An Ohio woman could face years in prison after authorities say she made dozens of bomb threats to Mississippi government offices involved in the investigation into Nolan Wells’ death.
Michelle Francine Edwards is accused of leaving 29 threatening calls last month with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and the George County Chancery Clerk’s Office, including warnings that “the clock is ticking” and “Do not go outside,” WBTV reported, citing a federal complaint.
Edwards, who is from Cincinnati, allegedly placed the calls in two separate bursts on July 23 while using a blocked number, according to the complaint.
The George County Chancery Clerk’s Office received 21 calls from a blocked number within just eight minutes that day.
Less than 20 minutes later, dispatchers at the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office received eight more calls from someone using *67 to conceal the caller ID, the outlet reported.
During the calls, the masked caller allegedly said, “y’all got a bomb outside, don’t come outside b**ch,” and later asked, “y’all still in there?”
Investigators said the threats prompted officials to lock down the building and bring in K-9 units to conduct a bomb sweep.
Authorities later submitted emergency disclosure requests to C-Spire and Verizon to identify the phone number behind the calls, which investigators said led them to Edwards.
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Cell tower data from the night of the incident also showed the phone used to make the calls had “bedded down” near the loon’s address in Cincinnati.
She was slapped with threatening communication in interstate commerce charges Thursday.
The threats came in the weeks after investigators, including the sheriff’s office, opened a probe into the death of Mississippian Nolan Wells.
Wells, 18, was found dead July 6 after vanishing during a Fourth of July boating trip to Horn Island, Mississippi, police said.
The football player, who is black, was visiting the remote island with friends, all of whom were white. But Wells decided to stay behind while they returned inland because of a mechanical issue with the boat, according to the mother of one of his friends.
Though nothing has pointed authorities to suggest foul play, Wells’ family has retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump.
Officials also charged Joseph Alfredo Vasquez Dumarce with interstate transmission of a threatening communication last week after he sent a series of threatening messages to Judge Ashlee Cole, the stepmom of one of Wells’ friends.
The messages from social media account “yaeyae962” allegedly sent Cole — a judge in Jackson County — death threats, threats to strangle her children, and said bombs were being sent to her address.
Edwards faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.
