- R
- B
- J
The Phone Call...
On January 25th, we received a call from the medical examiner's office in Atlanta Georgia. They told me that my brother, Jeff had passed away….
on December 16th.... and was there with them.
It’s gotta be a scam….
They must have the wrong person.
He's never lived in Georgia...
He asked me to verify Jeff’s birthday, to which I retorted...YOU tell me his birthday (I’m not providing your scam with any info!) He got it right.
He said “he doesn’t have any tattoos.” I said ‘correct, but there is something else physical you can tell me about him..” “What do you mean?” “He has a disability” ...after a few moments he said “his left hand and arm are drawn up” He told me they had positive proof it was him.. I was still in denial…. He sent me a picture (apparantly taken just after he passed) to ID. It was him..it couldn’t be him…I’ve looked at that picture so many times since - thinking it has to be wrong…except for the few months that he lived with me in Colorado several years ago, he had never lived outside the Dallas area. What would he have been doing in Atlanta?
What Happened to Jeff?
On December 16, 2016, Jeff was walking down the street in downtown Atlanta when bystanders noticed he was acting odd and called an ambulance. When they arrived, in true Jeff style, he refused to go - because I’m sure he thought he was fine. They insisted on taking his vitals. His heart rate should have been 80-100..his was 30. He agreed to go the hospital but went into cardiac arrest on the way. Bloodwork later revealed that he had diabetes and that his blood sugar levels were incredibly high and that was determined to be the COD.
The good news - no one hurt him and he was with people that were caring for him and trying to help.
We began trying to make the agonizing decisions of what to do from there. The Medical Examiner’s office told us to take our time..he had already been there for a while and they knew we were in shock. Our mom made final arrangements with the funeral home on Monday.
"We Made a Mistake"
Tuesday morning I received a call from the supervisor at the Medical Examiners office that they had made a mistake and that Jeff had already been buried… on January 24th...the day BEFORE they contacted us.
The mistake was only caught when the funeral home called to make arrangements. They claim that they had made multiple attempts to contact us - and couldn’t reach / find anyone in our entire family (even neighbors)- even though they had his ID & social security number -and with the internet, we just aren’t that hard to find. I requested the call records and the information that they had in their system was 10-17 years old. There was minimal information - a few family members names - some with numbers, some with only addresses. One attempt was made to each phone number they did have and no additional efforts were made. On January 21st (over a month later) an updated report was run but no calls were made. They buried Jeff on January 24th. They used this new updated, accurate information to call us - and successfully reach 4 of us...on January 25th. Because he was already buried, not only do we now have even more expenses (an additional $4000) and weeks and weeks of additional time trying to get him back to Texas, but it was an agonizing decision of whether to disrupt his grave.
It's now February 22nd and we are still waiting for the paperwork to be completed so that we can bring him home.
How You Can Help
He had no life insurance or any savings. Because of his disability, he had great difficulty finding employment.
Therefore, we have set up this Memorial Fund to help cover some of the costs of bringing him back home to Texas and giving him a proper burial. All funds raised will be used for that purpose and if there a surplus (over the estimated $14,000), we will use it to hold a memorial service for friends and family. It has been very hard for us to reach out and ask for help during this time. However, many friends and family have encouraged us to provide a way for people to help.
Any contributions are greatly, greatly appreciated.
If you could take just a moment to share this page, we would be very grateful.
Additional Information:
We also have a private facebook page set up for friends and family to share pictures and stories of Jeff. If you would like to be added to that page, please let us know.
Sadly, what I have written here is not even the entire story - it gets worse. But, I would be happy to answer any questions that anyone might have - please reach out.
Remembering Jeff
Jeff was one of a kind. The only brother to his 3 sisters - 1 older, one younger and one, his twin.
In his youth, he participated in the Special Olympics, loved the Dukes of Hazard and the A-Team.
Looking through old pictures, we were amazed to see how many pictures we had of him pretending to drive - something he was never able to do. (For those of you around Allen, you had probably seen him walking everywhere around town)
He was not able to get a driver’s license due to a past history of seizures and no peripheral vision.. . But, oh how he loved to pretend.
As an adult, he was known for being a hard worker, was really funny and loved talking with his friend about sports and going to Ranger games. He was fiercely independent - not letting his disabilities get in his way. He could tell you in a matter of seconds how many days old you are - I’ve never met anyone as good at math as Jeff.
So many things that we take for granted every day were a challenge for him. He had very little use of his left hand and everyday things - putting the lid back on the toothpaste, tying his shoes, buttoning a jacket, wearing gloves, washing his hands - all provided extra challenges that he met head on.
Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers. We are just devastated - our hearts are broken.
Goodbye Jeff. We miss you & we love you.
