WEBVTT - Hell and Gone Murder Line: Brandy Dyson Part 2 0:00:46.480 --> 0:00:51.961 School of Humans. Helen Got Murder Line actively investigates cold 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:55.361 case murders in an effort to raise public awareness invite 0:00:55.401 --> 0:00:58.761 witnesses to come forward and present evidence that could potentially 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:02.961 be further investigated by law enforcement. While we value insights 0:01:03.001 --> 0:01:06.160 from family and community members, their statements should not be 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:09.961 considered evidence and point to the challenges of verifying facts 0:01:10.041 --> 0:01:14.041 inherent in cold cases. We remind listeners that everyone has 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:17.160 presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 0:01:17.961 --> 0:01:20.840 Nothing in the podcast is intended to state or imply 0:01:21.041 --> 0:01:23.601 that anyone who has not been convicted of a crime 0:01:24.121 --> 0:01:27.121 is guilty of any wrongdoing. Thanks for listening. 0:01:30.481 --> 0:01:33.640 On November fifth, two thousand and five, a jogger found 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:36.241 the body of thirty two year old mother of three, 0:01:36.481 --> 0:01:40.041 Brandy Renee Dyson, floating in a lake behind the Lake 0:01:40.121 --> 0:01:44.040 Charles Civic Center. Brandy had been struggling with mental health 0:01:44.041 --> 0:01:45.681 issues and with addiction. 0:01:46.681 --> 0:01:47.321 For a while. 0:01:47.441 --> 0:01:50.121 She seemed to be doing well and settled into an apartment, 0:01:50.641 --> 0:01:54.201 but then she lost her apartment after taking refugees in 0:01:54.281 --> 0:01:58.001 from Hurricane Katrina. She then moved into the Civic Center 0:01:58.041 --> 0:02:00.881 in Lake Charles with a lot of other evacuees from 0:02:00.881 --> 0:02:05.840 the storm. After that, Brandy was caught drinking that broke 0:02:05.881 --> 0:02:08.560 the rules of the Red Cross, the organization that was 0:02:08.641 --> 0:02:11.440 running things at the Civic Center, so Brandy was asked 0:02:11.481 --> 0:02:14.400 to leave there. This seemed to start what would turn 0:02:14.441 --> 0:02:19.201 out to be her final downward spiral. Police believed she 0:02:19.321 --> 0:02:21.481 set up a camp on a pier near the Civic 0:02:21.481 --> 0:02:24.481 Center and had been living there for a few weeks 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:28.960 when the next massive hurricane, Hurricane Rita, hit and devastated 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:33.921 the state. Sometime in the midst of all this storm chaos, 0:02:34.361 --> 0:02:38.041 Brandy was brutally murdered. The bruising on her neck was 0:02:38.081 --> 0:02:40.681 so bad that her own father said she had to 0:02:40.680 --> 0:02:45.441 be buried in a turtle neck sweaters. Almost twenty years 0:02:45.601 --> 0:02:49.161 since Brandy was murdered, the person who was arrested and 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:52.520 at first charged with her murder has been released, and 0:02:52.641 --> 0:02:56.841 no new suspects have come forward, But this unsolved case 0:02:56.881 --> 0:02:59.361 still seems to be on the minds of the detectives 0:02:59.401 --> 0:03:03.761 at the Lake Charles Police Department Down there. Brandy's family 0:03:03.801 --> 0:03:07.401 tells me they have a nickname for Brandy Dyson. They 0:03:07.441 --> 0:03:11.521 call her the Lady in the Lake. I'm Catherine Townsend. 