Did Your Family Member Die in Prison or Jail? What Happened Next?

When someone dies in prison or jail, their family is often left with more questions than answers. Official reports can be vague or delayed, and critical details about a person’s final hours may never be fully examined or explained.

A team of reporters at The Marshall Project, a nonprofit newsroom that uses journalism to help make the U.S. criminal legal system more fair, transparent and humane, is looking into what people go through when a relative or close friend dies in custody — or shortly after returning home. We want to understand many aspects of the family experience. How did you learn about the death? Were you given clear information about what happened? Were you able to claim your family member’s body and personal belongings? Did your family member die in a hospital or soon after being released from prison or jail? Have you struggled to get records or answers for years?

Use this form to tell us about your experience when someone died in custody.

We created a short questionnaire for anyone who has lost someone in prison or jail. Your input can help make sure our reporting is comprehensive and reflects the experiences of thousands of families across the country. With your help, we can uncover important patterns, such as consistent failures to notify next of kin or missing and conflicting information in official reports. And we can identify and answer common questions that families have when someone dies in state custody.

We understand that sharing your story or revisiting painful details can be difficult. Please fill out the questionnaire only if you feel able, and please consider passing this along to anyone else you know who has been through the same experience. You can share as much or as little as you’re comfortable with. And you can stop at any time. If sharing these details would be too upsetting, please stop right here.

If you’d like to get in touch directly with us, you can reach out via email deaths-in-custody@themarshallproject.org or call or text us at‪ (929) 524-7282‬.

The Marshall Project takes your privacy seriously — your story will not be made public without your permission. Once submitted, a journalist from The Marshall Project may follow up with you for more details.