DETROIT – A question haunting a local family: What happened to Andre White?
His family says they’ve been wondering this ever since they first learned about his murder on May 1. White -- a husband, father and grandfather -- was reportedly shot to death in front of his home on Charest Street in Detroit.
White’s widow, Tracey White, said she’s doing everything she can to keep his story fresh in people’s minds. She has been putting up flyers on nearby businesses, but that’s not all.
Tracey White put up a billboard near the house they once shared in hopes that someone will come forward with the information they need to move on.
“Everything is totally different for me,” Tracey White said. “My whole life was turned upside down.”
It wasn’t the 1-year wedding anniversary Tracey White had imagined. Instead of celebrating with her husband by her side, she had a cardboard cutout of him.
“It’s tearing our family apart,” Tracey White said. “We need closure.”
“It’s killing us, our family. Period,” said Timothy Patton, Andre White’s brother.
Patton and the rest of the family know very little about what happened on May 1. They only know that Andre White was with a few friends steps away from his home on Charest Street when he was shot and killed.
Things haven’t been the same since.
“He was a fun-loving guy,” Patton said. “He cared about his kids, grandkids, and everything. We had to lose him this way in broad daylight. It just makes no sense.”
The family put up a billboard and plastered his face and story all over nearby businesses hoping that someone would come forward.
“Only thing we’re asking for is closure for my sister-in-law, and for all of us, because he didn’t deserve this at all,” said Kim Patton. “For someone to take his life like that...”
A Detroit police captain in the homicide unit says he plans to meet with Tracey White on Wednesday to go over the case. Anyone with information should give Detroit police a call.