MO MO - Gina Brooks, 13, Fredericktown, 5 Aug 1989

[anthrobones]

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/172dfmo.html

Gina Dawn Brooks
Missing since August 5, 1989 from Fredericktown, Madison County, Missouri.
Classification: Non-Family Abduction


Vital Statistics Date Of Birth: November 28, 1975
Age at Time of Disappearance: 13 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'0; 108 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Dark blonde hair; green eyes.
Marks, Scars: Brooks has several small white-colored scars on her left shin.
Clothing: A blue striped top with white shorts and tennis shoes.
Circumstances of Disappearance
Brooks was last seen riding her bicycle in her hometown of Fredericktown, Missouri at approximately 10:00 PM on August 5, 1989. A light blue, gray or green station wagon with Missouri license plates was seen in her vicinity at the same time as a witness reported hearing a scream in the neighborhood. A vehicle was heard driving away from the scene shortly thereafter. Brooks' bicycle was found abandoned on High Street later in the evening. There has been no sign of her since that night.
Three men were implicated in Brooks' disappearance and possible murder in 1998. Nathan "Danny" Williams was charged with Brooks' murder in 1999. Investigators announced that Williams was identified by a witness to Brooks' abduction as the man sitting in the back of station wagon with her. The witness also identified Bryant Squires as the driver of the vehicle. Squires has since died of AIDS-related complications. Timothy R. Bellew, a friend of both Williams and Squires, was also implicated in Brooks' case. Bellew admitted that he lied to the Federal Bureau Of Investigation (FBI) about the location of Brooks' body. Bellew claimed her body was buried somewhere on his father's property, but investigators were unable to find her.
Authorities believe that Williams was the actual murderer of Brooks and Bellew and Squires attempted to help him cover up the crime. Williams pleaded not guilty to the charges in 1999. Brooks has yet to be found.

 

[scriptgirl]

This blows my mind-neither of the two living suspects are behind bars. I want to know why the evidence is not strong enough in this case for a conviction. Do you always have to have a body to put someone behind bars?

 

[hollye]

From August 5, 2010...

21st anniversary of the disappearance of Gina Dawn Brooks a 13-year-old girl

21st anniversary of the disappearance of Gina Dawn Brooks a 13-year-old girl - YouTube

 

[hollye]

Age progressed to 33yo

http://www.missingkids.com/missingk...NCMC&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US

 

[hollye]

23rd anniversary of disappearance of Gina Dawn Brooks

Posted: Aug 06, 2012 6:50 PM EDT
Updated: Aug 06, 2012 6:51 PM EDT

Several years ago, police made an arrest in the case, but charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence.

http://www.kfvs12.com/story/19209462/23rd-anniversary-of-disappearance-of-gina-dawn-brooks

 

[mikkismom]

24 years later: no breaks in Gina Dawn Brooks case

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...cle_aa88b8d9-88b4-5e87-9ceb-839f286bfec6.html

 

[scriptgirl]

they might not have killed her-they have sold her into prostitution.

 

[KateB]

Published today

[url]http://dailyjournalonline.com/news/local/missing-and-crimes/unsolved-missing/years-and-still-looking-for-answers/article_fb5a69e3-53d9-59cb-a2b2-f63833284ebc.html
[/URL]

Twenty five years have passed and there are still no answers to a local missing persons case that still holds a place in the minds of many.

Fredericktown Police Chief Eric Hovis said his department and the FBI still receive tips or leads on Gina Dawn Brooks, who was 14 at the time of her disappearance and was last seen on Aug. 5, 1989.

She has never been found. A suspect has never been found. While one was charged, those charges were later dropped.

“This is still an active case. We receive numerous leads and it’s mainly because it is a nationwide case,” said Hovis. “Leads come in constantly when someone is missing and until we can get closure, it will remain an active case.”

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.kfvs12.com/story/2621137...25-years-after-gina-dawn-brooks-disappearance

It was about 2 a.m. on August 6, 1989 when a terrified mother filed the report on her daughter. Gina hadn't been seen since the prior evening.

Brooks was last spotted riding her bike near a local church on August 5, 1989... Gina had been to ball game of her brother's, according to family and friends. They say she came home later as her brother was playing video games, and left again.

It was a typical August evening in the closet-knit town where people say they felt safe, secure, and comfortable in what they still call a quiet and loving community.

 

[scriptgirl]

That is so chilling that she yelled her boyfriend's name. that poor girl, taken on the highway. The weird thing is, there were witnesses who saw that car pursue her and no one intervened. But why was she out at 10 at night?

 

[SandraLynn]

That is so chilling that she yelled her boyfriend's name. that poor girl, taken on the highway. The weird thing is, there were witnesses who saw that car pursue her and no one intervened. But why was she out at 10 at night?

