NBA PLAYER LORENZEN WRIGHT FOUND DEAD

A fter missing for 10 days, the body of Lorenzen Wright has been found dead in a wooded area 15 miles south of downtown Memphis. The body has suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Police are referring to their investigation as a “death investigation.”

Lorenzen’s mother, Deborah Marion, arrived at the scene Wednesday night with a handful of family members. She crossed the crime scene tape and tried to talk to police when she was told to move back. Eventually, two officers let her through. She started running down the road toward the crime scene before being stopped by an officer. She spoke with police, then walked straight to a van without speaking to anyone. Marion lived nearby and Lorenzen often used the little-known road through the wooded area — known as Callis Cutoff — as a shortcut to her home.

Police are investigating a 911 call from Lorenzen Wright’s cell phone made on July 19, just hours before he was supposed to ride back to his townhouse in the Atlanta area with a friend and his six children. The dispatcher heard a garbled male voice utter an expletive, then at least 10 gunshots. “Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?” the dispatcher asked. Then the phone went dead. The dispatcher called back. No one answered.

The family issued a statement through a cousin of Lorenzen Wright, Camella Logan: “Lorenzen’s family has come together to mourn his loss and honor his legacy. We appreciate your thoughts, prayers and condolences as they are comforting at this very difficult time. Additionally, we ask that you please respect our privacy as we try to cope with his sudden loss.”

ORIGINAL POST

I t’s been more than a week since former Atlanta Hawks and Memphis Grizzlies center Lorenzen Wright was reported missing. The family of NBA basketball player said they suspect foul play in his disappearance.

Lorenzen was at his ex-wife’s house in Collierville, TN, a suburb about 20 miles east of Memphis the night of July 18. “He went to Collierville to check on his kids,” Lt. Norm Dixon of the Collierville police said. Lorenzen apparently left while his ex-wife was asleep — around 2 a.m. Police assume he was picked up by someone. Lorenzen’s sister, Adriane Harris, said her brother was then seen the following morning at a Memphis barbershop on July 19, where he had his hair cut.

On July 22, Lorenzen’s mother flagged down a police car in Collierville and filed the missing person report. Police are stumped by Lorenzen’s disappearance. “There is nothing on his phone records, no bank transactions, his vehicles are still at his house in Smyrna,” Dixon said. “It’s like he literally dropped off the face of the earth.”

It’s obviously a tragic, bizarre situation that has both police and those closest to Lorenzen scratching their heads. Turner Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Marietta, GA were Lorenzen’s aunt is a member, said a prayer for Lorenzen on Sunday morning.