TX TX - Brandi Wells, 23, Longview, 2 Aug 2006

[Samaritan]

The local police don't work the interstate and when DPS finds a broken down car, they sticker it and move along. I believe they won't tow it for 48 hours. That's a huge chunk of time.

 

[somequestions]

The local police don't work the interstate and when DPS finds a broken down car, they sticker it and move along. I believe they won't tow it for 48 hours. That's a huge chunk of time.

It is strange to me that Brandi Wells car was ever on the interstate to begin with.

If she had been abducted by the time the car was left on the side of the road, which most people tend to believe because of the driver's seat position being pushed back when the car was found, then where was her abductor taking her? I like to pose my theory in the form of questions.

1. Why did the abductor get on the interstate during the early morning hours of August 3, 2006?

2. Maybe abductor was not from Longview, TX, and was heading back to whatever town they were from?

But the abductor seems to have to be local. The reason is that when the car stops, for whatever reason, what does he do with his victim? Does he ask someone else to pick them up from the side of the interstate and drive them out of Longview, TX?!

But then why did the abductor get on the interstate?! If you are local to an area and it is 12:30, 1 am in the morning with little to no traffic and you are from Longview, TX why would you get on the interstate to travel, especially when you consider the direction of travel from where Brandi Wells cell phone was eventually found.

So then I think to myself that it had to be that Brandi Wells got onto the interstate by herself, the car ran out of gas, and someone hopped into her driver's seat to help her get the car off the side of the interstate.

But that theory does not work either because of the cell phone location in Longview, TX. And since Brandi's cell phone was not found in Brandi's car, then it had to either still be on her when the car stopped alongside the interstate or it was already discarded earlier.

In my opinion, the questions surrounding this missing person's case are confusing.

 

[Dnp2be]

I almost wonder if she even made it out of the parking lot that evening. So many different things could have happened. Perhaps she was sexually assaulted or someone attempted and unfortunately ended with her demise. It’s plausible that happened before the car even left the area or got on the interstate. Maybe the car was moved to delay any police involvement or maybe the perp didn’t have his own mode of transportation there and took the car to a close enough point where he could get help with covering up what happened. I really wish something new would break this case so that her family can get some closure. They deserve it and she deserves a proper resting place.

 

[somequestions]

I almost wonder if she even made it out of the parking lot that evening. So many different things could have happened. Perhaps she was sexually assaulted or someone attempted and unfortunately ended with her demise. It’s plausible that happened before the car even left the area or got on the interstate. Maybe the car was moved to delay any police involvement or maybe the perp didn’t have his own mode of transportation there and took the car to a close enough point where he could get help with covering up what happened. I really wish something new would break this case so that her family can get some closure. They deserve it and she deserves a proper resting place.

In terms of directions that is why Brandi Wells car being found where it was on the interstate is so strange.

If she was indeed abducted from the parking lot of Graham Central station club, the abductor must have taken a round about way home. How do we know this? Try and follow my directional thinking.

Brandi Well's cell phone was found southeast of the club in a residential area of Longview. Then the car travels south to get onto Interstate 20. The car heads west on Interstate 20 back towards Tyler, Texas. By the time you get to the place on I-20 where her car was found you are on the outskirts of Longview, Texas going to wherever. But if it was Kilgore, Texas the abductor was headed to, then I think the abductor would have gone straight south from the club. So it does not make any sense unless the abductor is lost and likes to go in circles.

I know there is the argument that the cell phone could have been placed later or that where it was found was to throw everyone off track, but I do not understand why any abductor would be afraid of getting rid of a cell phone right away at 1 am in the morning with no one around. And why would any abductor try to throw people off track if they have no idea where there victims lives in the first place.

So my question is this: Based on the location of Brandi Well's cell phone and the directional travel of the car, do you think the abductor lives in Longview, Texas?

 

[somequestions]

The name of this episode of the show Disappeared is called "The End of Innocence". I think this episode probably has the saddest ending over the last few minutes. What is said about missing person's posters and still pictures and video is something I think you can relate to so many missing person's cases that remain unsolved. It is too bad this case does not have any sort of ending as Brandi Wells case continues to remain unsolved.

The whole case is strange. A woman needs money for gas after going to a nightclub and then disappears. Yet most women her age have a credit card?