This is something I'm wondering about too. My 13 year old cousin is never out at that time. :thinking:

 

[Jbrown324320]

It was a summer night, most likely no school the next day. In one of the articles, they list her age as 14. My daughter sometimes would be outside at 10pm in the yard or biking home from a friends. It is not unusual for this age. Midnight is a little late. 10pm is not in my opinion

 

[scriptgirl]

I still would not let my kid, male or female out that late.

 

[KateB]

26 years and still looking for answers
August 05, 2015
http://dailyjournalonline.com/news/...cle_a8274527-8131-55fe-9206-5de7594c0762.html

Twenty six years have passed and there are still no answers to a local missing persons case that holds a place in the minds of many.

Two of the main investigators in the case, Fredericktown Police Captain Keith DeSpain and Madison County Sheriff David Lewis, have since retired, but the main FBI agent for the case is still in the region and is active on the case. Anytime the police department or the FBI receive new leads both departments work together to follow up on them.

More at link.

 

[tlcya]

probably unrelated but weirdness:

Cynthia Lou Wofford, 53, is charged with three counts of attempted child abduction kidnapping and assault third degree.

[...]

Police say Wofford drove a pickup onto grass Sunday afternoon in Ste. Genevieve, nearly hitting three girls, ages 12 and 13. She allegedly made bizarre comments to the girls, telling them among other things that she was looking for a girl who went missing in Fredericktown in 1989, a reference to Gina Dawn Brooks, who was never found.

[...]

According to police, Wofford also mentioned Gina Dawn Brooks during an interview with them.

http://www.kfvs12.com/story/30242940/perryville-mo-woman-accused-of-kidnapping-3-girls

more at link

 

[honesty]

Wow what a weird chain of events. The poor woman is obviously very sick and probably very misunderstood. My hope is that they are bringing in mental health professionals to try and unravel what it really is she is trying to explain. I am not giving her a all pass, but I feel like major mental illness is the problem here and there are many levels to her complex way of thinking. Her words "and you should be" are what make me think she is thinking on a complex, not simple level. Remember there is a fine line between genius and insanity.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Gina, 13, was abducted by two men in a station wagon as she rode her bike near her home in Fredericktown, Mo. A murder charge was filed against Nathan D. “Danny” Williams, a convicted child rapist, in 2003, but it was dropped for lack of evidence. Call Fredericktown police, 573-783-3660, with information.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...ion_f5d06308-324f-50cf-b202-08d004abdb6e.html

 

[PommyMommy]

Lead surfaces in Housman killing; deathbed confession to nurse could be breakthrough
This story was published in the Post-Dispatch on Nov. 20, 1997

A promising new lead, based on a deathbed confession to a nurse, has surfaced on the fourth anniversary of the torture and death of 9-year-old Angie Housman, the Post-Dispatch has learned.

The possible breakthrough is the result of statements made by Bryant Squires who, just before he died of cancer last year, told his nurse a sordid tale about his involvement in several killings, police sources said.

[...]

Investigators do not know the identity of Squires' alleged accomplice but are confident of finding out.

The accomplice could not have been Squires' close friend, Nathan D. "Danny" Williams, 37, because Williams was in prison at the time, serving a lengthy sentence for raping a child.

Williams also is awaiting trial in the slaying of a volunteer social worker in St. Louis in 1975, and he is the prime suspect in the disappearance in 1989 of 13-year-old Gina Dawn Brooks of Fredericktown.

Gina's body has never been found.

Squires told two nurses that he and Williams kidnapped Gina. He also said that Williams fatally stabbed the social worker, Laura Michele Dinwiddie, the source said. Williams was 14 at the time of that killing.

"Much of what the nurses have related from Squires has proven accurate and true," said the police source.

Squires, who also was suffering from complications of AIDS, died Sept. 18, 1996, in St. Louis at the age of 37. His nurses didn't immediately go to authorities because the stories he told were so horrible, they thought they couldn't be true, the source said.

[...]

You are not forgotten, Gina.
*** 30 years ***​

 

[neverletgo]

3 decades of silence: The disappearance of Gina Dawn Brooks
In August of 1989, a 13-year-old girl went missing. Her abduction has haunted investigators for 30 years, and is the biggest cold case in the region.
Posted on Mar 3, 2020

Snipped:

Finally, in 1998, nine years after Gina went missing, Nathan 'Danny' Williams was charged with her murder. Despain, Francis and Pappas had worked relentlessly on the case. It was Pappas who walked into Williams prison cell and personally served him with the murder warrant.

"He wasn't surprised," Pappas said. "He knew I was coming for him again. He couldn't believe all the goods we had on him. He was like, 'How did you get all this?'"

But the wheels of justice move slowly. Williams pleaded not guilty. Then in 2003, the murder charge was was dropped for fear of the possibility double jeopardy.

Link: 3 decades of silence: The disappearance of Gina Dawn Brooks

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Bumping up for Gina. She is not forgotten.
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)