NEW ORLEANS — The mother of a college student from South Carolina found dead in New Orleans is demanding answers into how she died, saying she has gotten almost no details nearly two weeks after her daughter's death.
Miranda Ferrand, joined by her husband her family attorneys, spoke out publicly Thursday in New Orleans. Her daughter, Ciaya Whetstone, died at New Orleans East Hospital on February 19.
Whestone, 21, was from Bamberg County, South Carolina but was a student at the University of New Orleans.
"I brought her here to graduate, not to pack her up, to bury her," Miranda Ferrand, her mother, said through tears at a news conference. "She was a great person, she never met a stranger. She always wanted to leave people better than she found them."
Her friends told WWL-TV last week that early on the morning of her death, Whetstone left her apartment and took an Uber. However, New Orleans Police have not even confirmed that fact or given much detail in what they think might have happened, including who she may have been with that night. What they do say is that she was taken to the hospital by a private vehicle and that she was pronounced dead a short time later. They're officially calling the case an "unclassified death" meaning that at this point, they've made no determination if there is a crime. However, they did say Thursday that there are no suspect identified.
The local coroner's office there also has given no indication on a possible cause of death, saying it could be some time before a determination is made.
Ferrand said she's seen most of the information about the case from media reports, and not directly from police.
"I'm going to be here and I am not going to stop until I figure out what happened to my daughter, I will not rest, she's my life and I owe her that," she said.
After the news conference, police told WWL-TV they would be contacting the mother. They said they had already been in touch with her biological father.
Anyone with additional information that can help with the investigation is asked to contact NOPD Seventh District detectives at 504-658-6070 or to call anonymously to Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans at 504-822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877-903-STOP.
"I pray that whomever knows anything about this situation will please find it in their hearts to be honest and just come forward, so my family can rest, so she can rest because she deserves that," Ferrand said.