JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Civil rights attorney Ben Crump was joined by the families of Dexter Wade, Marrio Moore and Jonathan Hankins during a news conference on Wednesday, December 20.

Crump said Wade, Moore and Hankins were buried in the Hinds County pauper’s cemetery in unmarked graves. Their families said they were not notified of their loved one’s death for extended periods of time.

Wade’s mother said she reported him missing on March 14, 2023, and did not receive word that he was deceased until August 24, 2023. Moore’s family said they did not learn about his death until eight months after he had been killed.

Crump said Hankins was reported missing in June 2022, but his 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.

“They did a fingerprint, and they found out who he was, and they still did not contact me. A reporter from New York City came down from New York, not here, and you show me information where they had buried him. And it had my address on there. So, I know they no knew how to get a hold of me. My lawyer and I don’t understand why they did. And now when I report him and Rankin County, I will check back every couple of weeks or every month, sometimes twice a week. And they haven’t heard anything,” said Gretchen Hankins, Jonathan’s mother.

Crump has requested that the Department of Justice investigate the death of Wade.

The families said they were frustrated because they were charged $250 to receive the death certificates of their loved ones.