0:03:11.921 --> 0:03:14.841 Over the past five years of making my true crime podcast, 0:03:14.881 --> 0:03:17.761 Helen Gone, I've learned that there is no such thing 0:03:18.041 --> 0:03:21.281 as a small town where murder never happens. I have 0:03:21.361 --> 0:03:24.721 received hundreds of messages from people all around the country 0:03:24.761 --> 0:03:27.240 asking for help with an unsolved murder that's affected them, 0:03:27.561 --> 0:03:31.201 their families, and their communities. If you have a case 0:03:31.241 --> 0:03:33.321 you'd like me and my team to look into, you 0:03:33.361 --> 0:03:35.441 can reach out to us at our Helen Gone Murder 0:03:35.441 --> 0:03:38.881 Line at six seven eight seven four four six one 0:03:38.881 --> 0:03:42.201 four or five. That's six seven eight seven four four 0:03:42.601 --> 0:03:45.681 six ' one four or five. This is Helen Gone 0:03:45.841 --> 0:04:36.840 Murder Line. Brandy's family described her as a kind person, 0:04:37.281 --> 0:04:40.561 a mother who loved her three children, But, as we 0:04:40.601 --> 0:04:44.440 said last week in Part one, Brandy battleddiction to alcohol 0:04:44.961 --> 0:04:48.880 and struggled with mental health issues, includings get So Effective disorder. 0:04:50.281 --> 0:04:55.681 Detectives told Brandy's family they believed that she was brutally beaten, strangled, 0:04:55.880 --> 0:04:59.720 and dumped into the lake. Brandy had been spending time 0:04:59.761 --> 0:05:02.921 with a man named Jeremiah Salazar, who was six feet 0:05:03.001 --> 0:05:06.441 tall and at the time had shoulder linked hair. Witnesses 0:05:06.521 --> 0:05:09.080 said they saw Brandy with a man matching that description 0:05:09.281 --> 0:05:13.481 outside the civic Center and later at a bar. They 0:05:13.561 --> 0:05:17.761 arrested Jeremiah Salazar, but he was later released when the 0:05:17.841 --> 0:05:20.481 DNA taken from Brandy's body was found not to be 0:05:20.521 --> 0:05:21.521 a match for him. 0:05:21.881 --> 0:05:23.001 Since then, the. 0:05:23.001 --> 0:05:26.201 Case has gone cold and no new suspects have ever 0:05:26.241 --> 0:05:29.721 been arrested, so we were trying to figure out why 0:05:29.801 --> 0:05:33.561 the police were so focused on jeremiahs and if there 0:05:33.561 --> 0:05:37.601 could be other potential suspects out there. Last week, we 0:05:37.641 --> 0:05:41.881 talked to Brandy's sister Miranda and daughter Holly. We've been 0:05:41.921 --> 0:05:44.601 trying to find out more about the condition of Brandy's body, 0:05:45.001 --> 0:05:48.041 but our Foyer request was denied and Holly has not 0:05:48.201 --> 0:05:51.320 yet been able to get a copy of the autopsy report. 0:05:52.241 --> 0:05:55.361 But it turns out that Brandy's family does have some 0:05:55.481 --> 0:05:59.361 information about the condition of Brandy's body, which may be 0:05:59.481 --> 0:06:02.121 able to give us some clues that could help identify 0:06:02.161 --> 0:06:06.361 her killer. We also talked last week about possible similarities 0:06:06.401 --> 0:06:09.601 to other cases, including the eight women who were murdered 0:06:09.641 --> 0:06:12.481 in Jefferson Davis Parish between two thousand and five and 0:06:12.481 --> 0:06:15.880 two thousand and nine. These women were all found in 0:06:15.921 --> 0:06:19.761 the region of Jennings Louisiana, and all were sex workers 0:06:20.001 --> 0:06:22.921 or had ties to sex work in some way. These 0:06:23.041 --> 0:06:26.520 victims have been called the Jeff Davies eight, and even 0:06:26.601 --> 0:06:29.001 though the cases don't appear to be connected by a 0:06:29.001 --> 0:06:33.761 single serial killer, the murders have unearthed allegations of potential 0:06:33.801 --> 0:06:36.801 cover ups by certain members of law enforcement, as well 0:06:36.841 --> 0:06:40.561 as allegations that members of law enforcement may be behind 0:06:40.721 --> 0:06:44.440 or have knowledge of some of the murders. And these 0:06:44.561 --> 0:06:48.960 cases have definitely highlighted systemic failures in the Louisiana criminal 0:06:49.041 --> 0:06:53.200 justice system. So is Brandy's case out all similar to 0:06:53.241 --> 0:06:58.801 any of those cases. Brandy was found in Calcashu Parish, 0:06:59.081 --> 0:07:01.441 which is a little over thirty minutes away from Jennings 0:07:01.481 --> 0:07:04.121 where the other victims were found. Like some of the 0:07:04.161 --> 0:07:08.320 other victims, Brandy was found in water. Many of the 0:07:08.361 --> 0:07:11.481 Jeff Davis eight victims were believed to have been killed 0:07:11.481 --> 0:07:14.881 by exphyxiation, the same cause of death that suspected in 0:07:14.921 --> 0:07:19.001 Brandy's case, though in the Jeff Davis eight cases, many 0:07:19.121 --> 0:07:22.241 of the victims were too decomposed for detectives to know 0:07:22.361 --> 0:07:25.881 for sure what killed them. We talked to Miranda about 0:07:25.921 --> 0:07:29.081 Brandy's past. She told us that She believed that it 0:07:29.281 --> 0:07:33.361 was possible that Brandy, because of her addictions in transient lifestyle, 0:07:33.961 --> 0:07:37.401 may have turned to sex work at some point. Brandy 0:07:37.561 --> 0:07:41.441 had been strangled several times in the past on separate occasions. 