WEBVTT - Hell and Gone Murder Line: Cassie Compton 0:00:08.245 --> 0:00:13.845 School of Humans talkably Havel Catherine looking to the disappearance 0:00:13.885 --> 0:00:18.045 of Patsy Thompson in the city of Stuttgard, Arkansas, about 0:00:18.045 --> 0:00:19.565 ten years ago. They could. 0:00:22.685 --> 0:00:26.885 On the evening of Sunday, September fourteenth, twenty fourteen, fifteen 0:00:26.965 --> 0:00:29.485 year old Cassie K Compton went out for a pack 0:00:29.525 --> 0:00:31.965 of cigarettes down the road from her house in Stuttgart, 0:00:32.085 --> 0:00:37.445 Arkansas and never came home. At least that's the official story. 0:00:37.485 --> 0:00:40.045 This is one of those Arkansas cold cases that have 0:00:40.125 --> 0:00:43.285 become legendary, one of those stories that have been covered 0:00:43.325 --> 0:00:46.765 tons of times, and yet almost ten years later, we 0:00:46.885 --> 0:00:50.245 have no arrests and no answers. We do know a 0:00:50.285 --> 0:00:53.405 few things for sure. Cassie had been spending the weekend 0:00:53.445 --> 0:00:56.045 with a male friend of hers named Hunter. They went 0:00:56.085 --> 0:00:58.885 with his family to an auto demolition Derby and de Witt, 0:00:58.885 --> 0:01:01.645 which is about forty miles away. They had a great 0:01:01.685 --> 0:01:04.885 time hanging out, and then Cassie went back to Hunter's 0:01:04.925 --> 0:01:08.445 house and slept up there on Saturday night. Tracy Snyder, 0:01:08.565 --> 0:01:10.965 Hunter's mother, has said that this was not out of 0:01:11.005 --> 0:01:14.405 the ordinary. In fact, Cassie spent a lot of time 0:01:14.445 --> 0:01:18.165 at their house because Tracy said things were chaotic at 0:01:18.205 --> 0:01:21.805 Cassie's house. Tracy said that her house had become a 0:01:21.885 --> 0:01:26.085 sort of refuge for Cassie. Hunter drove Cassie home on 0:01:26.165 --> 0:01:30.205 Sunday evening. Shortly after that, Cassie texted Hunter to say 0:01:30.245 --> 0:01:33.965 she was going out to get some cigarettes. Then Cassie, 0:01:34.485 --> 0:01:37.565 who was described in her missing posters as petite, around 0:01:37.645 --> 0:01:40.805 five foot three, weighing around one hundred pounds, with blue 0:01:40.805 --> 0:01:44.485 eyes and blonde hair, apparently walked down the road and 0:01:44.605 --> 0:01:50.005 never came back. I have found a lot of new 0:01:50.045 --> 0:01:53.685 information about a murder for higher plot, a man posing 0:01:53.725 --> 0:01:57.165 as a woman, sex crimes, and cover ups that made 0:01:57.165 --> 0:02:00.165 me see the police's main person of interest in a 0:02:00.205 --> 0:02:05.205 whole new light. What really happened to Cassie Compton and 0:02:05.325 --> 0:02:07.205 what was she running from at home? 0:02:10.285 --> 0:02:11.365 I'm Catherine Townsend. 0:02:11.765 --> 0:02:13.565 If you have a case you'd like me and my 0:02:13.605 --> 0:02:15.845 team to look into, you can reach out to us 0:02:15.885 --> 0:02:18.245 at our Helen Gone Murder line at six seven eight 0:02:18.485 --> 0:02:21.645 seven four four six one four or five. That's six 0:02:21.725 --> 0:02:24.805 seven eight seven four four six one four or five. 0:02:25.605 --> 0:03:03.245 This is Helen Gone Murder Line. So we need to 0:03:03.285 --> 0:03:05.925 take a step back to understand what was going on 0:03:06.045 --> 0:03:07.925 in Cassie Compton's life. 0:03:08.005 --> 0:03:08.565 Cassie K. 0:03:08.805 --> 0:03:13.325 Compton was born in Oklahoma. After her mother, Judy Compton Kimsey, 0:03:13.565 --> 0:03:17.445 was divorced from Cassie's father, Roy in two thousand, Cassie 0:03:17.445 --> 0:03:20.045 and her mother moved from Oklahoma back to Arkansas. 