MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A family is in mourning after a father died on Interstate 240 this week when pulled over after getting a flat tire — but they also say his belongings are missing.
Close friends said Jeffrey Hughes was on the side of the road a tow truck smashed into his vehicle.
What family and friends are trying to figure out now is what happened to Hughes’ money and the jewelry he was wearing. They say it seems to have disappeared.
Sami Jodeh said the 29-year-old Hughes was a father of two, with another baby on the way.
“He been more like a brother to me. Very trustworthy, I mean he’s an honest guy, he’s a friend,” he said.
Jodeh, who said he was a friend of Hughes for about a decade, is trying to help Hughes’ family.
“Sad, mad, upset, everybody is tearing up crying,” said Jodeh.
Police say Hughes was hit sitting in his vehicle on I-240 near 385.
Jodeh said a text shows the last time he talked to his longtime friend. The next Jodeh heard, Hughes was in the hospital and later declared dead.
Hughes worked for Jodeh, at a South Memphis store. Jodeh says Hughes had just been at the store recently and had just been paid. He believes he had hundreds of dollars on him at the time of the wreck.
“Left the store, he had some chains, gold chains on him.”
But Jodeh says family checked with first responders and they can’t find his belongings since the crash.
“Found out that he didn’t have no money, no ID in his pocket and his gold missing.”
He says Hughes’ family was depending on the money for rent and they’re hoping to figure out what happened to his belongings soon.
“He’s got kids, they deserve his money, they deserve his hard work. They deserve every bit of what he did.”
Police said the only report they have is the crash report involving Hughes.
A spokesperson with the hospital also told us if someone comes in with trauma their personal things are locked in security and if they pass away they can be retrieved by a family member.
Jodeh says the family has tried looking for his belongings at the hospital and as of now, does not believe they are there.
