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Speaker 1: School of Humans. Helen Got Murder Line actively investigates cold

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Speaker 1: case murders in an effort to raise public awareness invite

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Speaker 1: witnesses to come forward and present evidence that could potentially

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Speaker 1: be further investigated by law enforcement. While we value insights

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Speaker 1: from family and community members, their statements should not be

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Speaker 1: considered evidence and point to the challenges of verifying facts

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Speaker 1: inherent in cold cases. We remind listeners that everyone has

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Speaker 1: presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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Speaker 1: Nothing in the podcast is intended to state or imply

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Speaker 1: that anyone who has not been convicted of a crime

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Speaker 1: is guilty of any wrongdoing. Thanks for listening.

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Speaker 2: On November fifth, two thousand and five, a jogger was

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Speaker 2: out running beside a lake in Lake Charles, Louisiana, behind

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Speaker 2: the Civic Center, when they saw something floating in the water.

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Speaker 2: When the jogger took a closer look, they realized it

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Speaker 2: was the body of a woman. Police identified the victim

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Speaker 2: as thirty two year old Brandy Renee Dyson, a mother

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Speaker 2: of three who had recently been made homeless after Hurricanes

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Speaker 2: Katrina and Rita. Those hurricanes devastated the state of Louisiana.

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Speaker 2: It's been almost twenty years. There's been one arrest and

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Speaker 2: a lot of controversy, but Brandy's case is still unsolved.

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Speaker 2: There's a lot we don't know about Brandy's murder, but

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Speaker 2: we do know that it was violent. Her father, Adley

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Speaker 2: Dyson told a local news station, quote, we had to

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Speaker 2: bury her in a turtle necktwater because she was strangled

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Speaker 2: and she was thrown in the lake end quote.

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Speaker 3: I'm Catherine Townsend.

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Speaker 2: Over the past five years of making my true crime podcast,

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Speaker 2: Healing Gone, I've learned that there is no such thing

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Speaker 2: as a small town where murder never happens. I've received

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Speaker 2: hundreds of messages from people all around the country asking

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Speaker 2: for help with an unsolved murder that's affected them, their families,

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Speaker 2: and their communities. If you have a case you'd like

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Speaker 2: me and my team to look into, you can reach

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Speaker 2: out to us at our Helen Gone Murder Line at

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Speaker 2: six seven eight seven four four six one four or five.

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Speaker 2: That's six seven eight seven four four six one four five.

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Speaker 2: This is Helen Gone Murder Line. A lot of time

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Speaker 2: periods in Brandy Dyson's life are still unaccounted for. We

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Speaker 2: and even the people closest to her didn't always know

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Speaker 2: what was going on. What we do know were piecing

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Speaker 2: together through her sister Miranda and her daughter Holly. Brandy

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Speaker 2: Dyson was born on November one, nineteen seventy three. Growing up,

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Speaker 2: her family was mostly based in Louisiana, and both her

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Speaker 2: daughter Holly and her sister Miranda told us that Brandy

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Speaker 2: had a tough life. She struggled with mental health issues

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Speaker 2: and addiction. Brandy had three children, a son who she

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Speaker 2: had when she was around seventeen years old and later

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Speaker 2: gave up for adoption, a daughter, Holly, and a second

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Speaker 2: son who she gave birth to a few months before

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Speaker 2: she died. Brandy was out of contact with a lot

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Speaker 2: of her family for several years before she was killed,

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Speaker 2: and finding information on where she lived during that time

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Speaker 2: period is challenging. American Press did a story on the case,

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Speaker 2: and there's a video on YouTube with comments under it.

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Speaker 2: One of the commenters said that they knew Brandy from

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Speaker 2: when Brandy was in Texas for a job corp job

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Speaker 2: at the age of sixteen. Later from her family, we

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Speaker 2: know that Brandy lived in New York City for several years.

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Speaker 4: She didn't like small town life.

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Speaker 5: We came from a small town.

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Speaker 6: She didn't like that lifestyle.

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Speaker 5: You know, like it was too slow for her. She

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Speaker 5: went to New York City. She stayed there for ten years.

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Speaker 6: She liked that.

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Speaker 2: We talked to Miranda. She talked about Brandy's trouble times

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Speaker 2: when she was a teenager. After living in different places

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Speaker 2: on and off, at some point, her family thinks about

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Speaker 2: a year before her death, Brandy came back to kinder. Now,

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Speaker 2: her daughter, Holly, who was just ten years old when

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Speaker 2: her mom was brutally murdered, has been reaching out to

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Speaker 2: true crime podcasters, media, and anyone else who she thinks

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Speaker 2: may help spread the word and hopefully get answers and justice.

