JS Error in IE8, null or not an object

JS Error in IE8, null or not an object

getting the error "'img' is null or not an object".

loc_json.places is as you guessed JSON. 

Works fine in Firefox, Chrome, & Safari.  Breaks at error in IE8.  Any ideas?  I've been debugging this for days.
  1. $.each(loc_json.places, function(i, item){
                if(i==(totalPlaces - 1)) { lastClass = ' last'; }

                //console.log(item.img);
                markersHtml[i] = '<div class="item' + lastClass + ' item-'+i+'"><img src="' + item.img + '" alt="" /><a href="#" class="map" rel="' + i + '">' + item.title + '</a><address>' + item.address + ',<br />' + item.city + ', ' + item.state_abbr + '</address><div class="phone">' + item.phone + '</div><a href="' + item.slug + '">more details</a><div class="clear"></div></div></div>';
               
                var marker = new google.maps.Marker({
                    position: new google.maps.LatLng(item.lat, item.lng),
                    map: map,
                    title: item.title,
                    icon: image
                });