Blayne Alexander

But the queer community was bracing for the possibility that police would do little or nothing about it.

I mean, no one's shocked when a queer person goes missing in the South, you know.

Blake Summers and Jay became friends after Jay started performing in drag shows at Code Pink.

an event space Blake founded.

You were not confident that, quite frankly, police would do their job when it came to trying to find him.

I'm not confident in the justice system to prosecute what needs to be done, you know?

I mean, our history with police isn't really that great.

Did you get a sense that there was this kind of general distrust in the community toward police as they were coming around, asking questions, investigating?

I mean, I think it's natural with our community to have that distrust.

You don't know if a queer person, a black person, will be treated the same as a sorority girl.

Some friends were worried about talking to police for fear of saying the wrong thing or anything that might diminish Jay.

Oxford police would have to earn that trust, starting with Jay's best friend, Jose.

He was one of the first people police interviewed.

He kept his guard up, especially when they asked him for an alibi.

Jose gave police his cell and detectives determined his alibi was solid.

He was nowhere near Jay when he disappeared.

Mike, come check this out.

He was right.

Police were determined to figure out what happened to Jay Lee.

They hoped this person could help.