A black Alabama woman took off her shoes and got into a retired police vehicle in a busy municipal lot on September 25 - the vehicle couldn't be opened from the inside, and her body was found 12 days later.
Now, her family is looking for answers.
Footage from the municipal lot in Huntsville, released by police, shows a figure that they said is Christina Nance, 29, slowly walking about for ten minutes around 12.39 pm, laying in the bushes, approaching other vehicles and sitting on the hood of the car where her body was found.
The vehicle, which had not been used since March, was once used to transport prisoners and could not be opened from the inside. The surveillance footage shows movement in the car and its windows being opened until September 28.
On October 7, a police officer spotted Nance's shoes, which she had taken off and left outside the vehicle, and found her body. Her family reported her missing on October 2, Huntsville Police said.
Footage from the municipal lot in Huntsville, released by police, shows a figure that they said is Christina Nance, 29 (pictured), slowly walking about for ten minutes around 12.39 pm, laying in the bushes, approaching other vehicles and sitting on the hood of the car where her body was found
The vehicle, which had not been used since March, was once used to transport prisoners and could not be opened from the inside. The surveillance footage shows movement in the car and its windows being opened until September 28.
Footage from the municipal lot in Huntsville (pictured) shows a figure that they said is Christina Nance, 29, slowly walking about for ten minutes around 12.39 pm, laying in the bushes, approaching other vehicles and sitting on the hood of the car where her body was found
'Cars go by, people walk nearby the van,' said Deputy Chief Dewayne McCarver. 'We just wish that she would have hollered out to someone or something, because unfortunately there were what we see as potential opportunities for this not to be a tragedy - and unfortunately, no one was able to realize that she was in that van.'
The department has come under scrutiny as advocates and Nance's family question how she went undetected for 12 days in the official car parked in the heavily-trafficked lot. Police said they are treating the case as a criminal investigation.
McCarver said that authorities 'have no idea of knowing what her state of mind was, what is going on there.'
The department had been 'working with' Nance's family for over a year via their Crisis Intervention Team (CIT), a program through which first responders handle crisis calls involving people with a mental health condition - the team, McCarver said, 'knew [Nance] pretty well.'
'They have worked with her in the past to provide resources and different things,' he said. 'We are familiar with her - very familiar with her.'
An initial assessment conducted by Dr. Tyler Berryhill of the Madison County Coroner shows no signs of foul play or bodily trauma; a full autopsy and toxicology report are scheduled for the coming weeks.
Nance's family, however, said they plan to conduct a private autopsy of their own, and have retained famous civil rights lawyer Ben Crump to represent them. The details, they said, just 'don't add up.'
'The video was not clear enough to indicate that that was our sister Christina Nance,' said Whitney Nance. 'It was just very heartbreaking to know that we didn't get the clarification that we really needed, that we wanted.'
'I was very confused,' said