0:07:42.321 --> 0:07:45.321 She said that during the time when Brandy was living 0:07:45.321 --> 0:07:48.761 in New York City, Brandy was apparently involved in some 0:07:48.801 --> 0:07:52.961 type of relationship with someone who abused her and strangled her. 0:07:53.761 --> 0:07:57.761 Brandy survived, but Miranda said she will never forget getting 0:07:57.761 --> 0:08:01.641 those frantic calls from the hospital emergency room about her sister. 0:08:02.521 --> 0:08:06.481 I've never told Holly this, but one time the guy 0:08:06.641 --> 0:08:10.280 strangled her. He thought she was dead, but she wasn't. 0:08:10.881 --> 0:08:12.961 But they called me one time and they were like, 0:08:13.961 --> 0:08:16.081 can you come get your sister from New York? And 0:08:16.121 --> 0:08:18.001 I said, do you know how long it would take 0:08:18.041 --> 0:08:20.401 me to get there? And they're like, what do you mean? 0:08:20.641 --> 0:08:22.441 And I said, do you realize where you called? And 0:08:22.441 --> 0:08:24.481 they were like, no, your sister gave us your number, 0:08:24.601 --> 0:08:28.281 like you're around the corner. It was like, ma'am, you 0:08:28.321 --> 0:08:30.281 called the Louisiana. 0:08:31.601 --> 0:08:34.521 Brandy's family saw that she was battling her addictions and 0:08:34.560 --> 0:08:39.641 mental health issues, including unmedicated Schitzo effective disorder. They tried 0:08:39.641 --> 0:08:41.961 to help her when she left New York and returned 0:08:41.961 --> 0:08:43.561 to Louisiana. 0:08:43.761 --> 0:08:46.601 She was living with me when she came back, and 0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:49.920 she started drinking and doing drips and I have kids, 0:08:50.081 --> 0:08:52.241 and I tell her, you can't do that and live 0:08:52.321 --> 0:08:54.680 in my house. And she said, you're not going to 0:08:55.040 --> 0:08:58.201 let it be, so you got to go. So she 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:00.961 went to live with my brother. Same thing happened there, 0:09:01.441 --> 0:09:03.600 so he had to make her go too well. She 0:09:03.721 --> 0:09:06.761 sort of staying at the Lifehouse Mission and that's where 0:09:06.841 --> 0:09:08.921 throughout herself together, she was doing good. 0:09:09.961 --> 0:09:13.601 It's obvious from talking to Brandy's family that they wanted 0:09:13.641 --> 0:09:16.561 to help her. They wanted to give her somewhere to stay, 0:09:16.881 --> 0:09:18.920 but at the same time, it seems like they had 0:09:18.961 --> 0:09:22.001 to make sure that their own families were safe. This 0:09:22.081 --> 0:09:24.841 can feel like an impossible choice, and it's one that 0:09:24.921 --> 0:09:28.921 a lot of people are dealing with. After that, Brandy 0:09:29.001 --> 0:09:31.441 went to the Late Charles Civic Center, where she would 0:09:31.481 --> 0:09:43.801 die weeks later. Miranda said after that hurricane hit, the 0:09:43.961 --> 0:09:47.961 entire family had to evacuate to different locations. Brandy ended 0:09:48.041 --> 0:09:51.161 up the Civic Center in Lake Charles, and Miranda said 0:09:51.161 --> 0:09:53.761 that it was in Lake Charles where Brandy met then 0:09:54.001 --> 0:09:58.401 thirty five year old Jeremiah Salazar. Brandy's family doesn't know 0:09:58.481 --> 0:10:01.321 much about Jeremiah's how they met, how long they had 0:10:01.361 --> 0:10:04.321 been in a relationship, or even what the exact nature 0:10:04.361 --> 0:10:08.001 of that relationship was, because the contact with Brandy was 0:10:08.001 --> 0:10:11.401 irregular in the first place, and