I tapped the call icon and held the phone to my ear.

The line gave two short, high-pitched double beeps and then disconnected immediately without ringing.

I tried Aunt Martha next, then Uncle David, then my cousin Sarah in Oak Ridge.

Each call dropped after two seconds with the same flat, mechanical chirp.

I opened the messaging app and tapped the info tab on the family group thread my mother had set up.

In the list of nine names, six of the contacts had faded from blue to gray.