answers After Man's Mysterious Death

[Megamel29]

The family of a Texas man who died under mysterious circumstances continues to search for answers.

Alfred Wright's relatives believe his death was not the accident that law enforcement claims.

A loving father and physical therapist living in Jasper, Texas, Wright was last seen on Nov. 7. His family says he had seen a client and was on his way home, when his truck broke down – so he called his wife Lauren to come get him.

Since Lauren was home with their children, she asked her in-laws to pick up Alfred.

But when Lauren called her husband back, she was disturbed by what she says she heard on the other end.

"It was almost like he was in distress," Lauren said. "I had never heard that from him before."

When his parents arrived, they saw his truck – but not Alfred.

His watch and ID were found the next day at a nearby ranch. The police organized a massive manhunt, but after three days, the search was called off.

The family took action, hiring a private investigator and organizing their own search party.

That search eventually led to the discovery of Alfred's body. He was found 19 days after he went missing – in an area where the police claimed they had already looked.

"When we found him, it was actually a relief," his father Dominic Wright said, "because we found him."

The official autopsy concluded that he died of a drug overdose. Toxicology tests showed cocaine and crystal meth in his system, but no evidence of severe trauma.

The family says he did not use drugs – and they will not stop until justice is served.

Their efforts have drawn the attention of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee – as well as the Department of Justice, which has joined the investigation.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/family-sear...ry?id=22373567

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[DannyDrama]

People that 'don't use drugs' decide to use them at random sometimes. A good friend of mine died from heroin overdose and he never even smoked a spliff.

Shit just happens sometimes.

[icheerthebull]

Originally Posted by DannyDrama

People that 'don't use drugs' decide to use them at random sometimes. A good friend of mine died from heroin overdose and he never even smoked a spliff.

Shit just happens sometimes.

Meth and coke for the first time? And why would he decide to do it in that manner, a hotel or mates house perhaps. Very strange story. Why were the police so eager to call off the search?

[Megamel29]

But wait! There's more!

************************

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/0...ntal-overdose/

Death of Texas man with slit throat and missing ear ruled ‘accidental overdose’

Prosecutors have turned over an investigation of a Texas man’s disappearance and death to the state attorney general’s office after the Justice Department launched its own investigation.

Alfred Wright disappeared Nov. 7 while going to visit a physical therapy client when his truck broke down.

He called his wife to pick him up, but she called her in-laws instead because she was watching their two son.

Lauren Wright said her husband was breathing heavily as if in distress when she called back, and his parents found his truck – but not their son – when they arrived at the Hemphill liquor store where his vehicle broke down.

The clerk told Wright’s father she had seen him outside using his cell phone, but he had suddenly tucked the phone into his sock and took off running “as if his truck was going to blow up.”

The 28-year-old Wright’s watch and identification were found the following day at a nearby ranch and police organized a massive manhunt, but the search was called off after three days.

The missing man’s family hired a private investigator and organized their own search party, and Wright’s remains were discovered 18 days later just 25 yards away from where he disappeared, in an area police said they had already searched.

The official autopsy found that Wright had died from an accidental drug overdose after toxicology tests showed cocaine and methamphetamine in his body and no evidence of severe trauma.

But Wright’s family was baffled, because they said he never had been known to use drugs – and his partially unclothed body had a slit throat and missing an ear, tongue and two teeth.

His body was found clothed only in boxer shorts, tennis shoes and a single sock, which had his cell phone tucked inside.

The medical examiner attributed the injuries to animal and insect activity.

The family’s attorney said the Sabine County sheriff had suggested a drug overdose before Wright’s body was discovered, and relatives believe the medical examiner’s report was based on conclusions made by law enforcement without any evidence.

“The presence of drugs in Alfred’s system fails to explain the very apparent signs of severe trauma found on his body,” the family said in a Dec. 27 press release.

The medical examiner’s report showed Wright’s body had shallow puncture wounds to the abdomen, left thigh, left lower leg, and palm of the left hand but did not indicate any evidence of severe trauma.

A forensic pathologist hired to perform a second autopsy found evidence of severe head and neck trauma but still has not been allowed to access photographs from the first autopsy, the family’s attorney said.

The family also said Wright’s truck still has not been searched by authorities, and investigators had not yet interviewed the people who found his body or taken formal statements from the last people to speak to him.