0:03:21.005 --> 0:03:22.765 And there's no way to sugarcoat this. 0:03:23.405 --> 0:03:27.405 Both Cassie's mother, Judy and her father, Roy were registered 0:03:27.445 --> 0:03:31.005 sex offenders, though Judy's name had been removed from that 0:03:31.085 --> 0:03:34.445 list after fifteen years of good behavior. We're going to 0:03:34.525 --> 0:03:37.645 get more into those charges later, but for now, we'll 0:03:37.685 --> 0:03:40.965 say that Roy was convicted of inappropriate sexual contact with 0:03:41.045 --> 0:03:44.405 a miner, ludacts with a child, and indecent proposals to 0:03:44.445 --> 0:03:49.245 a miner back in Oklahoma. According to multiple sources, that 0:03:49.405 --> 0:03:53.045 miner was Judy's older daughter from a previous marriage, so 0:03:53.485 --> 0:03:57.125 his own stepdaughter. Roy was sentenced to twenty three years 0:03:57.165 --> 0:04:01.245 in prison for that abuse. In Stuttgart, Cassie was homeschooled 0:04:01.285 --> 0:04:04.325 and working to get her ged. Her friend said she 0:04:04.445 --> 0:04:07.565 was kind and funny, except when she was troubled, which 0:04:07.605 --> 0:04:10.565 had become a little more frequent in the time period 0:04:10.605 --> 0:04:14.405 before she disappeared. Her friend said when she was troubled 0:04:14.405 --> 0:04:17.445 she could get a little quiet. There was someone else 0:04:17.445 --> 0:04:21.325 in the home, Judy's fiance, twenty four year old Brandon 0:04:21.405 --> 0:04:24.205 Lee Rhodes. Now a lot of people pointed out that 0:04:24.245 --> 0:04:27.725 the age difference between Brandon and Cassie was actually less 0:04:27.765 --> 0:04:30.765 than it was between Brandon and Judy, who was forty two. 0:04:31.765 --> 0:04:34.725 As we said, that weekend, Cassie had been spending time 0:04:34.845 --> 0:04:38.845 with Hunter Snyder and his family. On Saturday, September thirteenth, 0:04:39.085 --> 0:04:41.805 Hunter's mom, Tracy, said her son had picked Cassie up 0:04:41.805 --> 0:04:43.645 at her house at around one pm. 0:04:44.005 --> 0:04:44.485 That night. 0:04:44.565 --> 0:04:47.045 They all went out to the Auto Derby. They had fun, 0:04:47.125 --> 0:04:49.525 and then Cassie spent the night at the Snyder house. 0:04:50.125 --> 0:04:53.645 The next day, September fourteenth, Cassie hung out at Hunter's. 0:04:54.125 --> 0:04:57.725 They had brunch with his family, then later Hunter drove 0:04:57.765 --> 0:05:01.485 Cassie home. Hunter and Cassie left his house at around 0:05:01.525 --> 0:05:04.605 six oh five pm. Her house was around a fifteen 0:05:04.725 --> 0:05:07.285 or twenty minute drive away, so that would put them 0:05:07.285 --> 0:05:10.565 there at Cassie's house between six twenty and six twenty 0:05:10.565 --> 0:05:15.805 five pm. According to Tracy, when Hunter and Cassie pulled 0:05:15.885 --> 0:05:17.885 up to the house and Cassie got out of the car, 0:05:18.365 --> 0:05:22.005 Hunter said that he saw Brandon Rhodes outside, but he 0:05:22.045 --> 0:05:25.045 said he did not see Brandon speak to Cassie. The 0:05:25.165 --> 0:05:28.005 last thing he saw was Cassie walking up the driveway 0:05:28.125 --> 0:05:31.285 straight into the house. Hunter got home at around six 0:05:31.365 --> 0:05:35.365 forty five pm. According to his mom, Cassie sent a 0:05:35.405 --> 0:05:38.605 text to Hunter at around seven or seven fifteen pm, 0:05:38.725 --> 0:05:41.005 saying she was going out to get a pack of cigarettes. 0:05:41.685 --> 0:05:44.005 That was the last text that was ever sent from 0:05:44.045 --> 0:05:49.245 Cassie's phone. Judy, who was on disability and sometimes took 0:05:49.285 --> 0:05:53.245 pain medications, later said when Cassie came home, she was 0:05:53.285 --> 0:05:54.965 sick in her bedroom, which was in the back of 0:05:55.005 --> 0:05:58.845 the house. She said she heard Cassie moving around and 0:05:58.965 --> 0:06:02.325 said hey, baby girl to Cassie through the door, but 0:06:02.605 --> 0:06:06.645 Judy said she didn't actually ever see Cassie. Brandon told 0:06:06.725 --> 0:06:09.125 police Cassie was only at the house for about five 0:06:09.165 --> 0:06:13.165 minutes before going out again. When she walked out the door, 0:06:13.765 --> 0:06:17.085 Cassie apparently had her black LG smartphone with her, but 0:06:17.525 --> 0:06:22.085 no charger for the phone. Hunter's mom, Tracy, said she 0:06:22.205 --> 0:06:25.525 got three calls from Brandon that night. On the first call, 0:06:25.565 --> 0:06:28.805 at nine to fourteen pm, Tracy said, Brandon