then after the storm hit, 0:10:11.481 --> 0:10:15.841 in that chaos, Brandy's family were pretty much completely cut 0:10:15.841 --> 0:10:18.800 off from Brandy or anything that was going on with 0:10:18.881 --> 0:10:19.281 her life. 0:10:20.241 --> 0:10:23.161 The only things that I know about him is what 0:10:23.401 --> 0:10:26.361 the detective toldn Like, we didn't know him. We were 0:10:26.361 --> 0:10:29.961 all displaced, we were all homeless. I was living in 0:10:30.041 --> 0:10:33.041 Alabama when she died. I know what he looks like 0:10:33.161 --> 0:10:35.441 only because the picture. You know what I'm saying, Like, 0:10:35.801 --> 0:10:39.241 we didn't know him. We just know what they said 0:10:39.481 --> 0:10:45.281 or what they've speculated. So there's so many even nineteen 0:10:45.361 --> 0:10:49.041 years later, there's so many questions that we've never gotten 0:10:49.081 --> 0:10:50.321 any kind of answers for. 0:10:51.481 --> 0:10:54.160 Even though some people thought there could be a connection 0:10:54.321 --> 0:10:57.521 between Brandy and the Jeff Davis eight, there are some 0:10:57.681 --> 0:11:01.481 major differences between these cases. For one thing, many of 0:11:01.521 --> 0:11:04.641 the Jeff Davis victims had ties to each other, two 0:11:04.721 --> 0:11:08.001 were cousins and there's no indication from what we know 0:11:08.081 --> 0:11:12.521 so far, that Brandy was connected to any of those victims. Jennings, 0:11:12.681 --> 0:11:15.401 where most of the Jeff Davis eight were found, is 0:11:15.561 --> 0:11:19.321 just over a thirty minute drive from Lake Charles. Many 0:11:19.441 --> 0:11:23.281 of the Jeff Davis eight victims had faces that were unrecognizable, 0:11:23.921 --> 0:11:26.481 either because they had been beaten or because they were 0:11:26.521 --> 0:11:27.681 so badly decomposed. 0:11:28.401 --> 0:11:30.081 This was not the case with Brandy. 0:11:30.761 --> 0:11:33.560 In fact, one of the major things that is different 0:11:33.561 --> 0:11:36.601 about Brandy's case from the Jeff Davis case is the 0:11:36.641 --> 0:11:39.761 amount of time that Brandy was in the water. Brandy 0:11:39.841 --> 0:11:42.841 was found almost immediately, and she was not hard to id. 0:11:43.841 --> 0:11:47.481 Detectives were able to take usable fingerprints and get Brandy's 0:11:47.481 --> 0:11:52.160 identification very quickly because the Prince matched fingerprints from one 0:11:52.161 --> 0:11:56.241 of Brandy's recent arrests. Again, according to Brandy's family, she 0:11:56.401 --> 0:11:59.641 was apparently seen between twelve am and two am on 0:11:59.721 --> 0:12:04.040 the morning of November fifth in the bar Crystals. Her 0:12:04.041 --> 0:12:07.081 body was found the next morning by the jogger, meaning 0:12:07.081 --> 0:12:09.041 that her body was only in the water for a 0:12:09.041 --> 0:12:13.361 few hours. Miranda said that the district attorney and detectives 0:12:13.481 --> 0:12:16.041 were very blunt when they talked to her about the 0:12:16.041 --> 0:12:19.281 condition of her sister's body and how quickly it had 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:19.761 been found. 0:12:21.121 --> 0:12:23.201 He said, Branda, I don't want you to think I'm 0:12:23.241 --> 0:12:26.201 being mean, and I'm like, okay. He said, you grew 0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:29.721 up in southwest Louisiana. I say, yes, sir. He said, 0:12:29.801 --> 0:12:32.680 you know what Christ does to a body, They go 0:12:32.801 --> 0:12:35.521 for the eyes and no. You know, she said she 0:12:35.561 --> 0:12:39.041 didn't have one crab owner. That feels me. She was 0:12:39.121 --> 0:12:42.801 found very soon. Her body was in this white piget 0:12:42.801 --> 0:12:46.401 to safe had been in there a terribly long time. 0:12:47.601 --> 0:12:50.761 You know. That's because I grew up in Louisiana. People 0:12:50.881 --> 0:12:53.201 would drown if they were in there in the water 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:57.121 too long. That salt water, and that water eats the 0:12:57.161 --> 0:12:58.281 body it, you know. 0:12:59.801 --> 0:13:02.961 Miranda