Hastings was killed when his Mercedes crashed into a tree at a high speed and exploded.

Only hours earlier, Hastings sent an email to friends at Buzzfeed.com stating that he was “onto a big story” and had “to go off the radar for a bit.” He also warned his colleagues that they might be questioned about him by authorities.

“A close family friend did confirm that Michael’s body was sent home in an urn, meaning he was cremated and it wasn’t the request of the family… in fact the family wanted Michael’s body to go home,” stated San Diego 6 reporter Kimberly Dvorak on Sunday (video below).According to Dvorak, Hastings spoke with an unidentified attorney before his death who has all the details about the story Hastings was working on when he died.

Hastings had not told his wife about the story “because he said he wanted to protect her from knowing anything so if anything were to happen to him nothing could happen to her,” said Dvorak.