Senator Jim Davis: not dead

[Mancunium]

Sen. Davis confirms he is not dead
Despite what it says on his Wikipedia page, Sen. Jim Davis of Franklin said Friday that he is in fact alive.
Citizen-Times, 18 April 2014 link

Despite what it says on his Wikipedia page, Sen. Jim Davis of Franklin said Friday that he is in fact alive. Davis, R-Macon, was visiting family in Virginia when he got a call Friday morning from Macon County Commissioner Ronnie Beale. Beale told Davis that he had heard from several people that Davis had died. At 7:57 a.m. Friday, Davis’ Wikipedia page was updated showing a date of death as April 16, 2014. The page read: “Davis died unexpectedly on April 16, 2014, of suspected heart attack. Aged 67, he collapsed while jogging in a park not far from his home.” [...]

Jim_Davis_(North_Carolina_politician) (T-H-L)

On April 18, 2014, Sen. Davis was the victim of an apparent Wikipedia death hoax. He discusses the ordeal in detail in the Asheville Citizen-Times. [4]

[Mancunium]

Davis Death Hoax
ABC News, 18 April 2014 link

Embedded news video on the senator's "death" hoax.

[Mancunium]

This is one Wikipedia death hoax that not everyone finds amusing.

N.C. Sen. Jim Davis subject of death hoax
Wikipedia falsely listed heart attack as cause of death.
Macon County News, 24 April 2014 link

On Friday morning while visiting family in Virginia for the holiday weekend, North Carolina Senator Jim Davis was bombarded with phone calls from friends concerned about his well being. After answering a call from Macon County Commissioner Ronnie Beale, Davis learned that people in Western North Carolina thought he had died of an apparent heart attack. “I had no idea what was going on,” Davis said Friday afternoon. “People were calling to see if I was alive, and I looked in the mirror, and sure enough, I am doing ok.” The rumors of Davis’ death began Friday morning at 7:57 a.m., when an anonymous person altered Davis’ Wikipedia page. The changes to Davis’ Wikipedia page included listing a date of death as April 16, 2014.

The page read, “Davis died unexpectedly on April 16, 2014, of suspected heart attack. Aged 67, he collapsed while jogging in a park not far from his home.” Davis’ page was changed from being listed as a “living person,” and the entire article was written as if Davis had passed away. The anonymous person, who used an I.P address registered overseas, cites sources for the information regarding Davis’ death as WLOS News13 and The Macon County News. The link to the WLOS story was a broken link that didn’t lead to anything, and the article cited for The Macon County News, was re-directed to an actual news article on a different topic.

Responses from the person who made the edits. CLICK TO ZOOM:



According to WLOS, their site was not hacked, but the person who changed Davis’ page falsely attributed an article that never existed. The Wikipedia page listed a Macon County News link with headline, “Jim Davis found dead in park,” but no such article was ever written or printed. The Macon County News’ website was not hacked either. Neither link lead readers anywhere. [...] When the individual who changed Davis’ information was asked via Wikipedia Talk, where he got his information, he claimed to have found it on the WLOS homepage. He also claimed to be named Eric. [...]