asked if 0:06:28.845 --> 0:06:33.005 Cassie was still there, I guess, meaning still with them. Now, 0:06:33.045 --> 0:06:37.125 this is weird because Hunter said clearly Brandon saw Cassie 0:06:37.125 --> 0:06:40.325 when they pulled up to that house. Also, both Brandon 0:06:40.445 --> 0:06:43.525 and Judy told investigators that they had seen or at 0:06:43.605 --> 0:06:47.245 least heard Cassie at home. Hunter lived kind of far out, 0:06:47.325 --> 0:06:50.845 it was not walkable, So why would Brandon be asking 0:06:50.885 --> 0:06:53.685 if she was still with them when he knew Cassie 0:06:53.725 --> 0:06:57.685 had been dropped off. Tracy said she told Brandon to 0:06:57.725 --> 0:07:00.925 call the police, and after he'd called back a couple times, 0:07:01.005 --> 0:07:04.085 Brandon told her that he had done that. Now, Brandon 0:07:04.125 --> 0:07:07.885 did not have her driver's license, so he had a 0:07:07.885 --> 0:07:11.405 bike that he would ride around everywhere. He told Tracy 0:07:11.485 --> 0:07:13.565 that he'd ridden his bike to the police station to 0:07:13.605 --> 0:07:16.565 report Cassie missing, but he said police told him he 0:07:16.645 --> 0:07:20.565 had to wait seventy two hours. Tracy called the police 0:07:20.565 --> 0:07:23.285 the next morning. She said that she talked to a 0:07:23.325 --> 0:07:26.325 detective and they told her that was not true. They 0:07:26.405 --> 0:07:28.885 said no one had made a police report the night before. 0:07:30.565 --> 0:07:33.485 On that next morning, which would be Monday, September fifteenth, 0:07:34.125 --> 0:07:37.005 Judy saw that Cassie was not in her bedroom. She 0:07:37.125 --> 0:07:40.245 started texting and calling Cassie, but got no response and 0:07:40.285 --> 0:07:43.805 the calls went straight to voicemail. Judy called Cassie's friends, 0:07:43.805 --> 0:07:47.725 but no one had seen her, so Judy called the police. Eventually, 0:07:47.805 --> 0:07:51.085 through a foyer request, the Stuttgart Police did release the 0:07:51.125 --> 0:07:54.485 original incident report. Judy's name is on it, so it 0:07:54.605 --> 0:07:58.565 can be confirmed. Judy reported Cassie missing on Monday, September 0:07:58.565 --> 0:08:02.685 fifteenth at nine fifty two am. Brandon's name was not 0:08:02.725 --> 0:08:08.045 on that report. To that report, Judy told police that 0:08:08.085 --> 0:08:11.125 Cassie had a possible mental disorder and may have been bipolar. 0:08:11.685 --> 0:08:14.245 She said Cassie had been prescribed and a deepressants in 0:08:14.245 --> 0:08:16.885 the past, but she said she would flush them because 0:08:16.885 --> 0:08:20.405 she didn't like taking them. Judy told police if Cassie's 0:08:20.445 --> 0:08:23.525 mood swings got bad, that Cassie would sometimes go out 0:08:23.525 --> 0:08:26.525 for a walk. In that report, Judy said that she 0:08:26.685 --> 0:08:29.965 heard Cassie come in and heard her change and leave 0:08:30.645 --> 0:08:34.405 from the back bedroom. Judy also gave a description of 0:08:34.445 --> 0:08:36.605 what Cassie was wearing. She said she had on a 0:08:36.605 --> 0:08:40.205 blue spaghetti strap top, black and white plaid shorts, blue 0:08:40.245 --> 0:08:43.325 and gray cowboy boots with a two to three inch heel, 0:08:43.805 --> 0:08:46.765 but later Judy clarified. She said she based that on 0:08:46.805 --> 0:08:50.125 the clothes that were missing out of Cassie's closet, because again, 0:08:50.205 --> 0:08:51.885 she was in the bedroom the whole time. She never 0:08:51.925 --> 0:08:55.965 physically saw her daughter, and it didn't take police long 0:08:56.005 --> 0:09:00.245 to see that Brandon and Judy's stories had a few discrepancies. 