“Due to the allegations against the sheriff, and to avoid any appearance of impropriety, I have been requested and have agreed to turn this case over to the Texas Attorney General’s Office,” said Sabine County District Attorney Kevin Dutton. “I have requested that that office handle all further investigations and/or prosecutions concerning the Alfred Wright case.”

He authorized the Texas Rangers to release all material and information compiled in their investigation, which the district attorney said had been mostly completed.

The Wright family met Jan. 23 with Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) to discuss their concerns about the investigation, and the lawmaker invited the Justice Department to look into the case.

Lee announced Monday that federal authorities had agreed to investigate.

[Megamel29]

http://forwardtimesonline.com/2013/i...leged-cover-up

Bombshell Autopsy Report Reveals Murder, Lies and Alleged Cover-up

Bombshell new revelations based on a private independent second autopsy performed by Houston forensic pathologist Lee Ann Grossberg show evidence that Alfred Wright, the 28-year old African American man from Jasper, Texas who mysteriously disappeared, was murdered.

"Based on the investigation I have a high index of suspicion that this is a homicide," said Grossberg. "I base that opinion on circumstances surrounding the death; how and where the body was found; and my findings at autopsy."

Earlier this month, authorities released a preliminary autopsy report on Wright, stating that his body only had shallow puncture wounds, but also stated there was no evidence showing severe trauma or indicating foul play. After the initial autopsy results came back showing no true cause of death, the family decided to pay for their own independent second autopsy, because they believed foul play was involved.

The Houston Forward Times has been extensively covering this case from the beginning and has been in constant communication with the Wright family and with Quanell X concerning the latest details surrounding the case.

According to family members, the independent second autopsy revealed Wright had his tongue removed, throat slashed, two teeth knocked out, an ear missing and many more things that give them absolute assurance that Wright was murdered. The official autopsy, released by the medical examiner, did not reveal any of the findings that the second autopsy produced.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 aired a segment this past Monday detailing the disappearance and death of Alfred Wright.

Wright was reported missing on November 7, 2013, and suddenly disappeared without a trace after his truck had stalled on his way home. After receiving little to no help from the Sabine County Sheriff Tom Maddox and his department, the family, with help from community activist Quanell X, formed their own search party and eventually found Wright’s body on Nov. 25, 2013, less than 150 yards from where he went missing.

Sabine County authorities gave up looking for Wright after three days.

Annilia Wright-Mosley, Wright’s sister, said that Sheriff Maddox has continuously lied to her family and has failed to assist at every level concerning her brother’s mysterious disappearance.

"Sheriff Maddox has been extremely insensitive and disrespectful to my family since day one of my brother going missing," said Wright-Mosley. "He made my mother cry when he told her that he was missing out on going on a hunting trip, because he had to look for her son."

Wright family attorney Ryan MacLeod told CNN that Sheriff Maddox offered no comfort to the family during this ordeal, despite the fact that Sheriff Maddox’s daughter and Wright had been friends for some time.

MacLeod says Sheriff Maddox has done nothing but lie to the Wright family and they want answers as to what really happened.

To add to the lies, MacLeod says Sheriff Maddox told family members that they were tracking Wright’s whereabouts through his cell phone for two days, and then on the third he claimed they didn’t do that because AT&T wouldn’t allow them.

According to Quanell X and family members, another lie that Sheriff Maddox told was that the search party or law enforcement had not been granted permission to search for Wright’s body, in the area where he was eventually found, by the property owner. Private Investigator Chuck Foreman, who was originally hired by the family to investigate Wright’s disappearance, reached out to the property owner who told them he never told Sheriff Maddox they could not search his premises for Wright’s body.

Family members believe Wright’s body may have been moved and they want to get to the bottom of what happened, beginning with law enforcement officials addressing the results of the independent second autopsy that was performed.

Bernsen Law Firm, the law firm representing the Wright family, issued a press release stating the Texas Rangers’ autopsy report failed to explain apparent signs of severe trauma found on Alfred’s body, revealed by the independent second autopsy. One of the firm’s many concerns include the actions of a local member of law enforcement who began communicating toxicological findings with the general public even though that same person told members of the Wright family that no toxicology report was in existence.

Family members, including Wright’s wife Lauren, claim Wright was not a drug user.