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Speaker 2: Holly was raised by her aunt and uncle. She said

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Speaker 2: that while it was hard to grow up without her mother,

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Speaker 2: Brandy made what she believes was the most loving and

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Speaker 2: unselfish decision that she could have in those circumstances to

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Speaker 2: give her children up so that they could be raised

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Speaker 2: in more stable homes.

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Speaker 6: You know, she had a baby very very young and

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Speaker 6: gave them up for adoption. I know she had some

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Speaker 6: issues within her own family. Two three times she had

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Speaker 6: to make that impossible decision to let somebody else take

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Speaker 6: care for baby and when I drop my son off

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Speaker 6: at daycare, I feel mom guilt and I can only

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Speaker 6: imagine what she went through with that. But she did

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Speaker 6: the right thing and I will always admire her for that.

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Speaker 6: She had her issues. She had schizo effective disorder, which

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Speaker 6: at the time she had a bipolar in schizophrenia, but

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Speaker 6: now what we call it is gizo effective disorder.

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Speaker 2: Both Miranda and Holly believed that Brandy, due to circumstances,

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Speaker 2: might have turned to sex work a few times in

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Speaker 2: her life. Now, I want to be clear, I do

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Speaker 2: not judge her for her lifestyle, but I do believe

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Speaker 2: it's important to mention here because if that is the case,

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Speaker 2: there could be a larger pool of suspects to consider.

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Speaker 2: From what we understand, it appears that Brandy was not

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Speaker 2: taking medication for her schizo effective disorder, but at times

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Speaker 2: she did self medicate with alcohol.

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Speaker 6: She kind of just never felt at peace in this world,

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Speaker 6: and I think her demons kind of reared its head

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Speaker 6: through drinking. You know. I remember her writing these for

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Speaker 6: a couple of and I didn't know this at the time.

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Speaker 6: My nana has told me this when I had gotten older,

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Speaker 6: but she wrote me from rehabs that she was in

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Speaker 6: or like Jill's, you know.

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Speaker 2: Miranda said that her and Brandy's parents agreed with Brandy's

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Speaker 2: decision to give up her son at age seventeen because

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Speaker 2: even then Brandy was struggling with substance abuse.

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Speaker 5: Even then, Brandy had some mantal illness.

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Speaker 3: She drank young, so like.

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Speaker 7: Sixteen seventeen, and that's when she would have her her

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Speaker 7: manic failed.

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Speaker 6: When she would drink.

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Speaker 7: As long as she was sober, they needn't have any.

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Speaker 4: You know, she was good.

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Speaker 2: There is still a lot of very basic information that

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Speaker 2: Holly doesn't know about her mother's life. There are a

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Speaker 2: lot of blank spaces and blank years.

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Speaker 6: I don't know if she was working. I don't know

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Speaker 6: really what she did for work.

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Speaker 8: It's not like she had like a trade or whatever.

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Speaker 6: So yeah, I think she's pretty broke most of the time.

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Speaker 2: Holly said that when Brandy came back to kinder Louisiana,

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Speaker 2: she was pregnant.

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Speaker 3: She was living with her uncle.

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Speaker 2: She gave birth to her baby son in July two

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Speaker 2: thousand and five, and then she moved into her own apartment,

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Speaker 2: and for a while, Brandy appeared to be on a

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Speaker 2: more stable path.

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Speaker 8: I remember talking to her after she had my little brother.

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Speaker 6: And we were both so excited for him to come

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Speaker 6: into this world because I always wanted a baby brother.

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Speaker 8: And she thought that, you know, maybe that would help

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Speaker 8: her get her stuff together. But after she got displaced

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Speaker 8: from the hurricane, after she she took on those people

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Speaker 8: that were displaced by the hurricane, I think that kind

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Speaker 8: of knocked her back down a little bit, and I

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Speaker 8: think she started drinking again.

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Speaker 2: What Holly's talking about is that when Hurricane Katrina hit

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Speaker 2: in two thousand and five, a lot of people evacuated

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Speaker 2: to Kinder, Louisiana. Brandy took in refugees in her apartment,

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Speaker 2: but that decision resulted in her being evicted, so she

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Speaker 2: left her newborn son with her uncle. I'm not actually

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Speaker 2: sure if she left her son with her uncle before

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Speaker 2: or after she was evicted, but in any case, her

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Speaker 2: son was not with her when she left and moved

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Speaker 2: in to the Late Charles Civic Center, about forty minutes

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Speaker 2: away from Kinder, where many people in Louisiana were sheltering

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Speaker 2: after having to evacuate their homes from the storm.

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Speaker 3: And I want to back up a minute here.