0:09:01.485 --> 0:09:04.805 Brandon and Judy first told investigators that Brandon was cooking 0:09:04.845 --> 0:09:07.325 in the kitchen when Cassie came home. He said he'd 0:09:07.365 --> 0:09:11.005 been cooking breakfast for dinner. He said he saw Cassie briefly, 0:09:11.125 --> 0:09:13.685 but that Judy did not see her at all. Later, 0:09:13.805 --> 0:09:17.485 another story came out. Judy told Tina Stores, a private 0:09:17.485 --> 0:09:20.165 investigator who looked into the case, and some other people, 0:09:20.885 --> 0:09:24.005 that Brandon went out for cigarettes on Sunday night also, 0:09:24.445 --> 0:09:28.085 and that Brandon was gone for quite some time, and 0:09:28.125 --> 0:09:30.965 that when he did come back, he spent a long time, 0:09:31.245 --> 0:09:35.685 like an hour in the bathroom vomiting. Remember, Brandon did 0:09:35.685 --> 0:09:39.085 not have a driver's license, but he had been known 0:09:39.205 --> 0:09:40.605 to take Judy's. 0:09:40.245 --> 0:09:42.485 Car in the past, especially if she was sleeping. 0:09:43.765 --> 0:09:46.605 And him going for cigarettes in Judy's car at around 0:09:46.645 --> 0:09:48.885 the same time Cassie said she was going out for 0:09:48.885 --> 0:09:52.645 cigarettes seems like a big coincidence. It seems reasonable to 0:09:52.765 --> 0:09:56.165 wonder could they have gone together or could Cassie have 0:09:56.165 --> 0:10:00.405 gotten into the car with him. Also, Brandon is saying 0:10:00.685 --> 0:10:03.285 that he somehow had time to cook dinner, get in 0:10:03.285 --> 0:10:06.845 his car, buy cigarettes, then then ride his bike to 0:10:06.885 --> 0:10:10.085 the police station to report someone missing, and have a 0:10:10.165 --> 0:10:13.885 vomiting spell, all in the two hour period before nine 0:10:13.925 --> 0:10:19.885 to fourteen when he called Tracy. In twenty nineteen, Cayla Lafferty, 0:10:19.925 --> 0:10:23.525 a reporter from KTV Channel seven, did a podcast called 0:10:23.525 --> 0:10:27.165 Timeline the Disappearance of Cassie Compton, and in that podcast, 0:10:27.205 --> 0:10:30.205 she talked to a friend of Judy's who said Judy 0:10:30.405 --> 0:10:33.725 told them that both she and Brandon were given Lie 0:10:33.765 --> 0:10:36.725 detector tests and that both of them had failed. This 0:10:36.845 --> 0:10:40.725 friend said Judy told her that she thought she failed 0:10:40.725 --> 0:10:43.405 her lie detector test because she was taking pain medications 0:10:43.405 --> 0:10:47.045 at the time. At first, it did seem like police 0:10:47.125 --> 0:10:51.245 were treating Cassie as a runaway, and they've admitted this publicly. 0:10:51.845 --> 0:10:56.165 Stuttgart Police Chief Mark Duke said, quote, you think, all right, 0:10:56.285 --> 0:10:59.405 she's mad, she left, We'll find her, and then it 0:10:59.445 --> 0:11:03.565 went sideways from there end quote. Police also said on 0:11:03.605 --> 0:11:06.365 the record They formed this assumption based on what they 0:11:06.405 --> 0:11:07.685 heard from family members and. 0:11:07.605 --> 0:11:08.565 Other people close. 0:11:08.405 --> 0:11:12.485 To Cassie, but no one saw Cassie on that road 0:11:12.525 --> 0:11:13.565 after she left her house. 0:11:14.085 --> 0:11:16.325 She was never seen again in any. 0:11:16.165 --> 0:11:19.405 Verified sighting, even though there were a lot of tips 0:11:19.485 --> 0:11:23.285 called in. People reported seeing her everywhere from Walmart to 0:11:23.405 --> 0:11:24.325 random highways. 0:11:24.805 --> 0:11:27.005 None of those young women was Cassie. 0:11:27.085 --> 0:11:30.005 On October third, twenty fifteen, two and a half weeks 0:11:30.005 --> 0:11:34.885 after Cassie went missing, police took Brandon and Judy's phones. Then, 0:11:35.605 --> 0:11:39.245 shortly after detectives left their home, a house fire started. 0:11:42.725 --> 0:11:45.485 The small house fire at Brandon and Judy's residence was 0:11:45.525 --> 0:11:49.645 pretty quickly put out, but the timing was bizarre. By 0:11:49.805 --> 0:11:53.725 late fall, the investigations seemed stalled. Police were still saying 0:11:53.765 --> 0:11:56.565 the only official people of interest were Judy and Brandon, 0:11:57.245 --> 0:12:01.285 but some strange things were happening on social media. For 0:12:01.365 --> 0:12:06.405 one thing, Cassie's personal Facebook page liked the missing page 0:12:06.405 --> 0:12:10.325 for Cassie, and law enforcement stated that more than one 0:12:10.365 --> 0:12:15.045 person had access Cassie's