LA LA - Bambi Brantley, 25, Leesville, 22 Oct 1986

Bambi Luan Brantley



Last Seen: Wednesday, October 22, 1986


Physical/Clothing/Medical
Race: White
Sex: Female
Age: 25 Years Old
DOB: 11/5/60
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 110
Hair: Red / Strawberry Blonde
Eye: Green / Hazel
Clothing: Light brown Jacket, blue jeans, ankle length boots, navy blue wallet and purse
Jewelry:
Medical:
Transportation:
Dental Records: Not Available
DNA Records: Available

Circumstances:
Brantley was last seen 10/22/89, she walked to a local convenience store to make a telephone call no one has ever heard from her again. Bambi at the time of her disappearance lived with her brother.

Investigating Agency:
Leesville Police Department, Case # M219494154 - 337.238.0331

Information Resources:
LSU Faces Case # 316 - http://identifyla.lsu.edu/profile.php?id=125
Charley Project - http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/brantley_bambi.html
Find a Grave: https://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=117032805
Doe Network Case # 2698DFLA - http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2698dfla.html
NAMUS MP # 4059 - https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/4059/26

Did she have known enemies? A crazy ex, maybe?

The Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Department (VPSO) has reopened the unsolved 1986 case of the disappearance of a 25-year-old woman.

On the evening of October 22, 1986, Bambi Brantley was given a ride by a friend to a convenience store on Hwy 8 West. The friend left Brantley at the store around 10 p.m.

She went inside the store and purchased a fountain drink.

Around midnight Brantley used a payphone outside of the store to call the Pitt Grill. Brantley was trying to reach her brother Roddy Brantley who was at the restaurant. She left a message for him with the person who answered the phone. “If you see my brother tell him to come home,” were the last known words that anyone heard Brantley say.

Roddy got the message and went to the home he and his sister shared in Tower Trailer Park. This was some time shortly after midnight. His sister was not home.

Thinking she left with another friend Brantley was not immediately alarmed. However, when she wasn’t there the next morning he started to worry. His concern was intensified when she didn’t show up for work at Pynes Chrysler where she was employed as a salesperson.

It was at this point that Brantley notified the Leesville City Police and a missing person investigation was opened.
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Jordan said that, based on the evidence in the files, they think Brantley walked from the store back to her trailer.

“The evidence file says that a fountain drink was on the floor of her house,” Jordan said. “We think that this is the one she purchased at the store, telling us that she made it back to her home.”

Jordan said the file also indicated some things in the house were in disarray, pointing to a possible struggle.

http://www.beauregarddailynews.net/news/20180313/vpso-reopens-cold-case-on-1986-missing-woman

Her Charley Project profile has been updated:

Details of Disappearance

Brantley was last seen in Leesville, Louisiana on October 22, 1986. She walked to a convenience store to make a telephone call and never returned. She has never been heard from again.

Authorities believe Brantley's disappearance is related to the disappearances of Karen Hill, who vanished in November 1988, and Pamela Miller, who went missing in May 1989. The women physically resembled one another and were in the same age group, all three were newcomers to the area, and they disappeared under similar circumstances.

Miller's skeletal remains were found at Fort Polk in December 1989, but it's unclear whether Hill was ever located.

Brantley's case remains unsolved. Some agencies give the date of her disappearance as December 22, 1986.

http://charleyproject.org/case/bambi-luann-brantley

38-year-old cold case pushes forward

http://www.leesvilledailyleader.com/news/20180428/38-year-old-cold-case-pushes-forward

Of the other four cold cases VPSO has opened, Darlene’s differs in that they took place six to 10 years later. All of the other victims were also in their 20s and were similar in appearance. Unlike the others, Darlene’s perpetrator also seemed to be someone she knew. The others were picked up from convenience stores. “We can’t rule out that her killer may have been a stranger,” Jordan said.

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The other cold cases are Bambi Brantley, reported missing in 1986, remains not found;

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Detectives Jordan and Twyman are seeking any information that people might have regarding the case. They can be reached at 337-238-7248.

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Dental records used to identify human remains

Advocate, The (Baton Rouge, LA) (Published as The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.)) - December 22, 1989

LEESVILLE (AP) -- The FBI used dental records to determine that human remains found recently at Fort Polk are those of Pamela Miller, a Leesville resident missing since May 29.