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Speaker 2: And go over some of the chaos that was happening

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Speaker 2: in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina made landfall in August twenty ninth,

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Speaker 2: two thousand and five. To help give some context for

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Speaker 2: Brandy's final days, this storm was absolutely devastating for the

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Speaker 2: state of Louisiana. After Katrina hit New Orleans, thirty thousand

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Speaker 2: evacuees built the New Orleans Supernome. They were trapped inside

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Speaker 2: there for days with no power and running out of supplies,

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Speaker 2: and then FEMA left the area for their own safety.

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Speaker 2: I remember seeing footage of this on television and it

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Speaker 2: was absolutely horrifying. There was a breakdown in law and order.

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Speaker 2: There were no working bathrooms, there were feces on walls,

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Speaker 2: fights breaking out over food and water, and multiple reports

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Speaker 2: of rape and sexual assault. Some of the more horrific rumors,

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Speaker 2: like bodies of children piling up in the basement, were

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Speaker 2: later disputed by law enforcement. A report on NPR pointed

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Speaker 2: out that while some of them were outrageous claims may

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Speaker 2: have been proven false, others, like sexual assaults, were almost

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Speaker 2: certainly underreported. According to the state Department of Health and Hospitals,

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Speaker 2: there were ten deaths in the Superdome, including two suspected murders,

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Speaker 2: and then, while the state was still reeling from the

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Speaker 2: horrific impacts both environmental and social, of Katrina, Hurricane Rita

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Speaker 2: hit just a few weeks later. Hurricane Rita made landfall

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Speaker 2: on September twenty fourth, two thousand and five.

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Speaker 3: In Cameron Parish.

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Speaker 2: It was a Category three storm with storm surges of

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Speaker 2: up to eighteen feet and sixteen inches of rain. Even

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Speaker 2: though it didn't get as much media attention at the time,

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Speaker 2: the devastating flooding caused by Rita literally white towns off

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Speaker 2: the map. Parishes in southwest Louisiana were overwhelmed, Levies and

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Speaker 2: New Orleans finally broke. There was a rise in crime

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Speaker 2: and a loss of police manpower. Rita, by the way,

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Speaker 2: has been called the forgotten storm because most people remember

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Speaker 2: Katrina and the images of people on top of their

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Speaker 2: cars begging for someone from the government to come help,

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Speaker 2: or the images of people at the Superdome.

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Speaker 3: In New Orleans.

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Speaker 2: The storm surge flooded downtown Lake Charles and damaged the

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Speaker 2: Civic Center, where the evacuees were seeking shelter and where

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Speaker 2: Brandy was living after being evicted from her apartment, and

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Speaker 2: it was here at the Civic Center where Brandy's life,

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Speaker 2: which had been on the road stability, started to spiral

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Speaker 2: out of control. After she was evicted from her apartment,

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Speaker 2: Brandy moved into the Lake Charles Civic Center, where a

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Speaker 2: lot of evacuees from the hurricanes were staying, and it

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Speaker 2: was around this time that Brandy started drinking again.

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Speaker 5: She's staying at the Civic Center, she gets picked up

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Speaker 5: or disturbing the peace, so they kick her out of

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Speaker 5: the civic center, so she makes a makeshift shelter outside

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Speaker 5: of the city center.

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Speaker 2: So drinking broke the civic center's rules. Brandy was kicked

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Speaker 2: out of the civic Center, but she stayed close to

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Speaker 2: the building. According to reports, she set up camp in

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Speaker 2: the area of the pier, which was just a few

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Speaker 2: feet away from the Civic Center. Polly said she was

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Speaker 2: unsure who her mom's friends were at the time of

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Speaker 2: the storm, or even if Brandy had a cell phone,

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Speaker 2: but there was someone hanging out with Brandy at her

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Speaker 2: shelter on November fourth. Police have said that this was

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Speaker 2: a man named Jeremiah Salazar, and according to Holly, they

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Speaker 2: had been hanging out prior to that. Miranda said detectives

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Speaker 2: told her how they figured out that JEREMIAHS and Brandy

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Speaker 2: had been hanging out.

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Speaker 7: The only things that I know about him is what

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Speaker 7: the detective told me, Like, we didn't know him.

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Speaker 9: We were all this place, we were all homeless.

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Speaker 4: I was living in Alabama when she died, So this

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Speaker 4: is how they got to kid him. So when Brandy

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Speaker 4: was found, her fingerprints was in the system because she

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Speaker 4: had been arrested a few days before, so they were

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Speaker 4: able to identify her really fast because of it. But

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Speaker 4: when they ran her name or they might have found.

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Speaker 9: This ticket because she was living off that pier m HM.

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Speaker 7: Instead there was another ticket tied to that ticket for

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Speaker 7: her in sala'sorber going to Tacoma, Washington together. Well, her

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Speaker 7: body comes up, so they think that he's going to

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Speaker 7: change his course, but they have police waiting to see

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Speaker 7: if he's going to or not.

