Wernick had just gotten a frantic call from Queen Bowen, Griffin's mother. Hollingsworth called her and found out that she had gotten a call earlier that hour from a police investigator asking whether Griffin lived there.
He didn't, but apparently his car had been registered to that address. The man explained that there had been an accident and a badly burned body had been found in the car.
Hardin called the Rockets, who checked Griffin's medical records. They showed he had root canal performed his first or second season with the team. The dentist found X-rays for one section of his mouth.
"Within hours, they had identified him," Hollingsworth said.
He said Bowen also related a conversation she had on Tuesday with Jessica Jimenez, the mother of Griffin's 4-year-old daughter. Griffin, Bowen said, had called Jimenez late the night of the crash saying he was trying to get home but was lost. So Jimenez told him to stay where he was and she would go get him.
"Then the phone went dead," Hollingsworth said Bowen told him.
Lucas said he has come to think that Griffin was a man who just wanted to be left alone.
And now that he is gone, Lucas said people are telling him they saw, like ghostly skid marks at the tracks, some signs of Griffin's impending doom.
"No," Lucas said he tells them. "You didn't."
Griffin Funeral
The viewing for Philadelphia native and basketball star Eddie Griffin will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. Tuesday at the First African Baptist Church, 901 Clifton Ave., Sharon Hill.
The service for Mr. Griffin will be held at 11 a.m., followed by burial at Northwood Cemetery (15th and Haines Streets) in Philadelphia.
Contact staff writer Mike Jensen at 215-854-4489 or mjensen@phillynews.com.