said that Brandy did have water in her lungs, 0:13:03.401 --> 0:13:05.521 but she was told by police that it was a 0:13:05.681 --> 0:13:09.321 very small amount. A lot of people think that water 0:13:09.481 --> 0:13:12.801 can't enter the lungs after death, that any amount of 0:13:12.841 --> 0:13:15.361 water in the lungs means that the person was still 0:13:15.401 --> 0:13:19.161 breathing when they hit the water, But actually that's not true. 0:13:19.481 --> 0:13:22.281 A small amount of water can enter the lungs even 0:13:22.321 --> 0:13:26.241 post mortem. So we can't tell from current information if 0:13:26.241 --> 0:13:28.560 Brandy was alive or not when she hit that water. 0:13:29.321 --> 0:13:31.441 She may have been taking her last breath when she 0:13:31.481 --> 0:13:34.561 was dumped, or she could have breathed in the water 0:13:34.721 --> 0:13:37.201 sometime during the struggle. If she was being choked in 0:13:37.321 --> 0:13:41.041 or around a body of water, that's another question. Where 0:13:41.121 --> 0:13:44.761 was the actual primary crime scene. Was it where Brandy 0:13:44.841 --> 0:13:52.401 was dumped in the lake or somewhere else. The body 0:13:52.401 --> 0:13:55.001 of water where Brandy was found was within a few 0:13:55.041 --> 0:13:56.961 feet of where she had set up camp in the 0:13:57.001 --> 0:14:01.321 back of the civic center. Brandy's family say detectives were 0:14:01.401 --> 0:14:04.601 in regular contact with them in the months after the murder. 0:14:05.321 --> 0:14:09.601 They seemed super focused on their suspect, Jeremiah Salazar. They 0:14:09.641 --> 0:14:12.721 even went all the way to Tacoma, Washington, got him arrested, 0:14:12.721 --> 0:14:15.601 and got him extradited back to Louisiana, where he was 0:14:15.681 --> 0:14:19.521 held on a million dollar bail. The grand jury voted 0:14:19.521 --> 0:14:22.721 to indict him, but then they got DNA results back 0:14:22.761 --> 0:14:28.201 from Brandy's body, and those results changed everything because, according 0:14:28.241 --> 0:14:31.161 to the district attorney, who spoke to a reporter from 0:14:31.201 --> 0:14:34.561 American Press in twenty eleven and also talked to Brandy's family, 0:14:35.321 --> 0:14:38.841 the DNA taken from Brandy's body was not a match 0:14:38.881 --> 0:14:39.641 to Jeremiah's. 0:14:40.481 --> 0:14:42.241 If demy case to go back in front of the 0:14:42.241 --> 0:14:45.081 Green jury, They're gonna want to know why you already 0:14:45.121 --> 0:14:47.201 got an indictment. Why would you even do that? You know, 0:14:47.441 --> 0:14:50.601 I've never understood why would you even do that? You know? 0:14:51.121 --> 0:14:54.281 But it was the assistant DA that did that. His 0:14:54.401 --> 0:14:55.601 name was Paul Raggie. 0:14:57.041 --> 0:14:59.441 I totally get why this would be traumatic for a 0:14:59.481 --> 0:15:03.321 family to hear. But if it's true that the DNA 0:15:03.361 --> 0:15:08.161 excluded JEREMIAHS as a contributor, I also understand the district 0:15:08.161 --> 0:15:11.961 attorney's decision. In a later interview, he explained that if 0:15:12.001 --> 0:15:14.561 they had gone to trial and it had been revealed 0:15:14.561 --> 0:15:17.881 the DNA was not a match, JEREMIAHS would have been acquitted. 0:15:18.401 --> 0:15:21.161 By not going to trial, they believed they would have 0:15:21.161 --> 0:15:24.761 the opportunity to retry him later if new evidence resurfaced, 0:15:25.561 --> 0:15:30.321 But it's unclear what police detective's plan was next after that. 0:15:30.601 --> 0:15:33.161 In my opinion, one of two things should have happened. 0:15:33.761 --> 0:15:37.241 Either they needed to find more evidence against their suspect, JEREMIAHS, 0:15:37.281 --> 0:15:39.521 if in fact they still believed he could be the killer, 0:15:40.161 --> 0:15:44.001 or they needed to find other potential suspects. After the 0:15:44.001 --> 0:15:47.361 grand jury came back with no bill, Brandy's family said 0:15:47.361 --> 0:15:50.681 there were a few possibilities in their minds. They considered 0:15:50.721 --> 0:15:54.041 the possibility that jeremiahs could have attacked Brandy because she 0:15:54.081 --> 0:15:57.201 had sex with someone else, or that the person who 0:15:57.281 --> 0:16:00.361 had sex with Brandy had killed her. There's also still 0:16:00.361 --> 0:16:03.001 the question of whether or not that sex was consensual. 