So if she was not abducted in the club parking lot, then the theory goes that she was probably abducted at or near some gas station, But most gas stations are on main roads. And it was night so seeing someone in a car to presumably carjack them would be difficult. If it was a carjacking then it must have been the unluckiest carjacker in the world to abduct a victim in a car that is low on gas who obviously can prove they do not have any money. All they would have to do is look in her purse.

And then finally there is the separation of Brandi Well's cell phone and her car. The cell phone was found inside of Longview, Texas. The car was found along Interstate 20 heading out of Longview, Texas. Yet the abductor knew the cell phone that was left in the car did not belong to Brandi Wells and did not need to be discarded yet it very well could have been used to track too. Even the police thought the cell phone they found in the car was Brandi's. Maybe the abductor did not see that cell phone?

In cases like this where there does not seem to be any evidence, all you are left with is questions.

 

[marsyao]

And why she went to that club at first place ? She was not familiar with that club, she had to call the club several times for direction, that club was far from her home and she ought to know she did not have enough gas and she did not have money to buy gas. Sound to me she went to that club for some purpose, maybe she want to meet someone? if so looks like she did not have that person's number, maybe that person told her "I always go to that club" ? when she did not find that person in the club, she had to ask other patrons for gas money

 

[lonewanderer]

He was Brandi's previous boyfriend who was overseas when she went missing. He broke up with Brandi while stationed there. He had left his phone with her when deployed as they were not allowed at that time to take them with them overseas. That may be different today but back then they couldn't.

This has always been a really strange detail to me. Why would you give your phone to your ex-girlfriend while you were on deployment? If you did give her your phone (for some super strange reason) why did she have it in her purse with her (seemingly) at all times? I still have yet to come to a logical conclusion.

Different army units have different rules and standards, but in 2008, 09, and 10 when I was in Iraq, there was no rule against taking them. This was also 06 and most of the phones where probably flip phones with no GPS, not smart phones, or not phones that had geo-caching and social media capabilities.

Anyways....it was always really weird to me why she had it in the first place, and why it seemed to go with her everywhere.

I also thought it was very strange that her ex-boyfriend was a soldier at the time she disappeared and the address that was traced back to the job application using her SSN belonged to a man who had retired from the army.

 

[somequestions]

This has always been a really strange detail to me. Why would you give your phone to your ex-girlfriend while you were on deployment? If you did give her your phone (for some super strange reason) why did she have it in her purse with her (seemingly) at all times? I still have yet to come to a logical conclusion.

Different army units have different rules and standards, but in 2008, 09, and 10 when I was in Iraq, there was no rule against taking them. This was also 06 and most of the phones where probably flip phones with no GPS, not smart phones, or not phones that had geo-caching and social media capabilities.

Anyways....it was always really weird to me why she had it in the first place, and why it seemed to go with her everywhere.

I also thought it was very strange that her ex-boyfriend was a soldier at the time she disappeared and the address that was traced back to the job application using her SSN belonged to a man who had retired from the army.

When you look at everything as a whole, the cell phone found location is strange.

We know based on the phone data presented that Brandi Well's phone was not used for a period of time before someone found it and then started using it to make calls. But why did the abductor get rid of Brandi's phone, but not her boyfriend's? Maybe the abductor did not see the boyfriend's phone?

If the idea was to stage Brandi's car alongside the highway and leave it there, then shouldn't both phones have been found in the car? What is the point of tossing Brandi's phone if a few minutes later the car is going to be left alongside the interstate with most of her stuff in it anyway? I could even understand if the cell phone had never been found because maybe it was on Brandi in her pockets.

Or what happened was Brandi drove onto the interstate herself before her car broke down and she was abducted along with her cell phone. But because of the cell phone's location being before the interstate entrance coming from the north where the club was within Longview, Texas, then whoever it was abducted Brandi Wells and drove back over in the area where the cell phone was eventually found and tossed it out then after she was abducted.

That is the other strange aspect of the case. Most people on the interstate are going somewhere. In this case Brandi Well's car was found on the westbound side of the interstate yet her cell phone ended up being found east of where the car was parked alongside the interstate. So the abductor just decided to change their travel plans?

Even the timing of the cell phone location is strange. If a person abducts another and is worried about cell phone tracking, wouldn't they get rid of the cell phone immediately? So if Brandi Wells were abducted at the club in Longview, Texas, wouldn't you expect her cell phone to be found somewhere near the club or near the car where it was parked alongside the interstate? Yet it was found away from the club in a completely different part of town between those two points.

