The family of a 52-year-old man who reportedly drowned while repairing a water main break in an Atlanta suburb is wondering why city officials never contacted them to tell them their loved one died.
Willie James Carter died on April 1 while working to cap a water main break near Butner Road and Union Road in South Fulton, Georgia.
His widow, Tracy Carter, told WSB-TV that she dropped him off at the site of the repair that morning, but no one from the city ever reached out to notify her that he died that day.
She said she had to learn from one of her husband’s co-workers who showed up at her home saying that he “tried to save him” and that the team at the repair scene “pulled him out the water.”
“I have nothing. I want answers. I want to know what happened to my husband,” Carter said, according to the local outlet. She said all she has left from that day is a “wet wallet, two dollar bills, and a glove” that was found on her husband.
WSB-TV reached out to South Fulton Police for details about the drowning, but officers said they had no report of it. That’s because the patrol unit never told the Public Affairs division about the incident, according to Police Chief Keith Meadows.
The city stated they wouldn’t be commenting on the death at this time out of respect for the family’s privacy. Officials only revealed that Carter was a subcontractor for T&J Industries.
“It’s outrageous,” the family’s attorney Sam Starks said, adding that his office would be conducting its own investigation “to determine exactly what happened. How it happened. Why it happened.”
“It wasn’t right. And if they think he wasn’t loved, they got another thing coming,” Carter said.
A GoFundMe page was set up to help Carter’s family.
“James was a hard-working man to many, a kindhearted man, known for his infectious spirit and deeply loved by those who surrounded him,” the page reads. “He had a passion for fixing things and helping out others. He was a brave and courageous man who had faced many challenges in his life but shone brightly wherever he went.”
