Official Statement // We have consistently told the truth, even when the truth was uncomfortable, unpopular, or inconvenient for others to hear

The reason this matters is simple: false stories do not merely damage a person’s reputation while they are alive; they can also shape how people explain that person’s death after the fact.

If we had stayed silent, or allowed lies to stand, then any later tragedy could be dismissed with a convenient excuse.

If hard drugs were found in someone’s system, people could say, “Of course. He was a junkie.”
If an illness or sexually transmitted disease were involved, people could say, “Of course. He slept around.”
If violence or financial trouble were involved, people could say, “Of course. He had gambling debts.”
If any accusation were made, people could say, “Of course. That is just who he was.”

But that was not the truth.

He did not live the life that others tried to describe for him. He did not do the things people accused him of doing. He did not use hard drugs. He did not gamble. He did not live as the person others tried to make him appear to be. Again and again, he told the truth about who he was, what he did, and what he did not do.

That truth was not told for attention. It was told because truth creates a record. Truth prevents lies from becoming the official explanation. Truth makes it harder for people to dismiss a death, a disappearance, an attack, or any other harm as something predictable or deserved.

That is why the truth matters here.

When someone is repeatedly misrepresented, slandered, or framed as something they are not, those lies can later become a cover story. They can become the excuse people use to avoid asking questions. They can become the reason no one investigates.

We reject that completely.

We state clearly and officially: what we told was the truth. It was told because the truth needed to be on record. It was told because false narratives can become dangerous. It was told because if anything were ever to happen, people should not be able to hide behind lies and say, “That is just what he was like.”

That was never who he was.

And because the truth was told, anyone who tries to use those false stories now must be questioned, not believed.