Michelle Murry frantically called more than 30 hospitals hoping her next call would lead her to her missing son, who never showed up to a scheduled Christmas visit.
After days of anguish — only knowing that the Roseland garage where her son lived had been severely burned — Wesley Freeman, 34, was found dead underneath the rubble.
"I think [I'd] be able to deal with it if it wasn't for the four days of agony," Murry told the Chicago Sun-Times. "But for four days he was up in there, and [authorities] constantly telling [me] that he wasn't there, that's the part that brings [me] to tears."
"He was on that floor all along," Murry, 55, added.
Around 4 a.m. Christmas Day, firefighters responded to the garage that was "completely engulfed" in flames in the 9400 block of South LaSalle Street, Chicago Fire Department officials said.
But there was too much damage to conduct an extensive search, according to fire department spokesperson Larry Langford. A more detailed search was done Sunday after reports of a person living in the garage.
"The person was not found during extinguishment of the fire because there was a collapse and it was unsafe to search any further than we did at the time," Langford said. "Although a search was conducted, nothing was found at the time of the fire."
"Upon request, we did go back during the daylight and conduct an extensive search and after debris was removed in an extensive search, the body was found," Langford added.
Freeman was pronounced dead Sunday at 11:14 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
The cause and manner of his death are not known yet and are pending further testing, the medical examiner's office said.
Murry is struggling to comprehend the tragedy.
"It was just me and him," Murry said. "I can't even imagine my life without him."
Murry says she heard about the fire from her brother Thursday and called every hospital she could before filing a missing person report in case Freeman was alive but too injured to speak.
"I called every last one of those hospitals," Murry said. "By Friday, there was no [hospital] left to call...I [couldn't] sleep."
She also called the fire and police departments multiple times during the "terrible" days between Christmas and the day her son was found.
"I'm steady calling anybody, everybody, [saying] that my son lived there. At some point you couldn't send another unit out there?" Murry asked. "I'm just really upset with them because they kept assuring me there was no one there."
The fire department "was saddened" Freeman wasn’t found while the blaze was being extinguished, Langford said.
"It is a tragedy for the family and we are conducting a full investigation to determine the details of the incident," Langford said.
Murry launched a GoFundMe fundraiser in hopes of covering burial costs for her son. As of Tuesday morning, the page raised over $1,100 of it's $10,000 goal.
Murry can't help but remember happier holidays and this year she planned to gift Freeman a $100 — 90 singles concealed by a $10 bill with a bow on top.
It's a gift she gave her son a couple of times after he was grown up and it got a smile from Freeman every time.
Freeman was described by his mother as respectful and smart. Once, after a friend got into a car accident using Freeman's car, Freeman's politeness prompted the other driver to let them go without getting police involved, Murry said.
Murry misses the moments of laughter she shared with her son.
"[I can't imagine] not seeing his smile, not getting another joke," Murry said. "I don’t know how to pick up the pieces."
