Is Josh Duggar OK? Rumors of his death take over Internet as family slams 'keyboard warriors’
Josh Duggar's family has come forward to squash fake rumors about his death after a false obituary claimed that the former reality star has died following his arrest on child pornography charges.
The obituary posted on the site Inside Eko falsely claimed that Duggar has died. An obituary on the website on July 7 read, "Unconfirmed posts from various social media platforms indicate that former American reality TV personality Joshua James Duggar, known as Josh Duggar, is believed to have died." The post was shared on the social media by a number of people, leading many to have concerns about Duggar's health.
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However, Duggar's lawyer, Travis W Story, confirmed to The Sun that his client was perfectly fine. "Thanks for your concern; I have communicated with my client this afternoon since your inquiry, and there is no truth to that rumor." The outlet also reached out to the Washington County and Benton County coroner's offices, which confirmed that they do not have Josh Duggar’s body. The county sheriff's office also additionally reassured that no 911 calls were made from The Reber's home in Arkansas, where Duggar is currently staying with family friends Lacount and Maria Reber following his release on bail.
A Duggar source told The Sun: "Many of the family are trying to stay away from what is written about Josh at the minute, especially from looking at Twitter comments since his arrest. And despite public opinion of him right now, it's very upsetting to hear keyboard warriors are making up these rumors and causing more stress for them at such an awful time."
Josh Duggar questions evidence in his child pornography case
Meanwhile, the father-of-six is still embroiled in a child pornography case but has started to question the police’s "credibility," demanding to see the government's evidence against him in the case. Duggar's team has filed a Motion to Compel requesting the government provide them with "an undated screenshot" and "all law enforcement reports and related discovery prepared by the Little Rock," according to court papers obtained by The Sun.
The document read: "The Government disclosed to the defense a screenshot. However, the screenshot does not identify what it is a screenshot of and the Government has not provided any information concerning the 'Summary' or 'Investigative Activity'." Duggar's team has "repeatedly attempted to obtain this unambiguously discoverable evidence," but the Government has “refused to produce this evidence."
Their claim further states that the government is also refusing to disclose police reports and related evidence from the Little Rock, Arkansas police department. The court papers read: "Government has responded to these discovery requests in a way that strongly suggests the discovery exists but the prosecution simply refuses to turn it over." Duggar's team claims he is "legally and constitutionally entitled to" the evidence, but "the government has flat-out refused to produce it."
Duggar pleaded not guilty to the two-child pornography counts after his arrest in April. He went on to request the court postpone his July trial date "in or after February 2022."