"There is still other lab work being done," FBI spokesman Volney Hayes said Wednesday. "We haven't determined the cause of death, how long the body was there or how it got there. There's still a lot to be done."

Miller, 23, who moved to Leesville from Colorado in November 1988, was last seen late May 29 making a telephone call at a convenience store at the junction of La. Highways 8 and 117.

Her car was found abandoned about 10 miles northeast of Leesville.

Her remains were found recently in a shallow grave in a wooded area near the northern boundary of Peason Ridge training area.

Authorities say they are still trying to determine whether there is any connection between her disappearance and the disappearances of two other Vernon Parish women.

In October 1986, Bambi Brantley, 28, disappeared without a trace after walking to a convenience store to make a telephone call.

In November 1988, Karen Hill, 21, disappeared from a convenience store near Fort Polk. But her body was found hours later in a wooded area about 10 miles away. She had been shot.

Leesville disappearances may be related, police say

Advocate, The (Baton Rouge, LA) (Published as The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.)) - June 8, 1989



Investigators in Vernon Parish are worried that there may be a connection among the disappearances of three young women, all blondes, during the last three years.

In October 1986, Bambi Brantley, 28, disappeared without a trace.

Last November, Karen Hill, 21, disappeared from a convenience store where she worked. Her body was found 10 miles away.

Now Pamela Miller, 23, is missing. She is a 115-pound blonde with blue eyes, last seen a week ago. Her car was found outside a friend's house.

The cases "are very similar," said detective Mike Martin of the Vernon Parish Sheriff's Office.

"All of them -- their features are very similar. But other than their descriptions matching, I really don't have anything to say," Martin said.

"There's just hardly anything to go on in any of these cases."

Miller, like Brantley and Hill, was a newcomer to Leesville. She moved here from Pueblo, Colo., to live with her sister, Annette Corder.

She disappeared 10 days ago after leaving a comedy club around midnight, headed to see her boyfriend, Billy Hunt.

"She was a fun-loving girl," Hunt said. "She loved to laugh."

About 12:15 a.m. May 29, Hunt said, he saw a car turn around at his front gate -- several hundred feet from his house.

He said he had another visitor, and a little after 1 a.m. he left to take her home. Miller's car was blocking the gate, he said.

He said he pushed the car out of the way. He did not contact police.

"I felt like someone she knew followed her out here," he said. "I was concerned, but I just assumed that she came out and something happened to the car. I had seen the car turn around and leave."

"If Pam's alive, I believe she is subdued someplace... or she suffered some type of amnesia," he said. "Or she's dead. I believe Pam is dead."

"Her disappearance," said Martin, "is almost identical to Bambi Brantley's."

Brantley, also single, had walked to a convenience store in October 1986 to make a telephone call. She disappeared without a trace.

Persistent rumors circulated in Leesville that her body was found later in the city's water system, but authorities denied the story. The case remains unsolved.

Last November, Hill mysteriously disappeared from the convenience store where she worked. She was the wife of a soldier stationed at Fort Polk.

It was an apparent robbery, but authorities never revealed how much cash was missing. There was no indication of a struggle at the store or where the body was found, a mile off the highway and down a dirt road. Her hands had been tied around a tree, and she was shot through the head.

Investigators say they have no suspects. They speculated at the time that she might have known her assailant.

VPSO Releases Information on Fourth Cold Case

http://www.westcentralsbest.com/tod...cle_82d15850-22f6-11e8-93d3-ef2080be41b2.html

The Vernon Parish Sheriff's office has released information on their 4th missing person cold case. Bambi Luann Brantley, W/F, age 25, was reported missing by her brother on Thursday, October 23, 1986. She lived in Tower Trailer Park on Texas Highway, which is Hwy 8 West. She was last seen the night of Wednesday, October 22, 1986

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Bambi was employed as a car salesman at Pynes Auto Delearship in Leesville at the time of her disappearance and she was a social person and had many friends and acquaintances with whom she would spend time at various social clubs in Leesville. Bambi has been described as being 5’7” tall, weighing 110 pounds with Hazel eyes and shoulder length light brown / auburn wavy hair which she parted in the middle.

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https://www.usnews.com/news/best-st...ce-in-38-year-old-cold-case-to-be-re-examined
May 13 2018

Of the other four cold cases the sheriff's office has opened, Darlene's differs in that they took place six to 10 years later. All of the other victims were also in their 20s and were similar in appearance. Unlike the others, Darlene's perpetrator also seemed to be someone she knew. The others were picked up from convenience stores. "We can't rule out that her killer may have been a stranger," Jordan said.


