A Mississippi mother's heart is broken after learning the fate of her son, who she believed was missing for more than a year. Gretchen Hankins hadn't heard from her 39-year-old son, Jonathan, for months and found out in early December that he wasn't missing but had died and was buried in a pauper's cemetery without her knowledge.
The devastated mother is grappling to understand what happened to her son. But Hankins isn't the only parent whose child was buried in the pauper's cemetery in Hinds County, Mississippi. The Associated Press reported he is the third person to be buried without his family being notified.
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Hankins never imagined her son was dead.
She told WLBT that she reported her son missing to the Rankin County Sheriff's Department in July of 2022 after not hearing from him for more than a month. Per NBC News, the Rankin County Sheriff's Office issued a missing person's alert on Facebook at the end of that July.
"The Rankin County Sheriff's Office is seeking assistance in locating Jonathan David Hankins of Florence. Hankins was last seen at his mother's residence in the Star community. Hankins is a 39-year-old male standing approximately 5 foot 10 inches with brown hair and blue eyes," the Facebook post reads in part.
The mother never gave up hope.
Hankins continued to look for Jonathan for months, hoping he was safe. She told NBC News she periodically contacted the sheriff's office for an update, but they continually told her there was no news.
"It was pain, mental pain, because I couldn't imagine where he was at," Hankins recalled to NBC News. "I just couldn't."
Surprisingly, a news investigation revealed the truth.
As an NBC News reporter attempted to find out who was buried in the pauper's field, the person that determined Jonathan Hankins was one of them. Per its investigation, the news network uncovered he was found dead on May 23, 2022, just days after his mother last heard from him.
According to NBC News, the Hinds County Coroner's Office and the Jackson Police Department responded to a motel where Jonathan Hankins reportedly died, but they did not contact his family. Instead, he ended up buried in the pauper's cemetery with a grave marked 645.
Hankins cannot get over what allegedly happened to her son.
She told WLBT that her heart was broken.
"No one has called me or tried to contact me. Nothing — I have heard nothing, and that makes it worse," the mother said. "When I reported him missing in June, he was already dead. He should've been in the system as deceased when I reported him missing in June. Somebody ain't doing their job. A lot of people aren't doing their job."
Jonathan was her only child, making the heartache even worse.
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The mother hired an attorney.
Hankins reportedly hired attorney Benjamin Crump, who also represents the families of 37-year-old Dexter Wade and 40-year-old Mario Moore. According to WLBT, Crump alleged all three men were buried without the family's knowledge or consent.
"Families that report a loved one missing deserve immediate and accurate answers," Crump said in a statement to NBC News. "We will work to unearth the truth about what happened to Jonathan and to seek justice for his family."
Hankins wants authorities to understand that her son matters.
"If they knew how a mother hurts when her child is gone like that, they wouldn't do people this way," Hankins said, according to WLBT.
"I felt like they thought that just because he did drugs that he was just a piece of trash, and they thought, another drug dealer gone, or another drug addict gone," she said. "They don't have any feelings for parents. He may have done bad things, but he was still my child. People just do not understand how it feels until it happens to them."
