In the quiet darkness of a June night in 1937, a tragedy unfolded near the town of Marked Tree, Arkansas, forever altering the lives of one family. Frank White, a 46-year-old male deputy constable for Little River Township, embarked on what would be his final duty. Alongside a Poinsett County sheriff's deputy, he set out to raid an illegal distillery, a common and dangerous task for lawmen of that era.
Unbeknownst to White and his partner, federal revenue agents were simultaneously
closing in on the very same moonshine operation. In the thick of the night, with visibility low and tensions high, a fatal misjudgment occurred. The two groups of law enforcement officers, each believing the other to be the criminals they sought, tragically mistook one another for moonshiners. An exchange of gunfire erupted in the confusion, and in the chaos, Deputy Constable White was critically wounded.
Following the shootout, the grave error was realized, and the injured deputy was rushed to a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Despite the efforts of medical staff, Frank White succumbed to his gunshot wounds the following day, on June 8, 1937. He left behind a wife, Freda White, and their six children. The incident was deemed a catastrophic case of mistaken identity between law enforcement agencies. Consequently, no arrests were made, and no suspects were pursued, as the shots were fired by fellow officers in the line of duty.
