Small Victory

Throughout our journey to find answers, we have been told many things by many people that have turned out to be misleading or untrue. In the beginning  we trusted and believed what Cocke County officials told us. We had no knowledge of their corrupt reputation.  Early on, we were told that we could pick up the two shotguns that were our sons and had been found at the scene. However, when we notified authorities of our plans to do so, we were told that they’d lost them. We later learned that they’d found  them and were told that we  needed only to bring in a copy of the will and they would be released to us . When we notified officials that we were making travel arrangements to return to Tennessee, we were told that Sherriff Fontes would not release them to us. We even emailed the mayor of Cocke County to assist usand but he never replied.

As we mentioned in this press release, we’ve had to retain an attorney to help us overcome some of the many difficulties we’ve encountered with multiple government entities in East Tennessee. We are happy to report that this week our attorney, Hugh Ward, has helped us achieve a major milestone in moving forward. As of yesterday, 3 1/2 years after our son's death, a judge finally released the two shotguns that were found at the scene.

We thank Hugh Ward for believing in us and taking our case and getting back what rightfully belonged to Alexander John Heitman our beloved son.  We look forward to seeing what other doors he will help us open.