0:16:04.121 --> 0:16:07.361 Detectives told Brandy's family there were no signs of sexual assault, 0:16:08.001 --> 0:16:10.881 but with the information that we have access to, it's 0:16:10.921 --> 0:16:15.201 just impossible to know for sure. There's another possibility that 0:16:15.321 --> 0:16:19.641 Brandy was killed by someone else entirely, or maybe more 0:16:19.681 --> 0:16:24.561 than one person. Unfortunately, after Jeremias was released, the family 0:16:24.601 --> 0:16:27.201 said they pretty much lost contact with the DA and 0:16:27.281 --> 0:16:33.001 with the detectives. Some of Brandy's family members felt that 0:16:33.121 --> 0:16:36.321 police seemed to stop looking and that Brandy was not 0:16:36.441 --> 0:16:41.081 a priority, and because no one has been caught, Brandy's 0:16:41.161 --> 0:16:43.721 family has had to scour their minds for any detail 0:16:43.721 --> 0:16:46.081 well that could give them that crucial clue that could 0:16:46.081 --> 0:16:50.441 help get justice, even when those details are horrific to relive, 0:16:51.441 --> 0:16:54.721 like the nightmarish conversation with the funeral home that Miranda 0:16:54.801 --> 0:16:57.641 says happened when Brandy's family was trying to figure out 0:16:57.681 --> 0:17:00.721 if they could have her in an open casket, something 0:17:00.761 --> 0:17:03.241 that no family should ever have to experience. 0:17:04.120 --> 0:17:06.880 There were stipulations to even have an open task to female. 0:17:07.241 --> 0:17:10.321 You know, her net has to be covered, she had 0:17:10.321 --> 0:17:13.321 to have a band on to hold her risk in 0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:18.761 the right place because it was just broken and her 0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:22.801 neck it couldn't have been any darker. And we were 0:17:22.840 --> 0:17:26.721 not supposed to look, and I did, and I wish 0:17:26.761 --> 0:17:30.160 it would have never done it because it shows how 0:17:30.241 --> 0:17:30.920 violent it was. 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:38.761 And there was something else that Miranda mentioned. Brandy wore 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:42.120 a choker necklace which was actually a dog. 0:17:41.961 --> 0:17:47.961 Collar Brandy or a dog choke chain as a necklace, 0:17:49.001 --> 0:17:51.681 and it was she used so he could have walked 0:17:51.721 --> 0:17:55.961 up on her bracker. And you know, if you grabbed 0:17:56.001 --> 0:17:58.721 somebody from a coach chain, it's going to do some 0:17:58.840 --> 0:17:59.721 major damage. 0:18:00.801 --> 0:18:03.360 Could the dog collar choke chain be a clue? 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:05.880 Could it mean that Brandy was in some sort of 0:18:05.921 --> 0:18:10.721 dominant submissive relationship with jeremiahs or with someone else. Then again, 0:18:11.001 --> 0:18:13.920 the necklace could have nothing to do with anything. The 0:18:14.001 --> 0:18:17.761 necklace could be a simple fashion choice. Was her killer 0:18:17.961 --> 0:18:21.001 using the choke chain to abuse Brandy making some kind 0:18:21.041 --> 0:18:23.840 of a statement, or was it just something that they 0:18:23.881 --> 0:18:27.521 grabbed at because it was convenient. Miranda made the point 0:18:27.601 --> 0:18:29.681 that the killer may not have known Brandy at all. 0:18:30.521 --> 0:18:33.721 If it was a stranger, If someone saw Brandy walking 0:18:33.761 --> 0:18:36.080 around late at night in that area behind the civic 0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:39.361 Center in a vulnerable state, they could have grabbed her 0:18:39.401 --> 0:18:42.761 by that choker. The choker could have made her an 0:18:42.801 --> 0:18:46.481 easier target for someone wanting to hurt her. It's just 0:18:46.641 --> 0:18:50.881 one of many details that keeps Brandy's family members and 0:18:50.961 --> 0:18:55.441 me to be honest up at night. Another question that 0:18:55.481 --> 0:19:00.041 Miranda has if detectives believed that Brandy had consensual sex 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:03.321 with someone and that it wasn't sexual assault, then why 0:19:03.321 --> 0:19:05.641 were they so focused on the DNA that was taken 0:19:05.681 --> 0:19:06.761 from Brandy's vagina. 