personal Facebook page. Also that fall, 0:12:15.165 --> 0:12:19.125 starting around September twenty fifth, police and the FBI started 0:12:19.165 --> 0:12:22.405 searching the area that began around the Stuttgard airport. They 0:12:22.445 --> 0:12:26.805 were looking into reservoirs, riverbanks, under bridges, all kinds of 0:12:26.885 --> 0:12:31.045 hiding places near Cassie's home. According to the website find 0:12:31.085 --> 0:12:34.525 Cassie Compton, the police were considering the theory that someone 0:12:34.565 --> 0:12:39.525 could have transported Cassie's remains walking or by bicycle, possibly 0:12:39.645 --> 0:12:43.685 in pieces. They looked for rolled up rugs or garbage bags, 0:12:44.005 --> 0:12:50.685 but they found nothing. Judy and Brandon started talking to 0:12:50.765 --> 0:12:53.965 the media. Actually Judy did most of the talking, but 0:12:54.005 --> 0:12:56.485 when Brandon spoke, he said this. 0:12:57.045 --> 0:13:00.045 She was gone, Mike, I whispering. 0:13:00.165 --> 0:13:05.245 Win. I found his wording a bit strange. How does 0:13:05.285 --> 0:13:07.965 a fifteen year old vanish into thin air like that? 0:13:08.845 --> 0:13:11.925 Now this was late summer, so even though sunset was 0:13:11.965 --> 0:13:15.085 around seven to twelve pm, it would not have been 0:13:15.125 --> 0:13:18.365 fully dark until half an hour or so later. And 0:13:18.445 --> 0:13:21.925 yet not one person saw Cassie after she left her house. 0:13:22.645 --> 0:13:24.725 There were a few theories about what could have happened 0:13:24.765 --> 0:13:27.405 to her. Some people believe she could have been kidnapped, 0:13:28.005 --> 0:13:31.805 either by strangers or by someone she knew, or possibly 0:13:31.805 --> 0:13:35.445 she was sex trafficked. Maybe going out for cigarettes was 0:13:35.485 --> 0:13:38.965 code for something. Maybe Cassie had plans to run away 0:13:40.045 --> 0:13:42.845 or maybe something else happened to Cassie in that house 0:13:43.885 --> 0:13:50.085 and she never made it past the driveway for other reasons. Then, 0:13:50.245 --> 0:13:53.045 a few weeks after Cassie went missing, Judy. 0:13:52.725 --> 0:13:53.845 And Brandon broke up. 0:13:54.645 --> 0:13:58.565 Judy told Channel seven quote, I believe Cassie would come 0:13:58.605 --> 0:14:00.605 back if she knew he was not in the picture 0:14:00.885 --> 0:14:03.605 end quote. She mentioned that Cassie and Brandon had not 0:14:03.645 --> 0:14:08.045 gotten along. She kicked Brandon out. He started living on 0:14:08.085 --> 0:14:11.165 the streets. He was arrested for squatting at a property 0:14:11.245 --> 0:14:14.725 and given a hundred day jail sentence. The Stuttgart Police 0:14:14.725 --> 0:14:17.485 Department started working with the FBI and the state Police. 0:14:18.045 --> 0:14:21.045 Judy announced one thousand dollars reward for any information that 0:14:21.085 --> 0:14:25.805 would help lead to her daughter. Then in October, police 0:14:25.845 --> 0:14:29.725 found something under the Biometro bridge about fifteen miles from 0:14:29.765 --> 0:14:32.885 Casco on the White River. This was near the place 0:14:32.925 --> 0:14:37.765 where Cassie's cell phone had last pinned. Police reportedly found 0:14:37.805 --> 0:14:41.885 objects that included a gatorade bottle, two men's shirts, men's 0:14:41.925 --> 0:14:47.645 toiletries including shaving cream, folded drapes, a girl's Hugs and kisses, sweater, 0:14:48.005 --> 0:14:51.805 a Teddy Bear in two bags. Two my knowledge, police 0:14:51.845 --> 0:14:55.165 have never confirmed if those items belonged to Brandon Roads, 0:14:55.525 --> 0:14:57.605 but a lot of people thought that the shaving cream 0:14:57.725 --> 0:15:01.165 might have some significance because Brandon normally had a beard, 0:15:01.565 --> 0:15:03.645 and when he was arrested a few days after this 0:15:03.685 --> 0:15:07.045 stuff was found on unrelated charges, he was clean shaven, 0:15:08.165 --> 0:15:10.405 so by now a lot of people in the community 0:15:10.565 --> 0:15:13.965 were fixated on Brandon Roads. Police said the same thing 0:15:14.045 --> 0:15:17.205 they often say in these investigations, that Brandon and Judy 0:15:17.245 --> 0:15:20.525 were people of interest, but no one was arrested a charge, 0:15:20.525 --> 0:15:30.485 and they said no one could be ruled out. Neither 0:15:30.525 --> 0:15:33.365 Brandon nor Judy have ever been charged in connection with 0:15:33.405 --> 0:15:38.125 Cassie's disappearance. Over the years, Judy's opinion of whether or 0:15:38.125 --> 0:15:40.645 not Brandon could have been involved seemed to shift, at 0:15:40.765 --> 0:15:45.245 least publicly. In November of twenty fourteen, Judy talked to 0:15:45.245 --> 0:15:48.765 a reporter from ABC channel seven about her relationship with Brandon. 0:15:49.605 --> 0:15:53.245 She said Brandon could be controlling. For example, she said 0:15:53.245 --> 0:15:55.565 he would always pick up the phone and interrupt her 0:15:55.605 --> 0:15:59.205 when she was talking to law enforcement. Judy also talked 0:15:59.245 --> 0:16:02.005 about her past and about the incident that led to 0:16:02.085 --> 0:16:04.485 her being on the sex offender list in Oklahoma. 0:16:05.845 --> 0:16:07.205 According to court documents. 0:16:07.285 --> 0:16:10.365 Judy was found guilty in Marshall County, Oklahoma, of permitting 0:16:10.405 --> 0:16:11.405 abuse or neglect. 0:16:11.445 --> 0:16:12.845 In November of nineteen ninety. 0:16:12.605 --> 0:16:16.605 Eight, Judy told the reporter that Roy, her ex husband, 0:16:16.925 --> 0:16:20.525 had assaulted her daughter. She said that she was charged 0:16:20.565 --> 0:16:24.205 with failure to protect her child and basically forced to 0:16:24.245 --> 0:16:28.885 take a plead. Judy told Channel seven, quote, my ex 0:16:29.005 --> 0:16:31.925 husband was messing with my oldest daughter and I didn't 0:16:31.965 --> 0:16:34.965 know anything about it. Then my oldest daughter told my 0:16:35.005 --> 0:16:36.925 mother end quote. 0:16:37.205 --> 0:16:38.725 But I went through. 0:16:38.525 --> 0:16:41.725 Those court documents and I saw that not only was 0:16:41.845 --> 0:16:45.005 Judy put on the sex offender registry, she was also 0:16:45.165 --> 0:16:48.085 given a five year suspended sentence in connection with that case. 0:16:48.845 --> 0:16:51.725 Yet when she talked with the reporter, she kind of 0:16:51.725 --> 0:16:55.045 made it sound, in my opinion, like something that happened 0:16:55.085 --> 0:16:58.005 to her rather than something she was complicit in. 0:17:00.045 --> 0:17:01.245 I found out even. 0:17:01.045 --> 0:17:04.245 More details about these charges, and this case was dark. 0:17:05.485 --> 0:17:09.765 He is charged with leude molestation in this case. According 0:17:09.765 --> 0:17:13.605 to the court records, the child was traumatized and wanted 0:17:13.605 --> 0:17:16.685 to give video evidence rather than face Roy in court, 0:17:16.765 --> 0:17:20.365 which the court allowed. Roy was given a twenty three 0:17:20.485 --> 0:17:23.525 year prison sentence. According to the records, I found By 0:17:23.565 --> 0:17:26.645 the way, Roy was in prison when Cassie went missing 0:17:26.765 --> 0:17:30.925 and still appears to be incarcerated. Does this past behavior 0:17:31.165 --> 0:17:34.805 mean that Judy knew anything about what happened to Cassie. No, 0:17:35.485 --> 0:17:39.405 but in my opinion, it does show that she appears 0:17:39.445 --> 0:17:43.365 to be capable of minimizing abuse inside the home, and 0:17:43.365 --> 0:17:50.165 that worries me. After Cassie disappeared, Judy had to deal 0:17:50.205 --> 0:17:54.685 with multiple heartbreaks over the years, including one cruel person 0:17:54.725 --> 0:17:59.045 who actually impersonated Cassie and pretended that she was alive 0:17:59.165 --> 0:18:01.325 and wanted to talk to Judy. I cannot even imagine 0:18:01.325 --> 0:18:05.045 what that must have been like. Cassie's disappearance made local 0:18:05.085 --> 0:18:09.285 and nation news, but there were no arrests. In addition 0:18:09.325 --> 0:18:11.885 to Brandon, because this was a fifteen year old girl, 0:18:12.165 --> 0:18:14.845 police also looked into other young men who Cassie had 0:18:14.885 --> 0:18:19.285 been talking to. On September seventh, twenty fourteen, there was 0:18:19.325 --> 0:18:22.965 a post on Cassie's Facebook page, actually her last post, 0:18:23.485 --> 0:18:26.405 in which she wrote, quote, let's get one thing straight. 