Michelle Edwards allegedly made 29 total threatening calls, referencing bombs and using a blocked caller ID
Credit: Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office
NEED TO KNOW
- An Ohio woman is facing federal charges after she allegedly made bomb threats targeted at Mississippi government offices amid Nolan Wells’ death investigation
- Michelle Edwards allegedly made 29 total threatening calls, referencing bombs and using a blocked caller ID
- Edwards is the second person arrested for making threats to Mississippi officials following the death of Wells
An Ohio woman is facing federal charges after she allegedly made bomb threats targeted at Mississippi government offices, making her the second person arrested for sending threatening messages to officials in the state amid Nolan Wells’ death investigation.
According to filings obtained by the Sun Herald, WBTV and WLOX, Michelle Francine Edwards of Cincinnati was charged on Thursday, July 30, with transmitting in interstate commerce a threatening communication to kill or injure another person and to damage or destroy a building.
Investigators allege that Edwards made multiple threatening phone calls on July 23 to the George County Chancery Clerk’s Office and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating Wells’ death.
Edwards allegedly began calling the George County Chancery Clerk’s Office at about 1:34 p.m. local time while using *67, which blocks a number’s caller ID.
Credit: Jackson County Sheriff’s Department/Facebook
She placed 21 total calls over an eight-minute period, during which she allegedly threatened employees, making statements referencing a bomb.
“Do not go outside,” she said in one call, according to the filing obtained by the outlets.
“The clock is ticking,” she said in another.
“Die,” Edwards said in yet another call.
About 20 minutes later, Edwards began calling the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO), investigators allege.
She is accused of blocking her caller ID and placing about eight calls to the sheriff’s office, during which she allegedly said to dispatchers, “Y’all got a bomb outside. Don’t come outside, b—-.”
“Y’all still there?” she asked in a subsequent call, according to investigators.
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The JCSO conducted a complete bomb sweep and locked down the property. No explosive devices were found.
Investigators submitted an emergency disclosure request to C-Spire and Verizon, which provided them with the phone number used on the calls. They found the phone number registered to a Cash App account using an open-source search, and found that the account was associated with the name Michelle Edwards.
Cincinnati Police Department records, obtained by investigators using a federal law enforcement database, also listed Edwards as the owner of the number, the outlets reported.
Edwards is the second person arrested for making threats to Mississippi public officials and government offices in the weeks since Wells went missing and was later found dead after a large Fourth of July party on Horn Island, located just off the state’s coast.
Joseph Alfredo Vasquez Dumarce was arrested and charged on Thursday, July 30, also with interstate transmission of a threatening communication, according to The Sacramento Bee, WLOX and The Sun Herald.
The Sacramento Bee reported that Dumarce, 27, is accused of sending multiple threats to Ashlee Cole, a Jackson County chancery judge and the mother of one of the friends who was with Wells at the time of his disappearance, via Facebook Messenger.
“There will be a package coming to your guys office in the next few days,” Dumarce allegedly wrote to Cole, according to The Sacramento Bee. “It’s gonna blow you away when you see it. LoL. Probably best to have the boys there to see as well.”
Federal investigators said they tracked down Dumarce using the email associated with his Facebook account.
Wells’ parents have also said they have received threats online and in person as they continue pleading for more answers in their son’s disappearance and death.
If convicted, Edwards faces a maximum of five years in federal prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and up to three years of supervised release.
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