A Mississippi mother who reported her son missing in March learned that he was buried in an unmarked grave after a police officer struck him while he was crossing an interstate highway.
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Bettersten Wade last saw her son, Dexter Wade, 37, on the evening of March 5 when he left home with a friend and reported him missing after he didn’t return home for a few days. Seven months after his disappearance, Bettersten told NBC News that she learned that Dexter died less than an hour after he left her home and was hit by a Jackson police car. Police reportedly knew his name and hers but didn’t contact her. Instead, his body was left unclaimed for months in a city morgue.
Earlier this month, Bettersten was informed about her son’s location at the Hinds County penal farm and went to the site with her daughter. A sheriff’s deputy directed the women to Dexter’s final resting place, a grave marked under number 672.
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The grieving mother told the news outlet that her son was known as a sweet little boy who liked nice clothes, loved computers and wanted to run his own business refurbishing cars. Also, he had two daughters, Johnelle and Joselyn, with his girlfriend, Candice Thomas. Their relationship ended after his stints in prison, but he was present in his daughters’ lives as they would spend summers with him at Bettersten’s home.
Thomas said prison took a toll on his mental health, and he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Bettersten noticed her son’s behavior and illegal drug use decreased once he started taking medication. He would help out around the house and hand food to people in the street, plus he rarely left the home for more than a day.
On the day of her son’s disappearance, Bettersten said she and Dexter argued over a broken window after she returned home from work. He left with a friend around 7:30 p.m., but she hesitated to call the police days after he went missing. She noted that her mother told her not to call the police because of their lack of involvement in Jackson.
“My mama told me, ‘They’re not going to do anything. But I had to do something to find Dexter, and I thought that was the best way.”
A report from the medical examiner’s office revealed Dexter suffered blunt injuries and had PCP and methamphetamines in his system when he died. Weeks before locating his gravesite, Bettersten paid $250 to claim his body. The family plans to get Dexter out of the gravesite and to a proper grave so loved ones can pay their respects.