Sheriff Maddox blamed a drug overdose for Wright’s disappearance, well before his deceased body was even found -- to make matters worse, the official autopsy from the medical examiner’s office revealed Wright likely died from a drug overdose, but there has been no additional information from the medical examiner’s office that details just how long and when the drugs actually entered into Wright’s system.

The family believes the drugs were injected into Wright’s system before he was eventually tortured and murdered.

According to family members, law enforcement officials had not even interviewed Wright’s family members, friends or closest associates, and had not even retrieved prints from his stalled truck on the day of his disappearance.

In a statement issued by the Bernsen Law Firm, they state, "It is deeply troubling and hard to imagine why law enforcement is all of a sudden choosing to engage in investigatory efforts - interviewing family members and performing basic property searches - all of which should have occurred on day one."

This past Saturday, community activist Quanell X along with the family of Alfred Wright, held a rally in Beaumont, Texas, to protest the way Sabine County officials and the Texas Rangers have handled the case involving Wright’s murder.

Protesters marched down the streets of Beaumont with a casket which they say represents the way young Black men are being attacked and murdered in America. Wright’s wife, Lauren, was also in attendance to seek justice on behalf of her murdered husband and father of their three young children.

The group called "Justice for Alfred" held the rally. Wright’s family spoke to the crowd and asked for "those who knew the truth to come forward."

Kevin Powell, acclaimed writer and activist, and president and cofounder of BK Nation, is working closely with Wright’s family on the case and is deeply concerned about the circumstances that led to the disappearance and subsequent finding of his body.

"We are demanding a full, thorough and independent investigation as to why the family had to hire a private investigator to locate his body, and also why they had to get a second autopsy report," said Powell. "It has been two months that this family has had to suffer not only through the loss of their loved one, but also a very careless and irresponsible investigation. We want the Department of Justice and its national arm of the FBI to deal with this."

Sheriff Maddox has not given any other statements since the investigation is ongoing, but that isn’t good enough for the Wright family. The Wright family is requesting that the U.S. Department of Justice and its Civil Rights and FBI units take over the case and investigate Sabine County Sheriff Tom Maddox and Texas Ranger Danny Young.

Family members claim that Sheriff Maddox and Ranger Young are long-time friends, and that Ranger Young has done nothing to assist in the investigation. Currently, the investigation is in the hands of another Texas Ranger from Lufkin and the FBI is helping with the case.

The desire of Alfred Wright’s family to take action has been escalated because the area of southeast Texas where he was murdered is notorious for harboring deep-rooted racial hatred. These tensions manifest periodically into violent, racially motivated crimes, such as the murder of James Byrd Jr., who was dragged to his death in Wright’s hometown of Jasper.

More details are forthcoming, so stay tuned and the Houston Forward Times will keep you up-to-date on details.

[Kelseecat65]

WTF!!
"According to family members, the independent second autopsy revealed Wright had his tongue removed, throat slashed, two teeth knocked out, an ear missing and many more things that give them absolute assurance that Wright was murdered. The official autopsy, released by the medical examiner, did not reveal any of the findings that the second autopsy produced."

Was the first medical examiner even in the same room as the body? WTF!?!?! Who was he examining?

Also..

Sounds like he may have been doing a little more therapy than he should have been...perhaps with someone's wife? Slashing a throat is personal...interesting to see where this goes!

[Kelseecat65]

OMG! This Sheriff is a joke.

"Sheriff Maddox has been extremely insensitive and disrespectful to my family since day one of my brother going missing," said Wright-Mosley. "He made my mother cry when he told her that he was missing out on going on a hunting trip, because he had to look for her son."
WTF..what kind of a back ass place is this?

[Megamel29]

Originally Posted by Kelseecat65

OMG! This Sheriff is a joke.

"Sheriff Maddox has been extremely insensitive and disrespectful to my family since day one of my brother going missing," said Wright-Mosley. "He made my mother cry when he told her that he was missing out on going on a hunting trip, because he had to look for her son."
WTF..what kind of a back ass place is this?

Yeah and apparently the sheriff's daughter was friends with the deceased for a while. So why would the sheriff not want to help find his daughter's missing friend? And why would he not want to help find out how he died?

[Kelseecat65]

There are obviously many layers to this story...

[icheerthebull]

What. The. Fuck!!!!! The police have to be involved in this one. Crazy stuff. Sounds like a dodgy 80s b movie