Mississippi police were at odds as they searched for missing man, widow says
JACKSON, ma’am. — In the weeks after Sudanese civil war refugee Dau Mabil disappeared without a trace in Mississippi, officers from two police agencies blamed each other for the stalled investigation, his widow told The Associated Press.
Fishermen, not police, spotted Mabil’s body floating in a river about 60 miles (97 kilometers) south of where he went missing on March 25 in Jackson. But his relatives still know little about what happened to him before his body was found on April 13. his widow Karissa Bowley said this week. And a court has said it cannot consider rules for an independent autopsy that could shed more light on what happened to Mabil up to April 30.
Relatives and volunteers searched for weeks for Mabil, who disappeared while taking a daytime walk near his home. As they searched remote areas and raised awareness, investigators from the state-run Capitol Police and the city-run Jackson Police Department blamed each other for complicating the efforts, Bowley said.
“They both went out of their way to tell me the other was doing a bad job or getting in their way,” Bowley said. “A complete unwillingness on both sides to put aside any political differences or any larger systemic issues and history for the sake of this cause.”
The Capitol Police are controlled by Republican officials, while the Jackson Police Department is controlled by Democratic officials. The Republican-controlled state Legislature in recent years has expanded the department’s patrol area and created a special court in Jackson, provoking lawsuits and fierce Democratic opposition.
Both police forces came together for Operation Unified, a new crime-fighting initiative in a city with world-leading murder statistics. But according to his relatives, the departments in the Mabil case seemed disconnected.
Jackson police officers searched an area using drones without notifying Capitol Police, who said this was “contrary to their cooperation,” Bowley said. She didn’t understand why the departments weren’t helping each other, she said.
The Jackson and Capitol police departments have been “actively working on this case,” state agency spokesman Bailey Martin said. She declined to comment further, citing an open investigation. A spokesperson for the Jackson Police Department did not respond to a list of questions.
At an April 18 news conference, Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade said he had met with Capitol Police.
“They showed a willingness to work with us,” Wade said. “I hope that is still the case today.”
The discovery of Mabil’s body caused a legal dispute between Bowley and her brother-in-law, Bul Mabil.
A judge granted Bul Mabil’s emergency request to have an independent medical examiner perform an autopsy on Dau Mabil’s body before releasing the remains to Bowley and her family.
In a subsequent court filing, Bowley’s attorney said her client “embraces” the order for an additional autopsy by a qualified investigator, but only after police complete the investigation, her attorney said in court documents. The court said Bowley’s request could not be heard until April 30.
Bul Mabil said he was surprised he didn’t receive a call from Bowley the day his brother went missing, but Bowley said she called him the next day after an hours-long, frantic search on March 25.
Before Dau Mabil went missing, Bowley said she and her husband spent part of the morning calling his mother, who lives in the Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya. The United Nations-run camp was established in 1992 after the arrival of the ‘Lost Boys of Sudan’.
The Mabils were among thousands of young refugees brought to the U.S. during their country’s bloody civil war. They both built a new life in the United States. Dau Mabil and Bowley became close when they worked together at a restaurant in Jackson. She said his “gentle and gracious presence” brought her closer.
“I missed Dao even before I knew he was missing,” she said.
___ Michael Goldberg is a staff member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow him at @mikergoldberg.