This still just doesn’t seem real….
On January 25th, we received a call from the medical examiner's office in Atlanta Georgia. They told me that my brother, Jeff had passed away….
on December 16th.... and was there with them.
It’s gotta be a scam….
They must have the wrong person.
He's never lived in Georgia...
He asked me to verify Jeff’s birthday, to which I retorted...YOU tell me his birthday (I’m not providing your scam with any info!) He got it right.
He said “he doesn’t have any tattoos.” I said ‘correct, but there is something else physical you can tell me about him..” “What do you mean?” “He has a disability” ...after a few moments he said “his left hand and arm are drawn up” He told me they had positive proof it was him.. I was still in denial…. He sent me a picture (apparantly taken just after he passed) to ID. It was him..it couldn’t be him…I’ve looked at that picture so many times since - thinking it has to be wrong…except for the few months that he lived with me in Colorado several years ago, he had never lived outside the Dallas area. What would he have been doing in Atlanta?
What Happened to Jeff?
On December 16, 2016, Jeff was walking down the street in downtown Atlanta when bystanders noticed he was acting odd and called an ambulance. When they arrived, in true Jeff style, he refused to go - because I’m sure he thought he was fine. They insisted on taking his vitals. His heart rate should have been 80-100..his was 30. He agreed to go the hospital but went into cardiac arrest on the way. Bloodwork later revealed that he had diabetes and that his blood sugar levels were incredibly high and that was determined to be the COD.
The good news - no one hurt him and he was with people that were caring for him and trying to help.
We began trying to make the agonizing decisions of what to do from there. The Medical Examiner’s office told us to take our time..he had already been there for a while and they knew we were in shock. Our mom made final arrangements with the funeral home on Monday.
"We Made a Mistake"
Tuesday morning I received a call from the supervisor at the Medical Examiners office that they had made a mistake and that Jeff had already been buried… on January 24th...the day BEFORE they contacted us.
The mistake was only caught when the funeral home called to make arrangements. They claim that they had made multiple attempts to contact us - and couldn’t reach / find anyone in our entire family (even neighbors)- even though they had his ID & social security number -and with the internet, we just aren’t that hard to find. I requested the call records and the information that they had in their system was 10-17 years old. There was minimal information - a few family members names - some with numbers, some with only addresses. One attempt was made to each phone number they did have and no additional efforts were made. On January 21st (over a month later) an updated report was run but no calls were made. They buried Jeff on January 24th. They used this new updated, accurate information to call us - and successfully reach 4 of us...on January 25th. Because he was already buried, not only do we now have even more expenses (an additional $4000) and weeks and weeks of additional time trying to get him back to Texas, but it was an agonizing decision of whether to disrupt his grave.
It's now February 22nd and we are still waiting for the paperwork to be completed so that we can bring him home.
How You Can Help
He had no life insurance or any savings. Because of his disability, he had great difficulty finding employment.
Therefore, we have set up this Memorial Fund to help cover some of the costs of bringing him back home to Texas and giving him a proper burial. All funds raised will be used for that purpose and if there a surplus (over the estimated $14,000), we will use it to hold a memorial service for friends and family. It has been very hard for us to reach out and ask for help during this time. However, many friends and family have encouraged us to provide a way for people to help.
Any contributions are greatly, greatly appreciated.
If you could take just a moment to share this page, we would be very grateful.
Additional Information:
We also have a private facebook page set up for friends and family to share pictures and stories of Jeff. If you would like to be added to that page, please let us know.
Sadly, what I have written here is not even the entire story - it gets worse. But, I would be happy to answer any questions that anyone might have - please reach out.
Remembering Jeff
Jeff was one of a kind. The only brother to his 3 sisters - 1 older, one younger and one, his twin.
In his youth, he participated in the Special Olympics, loved the Dukes of Hazard and the A-Team.
Looking through old pictures, we were amazed to see how many pictures we had of him pretending to drive - something he was never able to do. (For those of you around Allen, you had probably seen him walking everywhere around town)
He was not able to get a driver’s license due to a past history of seizures and no peripheral vision.. . But, oh how he loved to pretend.
As an adult, he was known for being a hard worker, was really funny and loved talking with his friend about sports and going to Ranger games. He was fiercely independent - not letting his disabilities get in his way. He could tell you in a matter of seconds how many days old you are - I’ve never met anyone as good at math as Jeff.
So many things that we take for granted every day were a challenge for him. He had very little use of his left hand and everyday things - putting the lid back on the toothpaste, tying his shoes, buttoning a jacket, wearing gloves, washing his hands - all provided extra challenges that he met head on.
Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers. We are just devastated - our hearts are broken.
Goodbye Jeff. We miss you & we love you.
This still just doesn’t seem real….