0:19:07.281 --> 0:19:09.201 Would there not be DNA elsewhere. 0:19:08.921 --> 0:19:11.401 On her body that could be important, especially if the 0:19:11.481 --> 0:19:14.481 killing was violent and apparently she put up a fight 0:19:15.521 --> 0:19:19.321 from what detectives have told her, Miranda believes that there 0:19:19.361 --> 0:19:22.401 may have been an opportunity lost in checking Brandy's body 0:19:22.401 --> 0:19:23.120 for fingerprints. 0:19:24.121 --> 0:19:26.600 Miranda said that one of the original. 0:19:26.281 --> 0:19:29.440 Detectives on the case, Detective McCullough said that he had 0:19:29.481 --> 0:19:33.521 recently attended the FBI Crime Lab school, and there they 0:19:33.601 --> 0:19:36.281 told him what you do in cases like Brandy's is 0:19:36.361 --> 0:19:38.961 let the body air dry and then check the body 0:19:38.961 --> 0:19:42.161 for fingerprints. So that's what he told the crime lab 0:19:42.201 --> 0:19:46.401 when they received Brandy's body. However, the detective later told 0:19:46.441 --> 0:19:50.241 Brandy's family he was overruled. Miranda said the lab did 0:19:50.281 --> 0:19:52.601 not check for fingerprints around Brandy's neck. 0:19:53.601 --> 0:19:56.161 I think if they would have done that, they may 0:19:56.241 --> 0:19:58.441 have gotten a fingerprint. 0:19:59.121 --> 0:20:01.360 A reason why they might not have tested is because 0:20:01.361 --> 0:20:03.481 they might have thought that her body was too wet 0:20:03.521 --> 0:20:07.001 to get accurate fingerprints. I did some research into this, 0:20:07.080 --> 0:20:11.081 and apparently in order to get fingerprints on bodies that 0:20:11.201 --> 0:20:14.041 get pulled out of the water, crime scene analysts use 0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:18.120 a method called small particle reagent, which means they spray 0:20:18.121 --> 0:20:21.241 a solution onto the wet skin and then this specialized 0:20:21.241 --> 0:20:24.321 solution binds to the oils and the fingerprints, and that 0:20:24.401 --> 0:20:28.681 process makes the fingerprints visible. But it's a delicate science, 0:20:29.041 --> 0:20:32.601 and if the body is too wet, prints can wash off. 0:20:35.561 --> 0:20:38.921 Four years after the charges against Jeremiah were dropped in 0:20:38.961 --> 0:20:42.241 two thousand and seven, Miranda said she and her family 0:20:42.401 --> 0:20:48.001 heard nothing from detective and then in twenty nineteen, investigators 0:20:48.041 --> 0:21:02.600 called Miranda out of the blue. In twenty nineteen, Brandy's sister, 0:21:02.840 --> 0:21:04.681 Miranda got a call from the police. 0:21:05.521 --> 0:21:09.721 They did call me in twenty nineteen. They lift my 0:21:09.801 --> 0:21:12.961 number up online and they said we need you to 0:21:12.961 --> 0:21:15.001 come in and we need to talk to you. 0:21:15.921 --> 0:21:19.281 According to Miranda, the police detectives told her that DNA 0:21:19.361 --> 0:21:22.121 technology had improved and that they wanted to do some 0:21:22.121 --> 0:21:26.481 more testing with DNA in regards to Brandy's case. Miranda 0:21:26.840 --> 0:21:29.801 wasn't sure exactly what they were testing, if it was 0:21:29.881 --> 0:21:33.201 just the DNA found in Brandy's vagina, or if something else, 0:21:33.441 --> 0:21:36.321 possibly the Halloween mask that was found near Brandy's body, 0:21:36.641 --> 0:21:37.880 could be tested for DNA. 0:21:38.721 --> 0:21:40.360 That's when they tell me they're going to run some 0:21:40.641 --> 0:21:44.681 things throes. I think, I'm not I'm sure if it's 0:21:44.721 --> 0:21:49.961 the FBI or PS. But it was in northern Louisiana. 0:21:50.121 --> 0:21:52.481 They were going to send some things and brunt it 0:21:52.521 --> 0:21:55.441 through CODIS because everything has changed. 