0:18:26.765 --> 0:18:30.445 I was not with Dustin, okay, and she mentions a 0:18:30.525 --> 0:18:32.485 last name as well, which we're not going to mention. 0:18:33.845 --> 0:18:36.005 So a lot of people were asking Dustin about this 0:18:36.085 --> 0:18:40.605 so underneath her comment, he replied and said he and 0:18:40.645 --> 0:18:43.845 Cassie were never together. He was a little older, I think, 0:18:44.005 --> 0:18:46.565 so I can imagine him getting nervous if a miner 0:18:46.645 --> 0:18:50.365 went missing. Anyway, police apparently followed that lead and ruled 0:18:50.405 --> 0:18:55.325 Dustin out. Things kept coming back to the home, back 0:18:55.365 --> 0:18:58.565 to Brandon Rhads. One of the things I found most 0:18:58.645 --> 0:19:01.885 frustrating about this case is that over the years we've 0:19:01.965 --> 0:19:05.605 heard a lot about Brandon Rhoades, so many rumors u 0:19:05.765 --> 0:19:09.605 concrete backs. He continued to get into trouble with the 0:19:09.645 --> 0:19:13.925 law after splitting from Judy. In twenty fifteen, Brandon was 0:19:14.045 --> 0:19:19.125 arrested on drug charges, including possession of a controlled substance methamphetamines. 0:19:19.805 --> 0:19:22.645 After pleading guilty, he was sentenced to two years in prison. 0:19:23.645 --> 0:19:27.045 Then a couple of years later, he was arrested again, 0:19:27.845 --> 0:19:30.365 this time it had nothing to do with Cassie Compton. 0:19:31.405 --> 0:19:35.405 On October sixteenth, twenty eighteen, Brandon was stopped by police 0:19:35.445 --> 0:19:38.925 in Pleasant Plains, Arkansas. They saw that Brandon was driving 0:19:38.925 --> 0:19:41.485 on a suspended license, so they arrested him. 0:19:41.965 --> 0:19:43.205 The officers searched the. 0:19:43.165 --> 0:19:46.525 Car and they found a loaded AR fifteen assault rifle 0:19:47.165 --> 0:19:50.925 with a red scope and a lot of other tactical gear. Later, 0:19:51.085 --> 0:19:54.965 police determined that that weapon had been reported stolen. They 0:19:54.965 --> 0:19:59.005 got information that Brandon had been paid several hundred dollars 0:19:59.085 --> 0:20:02.565 to kill the wife of one of his acquaintances, so 0:20:02.645 --> 0:20:06.405 they brought Brandon up on capital murder charges. I wanted 0:20:06.405 --> 0:20:09.125 to understand more about this, so I looked into the 0:20:09.205 --> 0:20:13.765 court documents. Brandon had a different story. He said he 0:20:13.805 --> 0:20:17.165 didn't remember anything from the night before. Later he changed 0:20:17.165 --> 0:20:19.445 his story and said, yes, he was in Batesville to 0:20:19.485 --> 0:20:22.565 follow someone. He said that a man had paid him 0:20:22.605 --> 0:20:26.365 two hundred dollars to follow around this man's wife, so 0:20:26.605 --> 0:20:29.525 Brandon was acting as kind of an unofficial private investigator. 0:20:30.765 --> 0:20:33.125 Brandon also said he had no idea he had a 0:20:33.165 --> 0:20:36.245 stolen gun in his truck, but the guy who reported 0:20:36.245 --> 0:20:38.685 the gun stolen said Brandon was at his residence the 0:20:38.765 --> 0:20:41.645 night before. The next morning, Brandon and the gun were gone, 0:20:41.805 --> 0:20:44.965 So it didn't take Charlote Holmes to figure out who 0:20:45.005 --> 0:20:51.205 took that weapon. Again, there's been almost nothing reported about 0:20:51.205 --> 0:20:54.245 Brandon's background. I wanted to know who he really is, 0:20:54.725 --> 0:20:57.365 so I found buried in a lot of different court 0:20:57.365 --> 0:21:01.085 documents related to his arrest, the forensic reports that were done, 0:21:01.565 --> 0:21:05.885 and they had a lot of very interesting information. I 0:21:05.885 --> 0:21:08.685 think we learn a lot more about Brandon Rhades from 0:21:08.725 --> 0:21:11.765 these