Last Sunday afternoon, I started getting messages about the apparent death of Dr. Tim Markley, former superintendent of New Hanover County Schools. Several sources were telling me he had passed away during the Tour de Blueberry, a charity bike ride that’s part of Burgaw’s beloved annual Blueberry Festival.
Sunday evening, WECT ran a short story that someone had died after experiencing an unspecified medical emergency during the bike ride, noting that EMS crews had been unable to revive the unnamed victim.
By Monday, I’d tracked down an online obituary (although the site was loaded with malware) and a few online social media posts from family members, providing reasonably reliable confirmation that Markley had been the one who died during the bike race. A few more people had reached out, pushing WHQR to publish an article or run an obituary…