0:21:56.881 --> 0:22:00.801 So CODIS, or Combined DNA Index System, is a computer 0:22:00.881 --> 0:22:05.080 program that searches the databases of DNA profiles around the country. 0:22:05.921 --> 0:22:10.481 COTIS contains DNA profiles from convicted offenders and from crime 0:22:10.521 --> 0:22:14.200 scene evidence. But CODIS isn't a magic bullet, and there 0:22:14.241 --> 0:22:16.640 are a lot of reasons why COTIS might not get. 0:22:16.481 --> 0:22:18.001 A hit on someone. 0:22:18.161 --> 0:22:20.640 If there's no match, that could potentially mean it was 0:22:20.681 --> 0:22:23.481 someone with no criminal record or who's not in the 0:22:23.481 --> 0:22:27.441 system for other reasons. Now, in the past, only state 0:22:27.481 --> 0:22:30.801 crime labs could access CODIS, which meant that investigators had 0:22:30.801 --> 0:22:34.201 to wait weeks, months, or even years to get results. 0:22:34.840 --> 0:22:40.400 But now, using rapid DNA testing machines, this process happens fast. 0:22:41.201 --> 0:22:45.281 Louisiana got their first rapid DNA testing in twenty twenty two. 0:22:45.881 --> 0:22:47.880 Now this means instead. 0:22:47.521 --> 0:22:49.321 Of having to take a cheek swab and send it 0:22:49.361 --> 0:22:52.120 to the lab and wait weeks or months, they can 0:22:52.201 --> 0:22:55.481 run a program on site at the police station and 0:22:55.521 --> 0:22:58.001 get a result in an hour and a half. Now, 0:22:58.041 --> 0:23:00.761 there have been a lot of concerns raised about this technology, 0:23:01.041 --> 0:23:04.241 including privacy concerns and the fact that everything is evolving 0:23:04.321 --> 0:23:07.640 so fast, but Louisiana was one of the first in 0:23:07.681 --> 0:23:10.680 the nation to have this technology option. Because of their laws, 0:23:11.161 --> 0:23:15.201 Louisiana allows DNA collection from suspects when they are booked. 0:23:15.761 --> 0:23:18.841 Some states don't allow DNA collection at all. Other states 0:23:18.921 --> 0:23:23.321 only allow it once there's probable cause, but Louisiana lets 0:23:23.361 --> 0:23:28.001 detectives take DNA as soon as the booking happens. Miranda 0:23:28.080 --> 0:23:31.481 said she wishes she knew what DNA testing was done 0:23:31.641 --> 0:23:35.041 and if the DNA did go through CODIS. She wonders 0:23:35.080 --> 0:23:38.160 if there was a match, even knowing that there was 0:23:38.241 --> 0:23:41.360 no match would be some type of information. But it 0:23:41.401 --> 0:23:44.120 seems like even though detectives did tell her that they 0:23:44.121 --> 0:23:47.561 were looking into Brandy's case again in twenty nineteen, which 0:23:47.641 --> 0:23:51.400 was before rapid DNA machines were available outside crime labs, 0:23:52.121 --> 0:23:54.761 she wonders if they actually did send that material out 0:23:54.761 --> 0:23:58.600 for testing, because when Holly talked to detectives at around 0:23:58.601 --> 0:24:01.801 that same time period, they told her the same thing. 0:24:02.561 --> 0:24:05.001 If they told Holly this same exact thing, so that 0:24:05.121 --> 0:24:08.041 heals me they haven't even sent that step And what 0:24:08.161 --> 0:24:11.441 year was that they told maybe twenty nineteen, because by 0:24:11.481 --> 0:24:14.080 now you would have gotten it back, you would have 0:24:14.080 --> 0:24:17.361 at least gotten a DNA profile, not saying you would 0:24:17.361 --> 0:24:19.120 have got a hit, but you would at least have 0:24:19.201 --> 0:24:22.400 a profile. But they told Holly the same thing, then 0:24:22.441 --> 0:24:24.920 they were going to be sending sets why haven't you 0:24:24.961 --> 0:24:25.601 seen it yet? 0:24:26.481 --> 0:24:30.521 So, in the absence of more information, we find ourselves 0:24:30.561 --> 0:24:34.721 pouring over tiny details from Brandy's family, details that could 0:24:34.840 --> 0:24:40.880 help lead to the missing piece. In this case, we 0:24:41.041 --> 0:24:44.521 have gotten a few more details about Brandy's belongings. We know, 0:24:44.681 --> 0:24:47.761 for example, Brandy's purse was found near her body, but 0:24:47.801 --> 0:24:50.721