Courtesy of Rita Thomas
- Desheena Kyle's family says Knoxville, Tennessee, police didn't communicate with them after they reported the 26-year-old missing in June.
- Kyle's aunt, Rita Thomas, told Insider the lack of communication eroded the family's trust that her disappearance was being properly investigated.
- Police confirmed Thursday that they recovered Kyle's body. No charges have been filed in connection with her death.
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The family of Desheena Kyle, a 26-year-old Tennessee woman who went missing in June, joined with community members to search the Knoxville area for weeks before police recovered a body on September 28.
Kyle's loved ones felt there'd been a lack of communication from Knoxville police, and it was a "huge factor" in how they perceived the investigation into her disappearance, Kyle's aunt, Rita Thomas, told Insider in a series of text messages.
"I see an urgent need to have someone within the department that will meet with families so that they can share vital information about their loved ones," Thomas said.
Thomas shouted out one police captain who she said improved the line of communication between the department and her family. She said that while she understands officers are in a tough situation when providing information about a missing persons case, "caring families shouldn't be pushed so far away from the case that it causes distrust."
A spokesman for the Knoxville Police Department said in a statement to Insider that police made a concerted effort to be in "vigorous" communication with Kyle's family. He added that specific officers were designated to be in contact with her loved ones, and that any information police withheld about the investigation was to preserve its integrity.
"We certainly empathize with the immense pain, grief and confusion the family has experienced the past several months, so we recognize that no amount of communication would feel like enough," spokesman Scott Erland said in the statement.
Members of the Knoxville community had also voiced their frustration with the way police have handled Kyle's case. An activist who helped organize searches for Kyle previously told Insider that it felt like police interest in the case picked up only after community members began searching for the missing woman on their own, once the Gabby Petito case had gained widespread national attention.
Kyle was first reported missing by her grandmother on June 28, after no one in the family had seen her for at least ten days. On September 23, police began investigating the case as a potential homicide, based on Kyle's prolonged period of no contact with family or friends along with other evidence.
That same day police named Kyle's boyfriend, John Bassett, a person of interest in her disappearance. Bassett had been arrested in July for a probation violation, and police have since held him in custody on unrelated gun and drug charges.
On September 28, police found Kyle's body, reportedly at an abandoned home owned by one of Bassett's family members. While Kyle's death had been ruled a homicide, no charges have been filed.
According to police records viewed by Insider, Bassett was charged with domestic assault against Kyle in 2014. A judge later dismissed that charge.
Thomas urged people who think they may be in an abusive relationship and in danger to seek help from a friend or go to law enforcement.
"Love is not supposed to hurt," Thomas said. "It is kind, gentle and compassionate."