documents than we have in any of the interviews 0:21:11.765 --> 0:21:15.445 that he's done. According to court documents, Brandon was born 0:21:15.485 --> 0:21:18.445 in Little Rock. He grew up with his mother, grandmother, 0:21:18.525 --> 0:21:22.245 and younger brother in Greenbrier, Arkansas, but he said they 0:21:22.325 --> 0:21:25.405 moved around a lot to several different states. He told 0:21:25.445 --> 0:21:27.645 the examiner that he had a stepfather in his life 0:21:27.645 --> 0:21:31.005 as well, who was in a motorcycle gang. Brandon said 0:21:31.045 --> 0:21:34.485 his stepfather physically and sexually abused him between the ages 0:21:34.485 --> 0:21:35.245 of seven. 0:21:35.005 --> 0:21:36.125 And nineteen years old. 0:21:37.005 --> 0:21:39.725 He said that from a young age he was abused. 0:21:40.445 --> 0:21:43.125 He said he was abused with fists, a board, an 0:21:43.165 --> 0:21:46.925 electrical cord, He was thrown across the room, and when 0:21:46.965 --> 0:21:49.325 things got too difficult at home, he would escape to 0:21:49.365 --> 0:21:52.885 the woods. Sometimes he would sleep outside. He went to 0:21:52.925 --> 0:21:56.485 school in Mount Vernon and Stuttgart High School, but he 0:21:56.685 --> 0:22:00.165 was expelled several times for having an explosive temper. He 0:22:00.165 --> 0:22:02.365 said he stopped going to school in ninth grade and 0:22:02.445 --> 0:22:05.365 went to work. Brandon said when he was seventeen, he 0:22:05.605 --> 0:22:08.565 went to meet the man he believed was his biological father, 0:22:09.405 --> 0:22:12.605 but later a DNA test showed that that man was 0:22:12.685 --> 0:22:15.285 not his father, which I can imagine must have been 0:22:15.325 --> 0:22:19.085 crushing for him. He also said he had been smoking 0:22:19.085 --> 0:22:21.045 pot around three times a day for as long as 0:22:21.085 --> 0:22:24.325 he could remember. He said he developed a meth habit 0:22:24.365 --> 0:22:27.485 in high school. At first, like a lot of people, 0:22:27.525 --> 0:22:29.485 he said, he started taking it to keep him awake 0:22:29.525 --> 0:22:33.205 at work. Brandon worked several different jobs. He worked at 0:22:33.245 --> 0:22:36.725 lumber one in Stuttgart, but he got fired from that job. Later, 0:22:36.845 --> 0:22:39.165 he did some landscaping and worked for a company and 0:22:39.205 --> 0:22:44.965 DeWitt fabricating metal for farming equipment. By twenty eleven, Brandon 0:22:45.085 --> 0:22:48.285 was on his own. He was living in abandoned houses 0:22:48.285 --> 0:22:50.685 for a few weeks at a time. That's when he 0:22:50.725 --> 0:22:53.445 got into a relationship with Judy and he moved in 0:22:53.485 --> 0:22:56.645 with her and Cassie and Stuttgart. Now, if you look 0:22:56.685 --> 0:22:59.525 at his old Facebook posts, which have been inactive for 0:22:59.565 --> 0:23:02.565 a long time, this seems to have been a happy 0:23:02.605 --> 0:23:05.805 time for him, at least on social media. Judy is 0:23:06.045 --> 0:23:09.125 his cover photo the whole thing, and he has a 0:23:09.165 --> 0:23:12.565 post there saying that Judy baptized him in twenty fourteen. 0:23:13.445 --> 0:23:18.485 In this interview with the psychiatrist, Brandon discussed his criminal history. 0:23:18.565 --> 0:23:22.005 He told the examiner about Judy and Cassie and said, quote, 0:23:22.525 --> 0:23:24.725 I would not be surprised if someone is trying to 0:23:24.805 --> 0:23:27.605 kill me because they believe I killed her daughter and 0:23:27.645 --> 0:23:28.485 buried her somewhere. 0:23:28.645 --> 0:23:29.125 End quote. 0:23:32.365 --> 0:23:35.125 I don't have time to go through the entire case, 0:23:35.445 --> 0:23:39.525 but the case, by the way, is wild. Police were 0:23:39.525 --> 0:23:42.285 trying to figure out which story to believe what was 0:23:42.325 --> 0:23:46.605 going on here. They found text messages between Brandon and 0:23:46.725 --> 0:23:50.925 the man who allegedly hired him to follow his wife. 0:23:50.965 --> 0:23:53.085 In those texts, they were discussing the fact that this 0:23:53.125 --> 0:23:56.445