So the locations and timing in this case are strange.

 

[lonewanderer]

What a tragic case, and close to home for me as it is within 45 or so miles of where I live. It's just so hard to believe someone can just disappear into thin air like that. Sadly, it seems that it happens every day.

I do wonder what she was doing 50-60 miles from home, with no money and no gas in her car, she was allegedly going to a pawn shop for money (?), and then go to a night club... with no money? Sorry, this all just makes me go Hmmmm.

So I wonder if she went there to meet someone. Surely they checked her cell phone records. Surely they did ....:scared:

So my question, why would she venture that far from home, alone, with no money, no means, etc. It just doesn't make any sense to me, unless she had purpose and reason to be meeting up with someone. So who was that someone? Maybe therein lies the answer.

Btw, is it just a mystery, or do we know what happened to lead them to re-open the case? Hopefully some kind of solid lead.

And why she went to that club at first place ? She was not familiar with that club, she had to call the club several times for direction, that club was far from her home and she ought to know she did not have enough gas and she did not have money to buy gas. Sound to me she went to that club for some purpose, maybe she want to meet someone? if so looks like she did not have that person's number, maybe that person told her "I always go to that club" ? when she did not find that person in the club, she had to ask other patrons for gas money

A strange thought popped into my head about all of this.

Could Brandi have wanted to go to that particular club to confront someone? Maybe a female? Maybe just to spy on them?

She did have her ex-boyfriend's phone in her possession (seemingly always) and it makes me wonder if she went through the phone some time after he left, and found out that he had been communicating with a bartender there, a frequent patron, etc.

She was a young woman, and young men and women do strange things out of love and jealousy.

Separate note:

Is it possibly that Brandi's car was flat out stolen? She could have walked out to the parking lot and saw that it was gone, and realized she didn't have her keys (or vice versa etc).

If someone stole her car, they could have drove it to where it was and thought "what the hell, its almost out of gas" and just ditched it.

Brandi could have caught a ride with someone else and/or have been abducted, leading to her phone being found in the odd place it was.

Pure amateur speculation and just brainstorming ideas.

 

[somequestions]

A strange thought popped into my head about all of this.

Could Brandi have wanted to go to that particular club to confront someone? Maybe a female? Maybe just to spy on them?

She did have her ex-boyfriend's phone in her possession (seemingly always) and it makes me wonder if she went through the phone some time after he left, and found out that he had been communicating with a bartender there, a frequent patron, etc.

She was a young woman, and young men and women do strange things out of love and jealousy.

Separate note:

Is it possibly that Brandi's car was flat out stolen? She could have walked out to the parking lot and saw that it was gone, and realized she didn't have her keys (or vice versa etc).

If someone stole her car, they could have drove it to where it was and thought "what the hell, its almost out of gas" and just ditched it.

Brandi could have caught a ride with someone else and/or have been abducted, leading to her phone being found in the odd place it was.

Pure amateur speculation and just brainstorming ideas.

It is hard to conclude what happened in this case. But based on the idea that most criminals would want to get rid of the cell phone of a victim so as not to be tracked or the victim call police, I can come up with two main scenarios.

1. Some point after leaving the club, either in the parking lot or after Brandi left in her car she was abducted. But the abduction probably had to happen before the point where her cell phone was found in Longview, TX. At this point after taking Brandi wherever, the abductor then drove Brandi's car onto the interstate and left it alongside the highway where it was later found. Maybe the abductor had an accomplice so one could drive the car and after parking and pushing it off the side of the highway, got into their friend's car to leave the scene.

2. Brandi made it onto the interstate and her car either broke down or ran out of gas. At some point another person stopped to help her and after helping her push her car off the road, they abducted her from the side of the interstate. Normally this theory would be the one that would make the most sense considering Brandi's car was low on gas and anyplace you walk from the location where it was found would be a good distance walk. But her car was found in the westbound lanes. This is important because the cell phone was found, in terms of direction, behind the direction of the car. If Brandi's cell phone had been found further westbound down the interstate this would probably make the most sense.

