SC SC - Brian 'Neil' Hooks, 21, Florence, 24 Sept 1988

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Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
• Missing Since: September 24, 1988 from Florence, South Carolina
• Classification: Endangered Missing
• Date of Birth: November 28, 1966
• Age: 21 years old
• Height and Weight: 5'7, 140 pounds
• Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian male. Sandy brown hair, blue eyes. Hooks may go by his middle name, Neil. He has a scar on his left wrist and a tattoo of a cross on his shoulder. His front teeth were decaying in 1988.
• Clothing/Jewelry Description: Possibly blue jeans and a t-shirt.

Details of Disappearance
Hooks was last seen in Florence, South Carolina on September 24, 1988. He visited his parents and said he and his live-in boyfriend were going to the beach for the weekend and he'd call when he got back. It's unclear whether he actually left town. When Hooks didn't call his parents like he said, his sister called his house and spoke to Hooks's boyfriend. The boyfriend said Hooks had "run off" without saying where he was going. Hooks has never been heard from again, and his parents reported him missing after weeks passed without contact.

It's uncharacteristic of Hooks to leave without warning. He frequented the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina area in 1988. Foul play is suspected in his disappearance; his family believes he's deceased.

Family continues search for Florence man missing for 28 years

His cousin, Darren Hooks, also remembers that night well. In fact, he saw Neal out that night at a club.

Their last conversation still haunts him to this day.

“My new roommate and I were out at Offshore Drilling Company and we were having fun and Neal asked if he could go home with me and I thought, ‘I just got a new roommate, I’m not unpacked, there’s really not anywhere for you to sleep,’” Hooks said. “Neal never said to me that he thought he was in danger or that they were arguing. Later that night, my roommate told me he said, ‘Did he tell you he was scared?’ I said, ‘No, he didn’t tell me that.’ He said, ‘He told me he was scared, that he thought Sam was going to hurt him.’”

That was September 1988. Since then, there has not been a trace of Neal.

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A WMBF News reporter tried to call Neal’s former boyfriend, who still lives in the area, to see if he would answer questions about the last time he saw the missing Florence man and whether he knows anything about his whereabouts.

Sam would not agree to a taped phone interview and only said, repeatedly, ”I don’t know nothing about it”

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It’s still open, but the leads have run dry and no one has been charged with Neal's disappearance.

His family still believes someone out there knows something, and that even after so many years their conscience will get the best of them and they’ll come forward. That would remove a weight from themselves and from Neal’s family, who now more than ever just want to solve this mystery and finally put it behind them. >>>

“I miss him,” Amy Turner, Hooks’ sister said. “It’s been so hard fighting and can’t get anything done. It seems like they just pushed it under the rug and left it alone.”

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Florence family looks for closure in missing man's case - September 2011

Finding Brian Neil Hooks Facebook Page

The image on the left was taken circa 1988. The image on the right is age-progressed to an unknown age.

Name: Brian Neil Hooks
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: September 24, 1988
Location Last Seen: Florence, Florence County, South Carolina

Physical Description
Date of Birth: November 28, 1966
Age: 21 years old
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 138 - 140 lbs.
Hair Color: Sandy
Eye Color: Blue
Nickname/Alias: Neil
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Scar on his left wrist and a tattoo of a cross on his left shoulder.

Identifiers
Dentals: Available, front teeth decaying.
Fingerprints: Not Available
DNA: Available

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Possibly wearing a t-shirt and blue jeans.
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Circumstances of Disappearance
Hooks told family members that he and his live-in partner were planning to go to the beach for the weekend and he would call when he returned home. It is not confirmed that he left the area.

Hooks' cousin saw him at a club that night. Hooks asked his cousin if he could go home with him. His cousin, who just moved, said he wasn't unpacked and there wasn't anywhere for him to sleep. Later that night, the roommate of the cousin told him that Hooks was scared and thought that his boyfriend was going to hurt him.

His family became concerned when he didn't call the next week. His sister called his house and asked to speak to him, but a roommate said there was nobody there by the name of Neil and hung up on her. She called back, and asked to speak to Hooks' boyfriend. She said he told her Hooks had "run off" without telling anybody where he was going. His family said that Brian and his live-in partner's relationship was troubled. Although Hooks' boyfriend has claimed to know nothing about his whereabouts, he is considered a person of interest in the case.

Hooks was not known to go long periods without family contact. After several weeks without hearing from him the family contacted police.

He was known to hang around the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina area. In 2003, sheriff's investigators received information indicating his remains might be buried in an area near Willow Creek Road, which is where he last lived. Investigators searched and excavated the area but found no remains. Foul play is suspected.

Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: Florence County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: (843)-665-2121 ext.434
Agency E-Mail: wes@fcso.org
Agency Case Number: 1988100027
NCIC Case Number: Unknown
NamUs Case Number: 11759

Information Source(s)
NamUs
SCNow
WMBF News
Family Member
803DMSC - Brian Neil Hooks

Poor guy. It's easy to forget that men can live in fear of their partners, too.

Bump

I don't want to be prejudiced but generally when homosexuals discover something of infidelity they are very violent, their part of manliness comes out and maybe the boyfriend found him in something strange or he would think so... but I think he is dead or living with another person and another identity but it is very unlikely..
rest in peace

On the Facebook page linked above his sister discloses that Sam, the partner, had been convicted of murder in 1976 and was also convicted of attempted murder in 1992, 4 years after the disappearance. It would seem very unlikely that Brian would have been unlucky enough to come across a different murderer.

Bump

I wonder why he told his cousin's roommate (presumably a perfect stranger) he was afraid to go home but not his cousin? I suppose sometimes it's easier to talk to a stranger...

According to his sister's facebook page when she called his apartment a stranger answered at first. Looks like the boyfriend "Sam" had already moved someone in in just a few weeks. And how strange that he never even called any of the family to ask where Neil was, just assuming he had "run off" without bothering to check in with them.

In the below article his sister states how Sam was obsessed with Neil and wouldn't let him out of his sight. If Neil went out to party without him, I can see how a jealous and angry Sam could have exploded with rage.

This is sad and it looks almost 100% that his boyfriend of the time, who had murdered before and went on to attempt to murder again, is the guilty party. Even LE believe so. They just need the evidence.

I'm certain Neil is buried on Willow Creek Road where LE recieved that tip that he was. I think they just need to do a more thorough search. It is a long road with alot of woods and fields so I wonder in which bit he lived.