The search for Lorenzen Wright came to a tragic end on Wednesday when the former University of Memphis and Memphis Grizzlies’ player was found dead.
Nine days after he was last seen, Wright’s body – riddled with multiple gunshot wounds – was found in a wooded area near the TPC Southwind golf course.
Wright’s mother, Deborah Marion, lived nearby and Wright often used the little known road through the wooded area – known as Callis Cutoff – as a shortcut to her home.
According to a report in The Commercial Appeal earlier this week, Wright’s sister Adriane Harris said her brother was last seen at a Memphis barbershop on July 19.
But that report was apparently inaccurate based on later developments.
Wright’s family reported his disappearance to Collierville police on July 21 and his mother officially filed a missing persons report on July 22.
According to the missing persons report, Wright left his former wife’s house in Collierville at about 2:00 a.m. on July 19.
But according to a report late Wednesday by the local ABC network affiliate in Memphis, a Germantown dispatcher received a 911 call from Wright’s cell phone at 1:00 a.m. on July 19, one hour before his mother said he left the home in Collierville.
The dispatcher heard a scared male voice utter two expletives, followed by “dozens of gunshots”.
“Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?” the dispatcher asked. Then the phone went dead. The dispatcher called back. No one answered.
There are several questions that will need answering during the investigation into Wright’s murder.
When Wright was first reported missing on July 22, why didn’t the Germantown police alert either the Collierville or Memphis police departments about the 911 call?
If they did alert them, why wasn’t that information made public?
It seems rather peculiar that a 911 call known to have come from Wright’s cell phone would not have been mentioned after the missing persons report was filed three days after he was murdered.
Why was Wright walking in the wooded area near his mother’s home at 1:00 a.m. on July 19?
The distance between his mother’s home and his ex-wife’s home would have taken at least 30 minutes to drive even at that time of day.
Obviously his mother was mistaken about the time he left his ex-wife’s home in Collierville.
As the missing persons report stated, she believed he left around 2:00 a.m., meaning there’s no way Wright could have driven at least 30 minutes to his mother’s home and been shot at 1:00 a.m. as was reported by the Germantown 911 dispatcher.
Memphis police have no leads in the case and are seeking the help of anyone who has knowledge of Wright’s murder.
Wright was a former player at then Memphis State University from 1994 through 1996, leaving school early to enter the NBA Draft where he was selected No. 7 overall by the Los Angeles Clippers.
He played three seasons with the Clippers averaging 7.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. He played two seasons for the Atlanta Hawks beginning in 1999 and was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in 2001.
Wright played five seasons for the Grizzlies and helped lead the team to the NBA playoffs in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Following the 2006 regular season, he returned to the Hawks after signing a free agent deal.
In February 2008, he was traded from Atlanta to the Sacramento Kings in a multi-player deal. He closed out his NBA career in Cleveland during the 2008-09 season.
[...] There are apparently conflicting reports after Lorenzen Wright was found dead in Memphis. Yikes. (MoonDog [...]