Brooke Elaine Hill, born July 17, 1980, was just 16 years old when she was last seen on June 5, 1997. Her disappearance was reported to the Indiana State Police, Putnamville District 53. I knew Brooke growing up, and she had a bright spirit, she was full of strength which made people gravitate toward her. Beneath that light, though, she carried fear. Her stepfather was abusive, and she was terrified of him, she often stayed at friends houses due to fear of her stepfather. At one point, she ran away to Florida to be with her boyfriend, hoping for safety and some sense of peace. Her mother, Sally, filed a police report, and Brooke was eventually found and brought home about a year before she disappeared for good. I don’t think she ran away I think something happened to her, something bad. When she disappeared in 97” she didn’t take anything with her, not her car, not anything. Brooke not taking her car makes me question why? if she so called “ran away” why wouldn’t she take her vehicle to get far away from that town. What has always felt unsettling is how little was shared publicly after she went missing, it’s as if her family didn’t want her found. Not long after Brooke vanished, her stepfather even turned her bedroom into a bar, a detail that has never sat right and only deepens the questions surrounding what really happened.
