Morrow called Lakeside Post Office Postmaster Stanley Roberts, also a friend of Nettles, and the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office to talk to a dispatcher. He said he truly thought she could be in trouble.
“I know Bev well enough,” he said. “I know she would have picked up her mail if she could.”
Morrow said Roberts called him back and agreed that someone needed to check up on Nettles. He said he also got a call from Deputy Brett Johnson, who told him he received the information from the dispatcher and would go to Nettles’ home.
Johnson said he went to Nettles’ home and heard the television was on. He said Nettles’ front door was also unlocked, but he knocked on both her front and back door to see if someone would answer. When no one answered, he said he got a little worried and called another deputy, Don Griffiths.
After Griffiths arrived, Johnson said he knocked on Nettles’ door again, and again got no answer. He said he then opened her door and announced his presence.
“I could (then) hear a soft voice in the background,” he said.
Following the voice, Johnson said he found Nettles on the floor in her hallway. He said he called for an ambulance and also called Morrow to let him know what was going on.
“I would say within 30 minutes (of the first call), Deputy Johnson called me back again,” Morrow said. “He said she was in bad shape, bad condition.”
Johnson said Nettles’ hands and feet were very swollen. He said it was not known how long she had been lying there, but she had been trying to make it to the bathroom to get some water after she fell. He said he got her the water as they waited for the ambulance.
“She was very weak,” he said. “She was sick and dehydrated to the point she couldn’t move.”