The other cold cases are Bambi Brantley, reported missing in 1986, remains not found; Karen Hill, reported missing and remains located in 1988 — her case has since been solved and her killer, Samuel Galbraith is in prison; Pam Miller, reported missing and remains located in 1989; and Tammy Call, reported missing in 1990, remains located in 1997.

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Bambi is my sister. If anybody has ANY information, please let me know.

resarsfield said:

Bambi is my sister. If anybody has ANY information, please let me know.

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Welcome to Ws resarsfield!
Glad you found this thread , but sorry for the circumstances that brought you here.

Hello resarfield and Welcome to WS

Bambi is a very beautifyl girl..

Do you feel as thou it was someone she knew ?

The Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Office held a press conference today regarding the reopening of Bambi’s case. They posted a live video of it on thier Facebook page. I’m not a big poster, so I am not sure if it is against the rules to post a direct link to Facebook or not.
I was made aware of this cold case through our local news station who aired a segment tonight on the 10 O’Clock news. (KALB News Channel 5) They streamed the press conference on FB as well. I pray this family finds some answers soon.

smileypace4 said:

The Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Office held a press conference today regarding the reopening of Bambi’s case. They posted a live video of it on thier Facebook page. I’m not a big poster, so I am not sure if it is against the rules to post a direct link to Facebook or not.
I was made aware of this cold case through our local news station who aired a segment tonight on the 10 O’Clock news. (KALB News Channel 5) They streamed the press conference on FB as well. I pray this family finds some answers soon.

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Links to FB pages made for missing people is fine. Official FB pages of LE, official FB tv news etc is also fine.

If you find that link again, please do post. Would love to see press conference and any updates. Thank you.

Family of missing woman asks for information as deputies try to get case info from police
June 15 2018
Bambi was one of five women, all white, all about the same age, all with blond hair, and all of whom disappeared in Leesville between 1980 and 1990. The four other women were all found deceased, but there’s never been any sign of Bambi.

There’s one other common factor pointed out by Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Department Investigator Rhonda Jordan, in four of the five cases, including the Bambi Brantley case, they disappeared from a convenience store.

On Friday Bambi’s sisters and a brother, along with nieces and nephews, all traveled from Tennessee, Georgia, and other states to gather at the Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Department with Sheriff Sam Craft. The sheriff and the family begged for anyone that has any information – regardless of how insignificant it may seem – to come forward and share that information with investigators.

According to Bambi’s surviving sisters, Randi Sarsfield and Vickie Jackson, she was a sheltered girl who had never lived anywhere but at home in Memphis. However, following a breakup with a boyfriend and needing a fresh start with greener pastures, she moved to Leesville to live with her older brother who was 38 at the time. They said the brother had been living in Leesville and enjoyed his life there, and when Bambi moved in with her brother she quickly landed a job at a car dealership and was very happy.

smileypace4 said:

The Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Office held a press conference today regarding the reopening of Bambi’s case. They posted a live video of it on thier Facebook page. I’m not a big poster, so I am not sure if it is against the rules to post a direct link to Facebook or not.
I was made aware of this cold case through our local news station who aired a segment tonight on the 10 O’Clock news. (KALB News Channel 5) They streamed the press conference on FB as well. I pray this family finds some answers soon.

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Thanks for the info!

Family speaks about reopened cold case

Bambi’s family came together Friday at the VPSO in Leesville to express their long standing grief, lack of closure and hope for answers in an official press conference.

The press conference began as Vernon Parish Sheriff Sam Craft spoke to the media. “Bambi Brantley was last seen on Oct. 22, 1986,” he said. “She is still considered a missing person.

SBM...much more at link

Today, VPSO Detectives are interested in speaking with anyone who lived in Tower Trailer Park, or anyone who knew Bambi or her brother in any way: a friend, acquaintance, colleague or a resident of Tower Trailer Park.

“We firmly believe that someone in our parish has information regarding Bambi’s disappearance,” Detective Jordan said.

VPSO is re-interviewing everyone who was mentioned in its original case file and has already conducted some interviews. They will be conducting more soon.

They will also be using a drone to conduct aerial surveying of various areas throughout the parish. Once they have the results form the drones, they will then be performing foot and grid searches.

From the vault: the Bambi Brantley Case