I have even thought, despite it making no sense, that maybe Brandi Wells disappeared on her own. But it would take one heck of a good plan to pull this off. If you see the location of where her car was found, it would have been a quite a walk anywhere from that point. Not only that but she would have been walking at 12:40- 1 am in the early morning of August 3, 2006. Plus she had no money. So that does not make any sense either.

The show, Disappeared, really picked the right case for its first episode. The episode is called "The End of Innocence". Everything about this case is emblematic of all missing person's cases as a whole. There are missing person's cases where it is thought the victim is probably dead, but the body just has not been found. There are missing person's cases where the victim is young and it is thought they could be part of human trafficking. And there are missing person's cases where the victim chooses to disappear on their own. There is even a video of Brandi Well's leaving the nightclub the night she disappeared.

What the detective says about a missing person's lifestyle, what the godmother says about missing person's posters and keeping the story alive, and what her mother says about no leads over time is so emblematic of so many missing person's cases. And like so many missing person's cases it is a complete mystery as to what happened to Brandi Wells.

 

[swedeheart]

Skeletal remains found behind Longview motel by tree-clearing crew | KETK.com | FOX51.com

 

[somequestions]

Skeletal remains found behind Longview motel by tree-clearing crew | KETK.com | FOX51.com

Maybe Brandi Wells has finally been found? It looks like an interesting lead with the skeletal remains being found behind a motel. Maybe someone travelling through Longview picked her up when her car ran out of gas along the interstate and took her to the motel so she could make a phone call(that she never got to make). Instead she was murdered, and then left behind the motel.

This Disappeared episode about her case certainly has one of the saddest endings. I think it is because her case is so emblematic of missing persons cases as a whole. Hopefully there are answers in this case.

 

[nannymo]

Just came to post this....hopefully someone will get answers soon!

 

[lonewanderer]

Maybe Brandi Wells has finally been found? It looks like an interesting lead with the skeletal remains being found behind a motel. Maybe someone travelling through Longview picked her up when her car ran out of gas along the interstate and took her to the motel so she could make a phone call(that she never got to make). Instead she was murdered, and then left behind the motel.

This Disappeared episode about her case certainly has one of the saddest endings. I think it is because her case is so emblematic of missing persons cases as a whole. Hopefully there are answers in this case.

Good thinking, but her car was not out of gas. The security fob for underneath the wheel was missing though, and that's why the car wouldn't start. (I had one of these fobs on a car I drove, its similar to a USB stick)

I also don't think she would behind her purse, ID, and many other items if she went with someone willingly.

Part of me wonders if the fob fell out of its place (though not super easy to do) while she was parked off the side of the road like that for whatever reason, and her seat was scooted way back because she was looking for it inside the vehicle. STILL theres a lot that doesn't add up for that too, if she was looking for someone to give her a ride.

I also find it mighty interesting that her SSN was used somewhere many years later, and the address that was given just happened to match a former Army soldier. Her kinda-ex boyfriend at the time (the one she was carrying his phone around) was a soldier during the time that Brani dissapeared. This also makes me wonder if she was carrying around his phone because she found something in it after looking through it, and was going where she was going initially to spy on that person, or to confront them.

Ughgh, this one is tough. Hopefully we will all have answers soon.

 

[somequestions]

Good thinking, but her car was not out of gas. The security fob for underneath the wheel was missing though, and that's why the car wouldn't start. (I had one of these fobs on a car I drove, its similar to a USB stick)

I also don't think she would behind her purse, ID, and many other items if she went with someone willingly.

Part of me wonders if the fob fell out of its place (though not super easy to do) while she was parked off the side of the road like that for whatever reason, and her seat was scooted way back because she was looking for it inside the vehicle. STILL theres a lot that doesn't add up for that too, if she was looking for someone to give her a ride.

I also find it mighty interesting that her SSN was used somewhere many years later, and the address that was given just happened to match a former Army soldier. Her kinda-ex boyfriend at the time (the one she was carrying his phone around) was a soldier during the time that Brani dissapeared. This also makes me wonder if she was carrying around his phone because she found something in it after looking through it, and was going where she was going initially to spy on that person, or to confront them.

Ughgh, this one is tough. Hopefully we will all have answers soon.

I did not know any of the information about why her car did not start. My only real information about the case came from the Disappeared episode about it. I agree that changes my opinion about the car being out of gas.

