A grieving mom is furious after finding out about her son’s death via a cop’s Facebook message – which she didn’t notice for three weeks.

Anna Lamb-Creasey’s 30-year-old son, Rickie Lamb, was hit by a car and died on January 24. But Lamb-Creasey had no idea what had happened to her son; she spent weeks looking for him, even posting on his Facebook page to ask where he was.

Then on Valentine’s Day, the Atlanta-area mom noticed a Facebook message from someone she didn’t know. Turns out, it was a Clayton County police officer, who had bad news to share about her son.

Lamb-Creasey says she initially thought the message was fake. But after Lamb-Creasey’s daughter received a similar message, the pair called police and learned about Rickie Lamb’s death.

Is this any way to inform a victim’s next of kin?

Police have a duty to contact a victim’s relatives, but there isn’t always a standard protocol about the best way to do that.

In fact, the Association for Death Education and Counseling recently funded a study to evaluate the way death notifications are made by law enforcement, according to Officer.com. It’s a sensitive topic and one which can have serious emotional and professional repercussions if done wrong.

As Lamb-Creasey’s experience shows, using Facebook or other social media platforms to make next-of-kin notifications can backfire in some cases.

Clayton County police say they tried to contact Lamb-Creasey by other means, but were unsuccessful. Still, could there have been a better way for officers to notify her about her son’s death? And why did the officer send a message from her personal account instead of an “official” police department account?

An investigation is now underway into the latter question, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Rickie Lamb’s funeral is set for Saturday.

Related Resources:

  • Mother upset after police use Facebook to notify her of son’s death (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  • NJ Police Post Mug Shots to Facebook (FindLaw’s Legally Weird)
  • Woman Posted Undercover Cop’s Photo on Facebook (FindLaw’s Blotter)
  • Facebook Being Used to Intimidate Witnesses (FindLaw’s Blotter)

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