On this episode, we dig deeper into the story of how a group of armed white men ended up on the front steps of a black family’s house in a Rocky Point neighborhood. The incident went viral, and appeared in national headlines as a racist mob and, in one telling, an attempt at a ‘modern-day’ lynching.

As the story has evolved, and more information has come to light, we now know the family was in ‘crisis mode,’ searching for a missing daughter they believed was missing and possibly in danger. Far from a rogue group of ‘vigilantes,’ the family appears to have had the support of the Pender County Sheriff’s Office.

And, the families of both sides of the door that night say they don’t believe the incident was racially motivated — but that doesn’t take away from the terror the black family must have felt when armed white men demanded to come into their house. Nor does it erase the potentially criminal conduct of a New Hanover County Sheriff’s Deputy who appears to have acted far outside

Many questions remain — some may only be answered in a court of law — but we believe it’s important to get as much information about the situation as possible.

Also this week, the Wilmington Police Department closed their investigation into Paige Escalera and Stephanie Mayorga, a Wilmington couple who went missing on April 15.

Their death in a violent car crash the night of their disappearance is a tragedy — but it has been made harder on family and friends by lingering questions about how the WPD investigated their case, including an apparent opportunity to locate the car the night they women went missing that was thwarted by nighttime conditions and a shooting call that pulled officers from the scene. Still, family and friends asked — why didn’t WPD return the following day?

Those questions remain largely unanswered, in part because the ‘press conference’ that WPD had promised for two weeks ended up being a pre-recorded video message. No press was involved and there was no opportunity to ask questions.

WPD cited Covid-19 concerns, but just two weeks earlier — on April 29, when the case was still active — detectives held an open-air press conference at the police station without issue. So, what changed? And what about those unanswered questions?

We get into it.