 

[lonewanderer]

I did not know any of the information about why her car did not start. My only real information about the case came from the Disappeared episode about it. I agree that changes my opinion about the car being out of gas.

Trace Evidence Podcast does a very detailed narration of many of the aspects of her case. The car and gas (and its conflicting reports about the gas can), her deployed ex-boyfriends phone in her car, where her phone was later found, her life leading up to that point etc.

I haven't see the Disappeared episode, so I can't compare.

 

[somequestions]

Trace Evidence Podcast does a very detailed narration of many of the aspects of her case. The car and gas (and its conflicting reports about the gas can), her deployed ex-boyfriends phone in her car, where her phone was later found, her life leading up to that point etc.

I haven't see the Disappeared episode, so I can't compare.

Thanks for the information. The Disappeared episode is called "The End of Innocence". It has some good information like where Brandi Well's car was found along the interstate. It was a little confusing at first, but I figured out the correct spot along the interstate. From what I read this was the first episode of Disappeared from December 2009. It was not the first episode that I saw, but the first one of this television show. I used to watch this show all the time. It is kind of sad how many missing people there are who just vanish without a trace.

Some of the episodes have a conclusion, but as you probably already know, Brandi Well's story does not, and still does not all these years later. Like so many missing person's cases, we wait for the day when there is a conclusion.

 

[lonewanderer]

Thanks for the information. The Disappeared episode is called "The End of Innocence". It has some good information like where Brandi Well's car was found along the interstate. It was a little confusing at first, but I figured out the correct spot along the interstate. From what I read this was the first episode of Disappeared from December 2009. It was not the first episode that I saw, but the first one of this television show. I used to watch this show all the time. It is kind of sad how many missing people there are who just vanish without a trace.

Some of the episodes have a conclusion, but as you probably already know, Brandi Well's story does not, and still does not all these years later. Like so many missing person's cases, we wait for the day when there is a conclusion.

Do you remember and episode with Ginny Wood and Kelly Gaskins?

Ginny drove down to Mexico to see Kelly and her boyfriend, Ervin Williams.

All three of them disappeared.

I walked the same stage with Ginny and Kelly to graduate from Southside High School in 2006. I was in the same classes as them for many periods throughout high school.

 

[somequestions]

Do you remember and episode with Ginny Wood and Kelly Gaskins?

Ginny drove down to Mexico to see Kelly and her boyfriend, Ervin Williams.

All three of them disappeared.

I walked the same stage with Ginny and Kelly to graduate from Southside High School in 2006. I was in the same classes as them for many periods throughout high school.

Sometimes I remember certain cases better than others, but I do not think I remember that one. I remember there was a case where some people went out sailing around Mexico and disappeared? I thought that case involved a former NBA player, but I cannot remember if it happened around Mexico. But you did not write anything about sailing. There was a period where Disappeared stopped making episodes and only made specials. I stopped watching the show at that point around early 2016 because I thought it was off the air already or close to it. If it was a case that was filmed for an episode later than the first part of 2016, then I probably have not seen it. But if I get a chance I will probably look it up now and watch it.

Any of the early Disappeared episodes I have probably seen, but may not remember. I think our minds remember the ones that stand out. Molly Bish, Maura Murray, Brandi Wells, Kelly Nash are some cases that stand out in my mind. I probably should have wrote that I used to watch the show Disappeared all the time, up until early 2016 anyway. I think the show changed a little and was not as interesting as before. I do not even think they make episodes of Disappeared anymore, but I could be wrong.

I guess crime has links to everyone, even members here.

 

[Dnp2be]

Do you remember and episode with Ginny Wood and Kelly Gaskins?

Ginny drove down to Mexico to see Kelly and her boyfriend, Ervin Williams.

All three of them disappeared.

I walked the same stage with Ginny and Kelly to graduate from Southside High School in 2006. I was in the same classes as them for many periods throughout high school.

I remember that episode. That episode is upsetting because I feel like since it was in Mexico, the family may never have resolution. If I recall correctly the boyfriend and Kelly were heard from months after anyone heard from Ginny again, correct? I could be wrong. I'm curious as to your perspective on what happened since you personally know the girls and know more of their personalities. But Maybe that's gotta be taken over to their thread. I've been here a little while but I'm not so great with rules sometimes lol. Anyway I think a persons personality makes a huge difference when considering scenarios and can def change someone's perspective.