Father learns of son’s murder on Facebook: grisly photo of arm hanging out trunk of car goes viral
Father learns of son’s murder on Facebook: grisly photo of arm hanging out trunk of car goes viral
A distraught father has revealed he learned of his son’s brutal murder from Facebook after an image of his arm hanging out the trunk of a car went viral.
Jeff Davis, from Detroit, Michigan, said he ‘couldn’t believe’ that son Jeffery Hagler, 39, was dead after discovering the image online just hours after the pair spoke on Father’s Day.
But police later confirmed Hagler’s death, saying he had been beaten, shot three times, and then left for dead inside the car, parked down an alley on Detroit’s east side.
Davis told Fox 2 Detroit: ‘I couldn’t believe it was him, I couldn’t believe it. That’s how I found out, through Facebook. With the arm hanging out of the trunk.
‘It’s sad to find out that your son you’ve just seen… and the next thing you know he is in the back of a car.’
Hagler, himself a father-of-three with a son who is just months old, spent Father’s Day with Davis, leaving his house at around 1.30am.
Less than 12 hours later a passerby noticed the car down the alleyway with Hagler’s arm hanging out of the trunk and called police.
Meanwhile two images of the arm were being shared thousands of times on Facebook, only to be discovered by Davis.
He recognized the licence plate on the back of the car, which is how he realized his son was inside.
Many social media users shot down the images as fake, but when video later emerged showing police towing the vehicle away they realized it was genuine.
Davis said his son didn’t usually visit the part of town his body was found in, adding that he got a call from a girl shortly after leaving his house.
Other family members say they believe the killing was part of a random robbery. Police have not yet discussed a motive for the murder or named a suspect.
Hagler is believed to have served time in jail in his 20s for drugs offences, but his family say he has lived a clean life since.
Anyone with information call Detroit police at (313) 596-5200 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP
