[Swede Girl]

Anyone know what happened to their son? It seems to be a well-kept secret.

[They'reGone2000]

Several weeks later, Wade, 16, was heading to meet his parents for Easter break at the family beach home on Figure Eight Island near Wilmington. He was accompanied by three friends from Broughton High School traveling in two vehicles. Along I-40 in Duplin County, Wade's 1995 Jeep Cherokee drifted to the left onto the median, according to the accident report. He swung right and overcorrected. The vehicle flipped and landed on its roof.

Nearby motorists helped the passenger out of the Jeep and extinguished a small engine fire. But Wade Edwards' lifeless body was pinned in the vehicle.

Afterward, the Highway Patrol said Wade was traveling about 70 mph in a 65-mph zone. There was no indication of alcohol. He was wearing a seat belt.

"A thousand things could have caused it -- talking to friends, adjusting the radio," said Trooper T.A. Sinclair, who investigated the accident.

Link

[twigs]

I believe he was killed in an auto accident in 1996. I've heard about it, but not that much from the Edwards. I'm not willing at this point to say that they are using his death. If I was in a situation where I was mentioning my children, I would mention one I had lost too as a sign that that child is not forgotten. It also seems to me that if Wade died in 1996 and Edwards ran for public office the first time in 1998, his son's death may have made him reconsider his life and do something different. Of course, I don't know. I also don't think it such a strange thing at all that they would visit his grave. I'm not sure that I would let the press know about it however. I'm not sure how the press got that info. It could have been campaign staffers and not Edwards at all. I just don't know.

[AppyPappy]

Died in a car accident