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Speaker 2: After Brandy was murdered, Apparently, JEREMIAHS did follow through on

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Speaker 2: his plans to go to Tacoma, but detectives were able

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Speaker 2: to arrest him and extradied him back to Louisiana. He

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Speaker 2: denied having anything to do with Brandy's murder and what

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Speaker 2: happened the night of November fourth, leading into the early

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Speaker 2: morning hours of November fifth, is still a mystery. Miranda

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Speaker 2: and Holly were told by detectives that Brandy and Jeremiahs

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Speaker 2: went to a bar close to the civic Center called

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Speaker 2: Crystals on the night of November fourth. Now, reviews of

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Speaker 2: this bar online indicate that it was apparently a gay bar,

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Speaker 2: but it was also one of the only bars that

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Speaker 2: was openly after the hurricane hit.

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Speaker 3: They believe something happened at that bar.

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Speaker 2: Now, one theory that Brandy's family told us detectives mentioned

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Speaker 2: to them was that Jeremias could have gotten annoyed when

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Speaker 2: he saw Brandy talking to or possibly flirting with another man,

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Speaker 2: and that Jeremiahs left that bar without Brandy. Holly talks

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Speaker 2: about this now, again, this is just speculation on her part.

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Speaker 2: She's describing what members of her family have heard from

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Speaker 2: the Lake Charles Police detectives over the years.

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Speaker 6: I think that they were probably more just like drinking buddies,

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Speaker 6: or they might have had a relationship, but all of

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Speaker 6: that has been kind of kept in the dark from us.

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Speaker 7: And.

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Speaker 6: My family in Louisiana didn't know who who he was either.

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Speaker 6: They had never heard of.

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Speaker 10: Him, but it wasn't unusual for her to kind of

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Speaker 10: keep it, yeah, cease communication for some weeks or.

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Speaker 6: Some months, you know.

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Speaker 9: And it just said they had a relationship, that didn't

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Speaker 9: say what typ.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, I think that it was. I think it was

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Speaker 6: somewhat romantic, actually, but that's just me speculating.

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Speaker 9: And she was seen going to the bar Crystals with

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Speaker 9: him from midnight to two am, and then he left,

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Speaker 9: she staved and drank, and then the theory is that

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Speaker 9: she became intimate with another man. He came back and

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Speaker 9: saw that he became upset.

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Speaker 2: We don't know for sure what happened after Brandy went

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Speaker 2: to this bar. What we do know is that the

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Speaker 2: next morning, November fifth, that jogger found Brandy's body. We

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Speaker 2: also don't know much about the condition of Brandy's body.

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Speaker 2: We have sent boy a request for the case file,

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Speaker 2: but so far we've been denied due to this being

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Speaker 2: an open investigation. Polly has requested a copy of Brandy's

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Speaker 2: autopsy as a family member, but so far we have

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Speaker 2: not heard back.

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Speaker 3: We will keep you posted.

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Speaker 2: The Lake Charles Police Department was able to identify Brandy

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Speaker 2: through fingerprints. They told Brandy's family the murder had been violent,

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Speaker 2: and that they believed that Brandy had been strangled, exphyxiated,

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Speaker 2: and thrown into the lake. Police found a few clues

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Speaker 2: there was a Halloween mask near Brandy's body, but even

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Speaker 2: though according to Brandy's family, she had DNA inside her,

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Speaker 2: detectives apparently concluded there was no evidence of sexual assault.

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Speaker 2: Holly remembers the funeral and the shock of losing her

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Speaker 2: mother so suddenly, and of saying goodbye to her. Over

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Speaker 2: the years, Holly has reached out to her older brother,

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Speaker 2: the one who was given up for adoption when Brandy

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Speaker 2: was seventeen. Holly talked about the emotion of finding him

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Speaker 2: and telling him that he had a sister and that

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Speaker 2: his biological mother had been brutally murdered.

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Speaker 6: He didn't know about my mom.

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Speaker 5: We're not super super closed.

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Speaker 6: I think I talked to him like last Christmas, but

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Speaker 6: I remember my mom telling me about him and I

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00:18:59,401 --> 00:19:04,680
Speaker 6: had always loved him, and just telling him that, Hey, like,

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Speaker 6: I know this is a lot for you, but I

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Speaker 6: just want you to know that I have always thought

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Speaker 6: about you. I have always cared about you. Your mom

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Speaker 6: always loved you. She talked about you, and I think

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Speaker 6: he had a really good life. His adoptive mom did

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Speaker 6: a great job. He is happy.

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Speaker 2: From what Holly has been told by detectives, the last

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Speaker 2: time that Brandy was seen alive was between midnight and

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Speaker 2: two am on November fifth, two thousand and five, at

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Speaker 2: the nightclub with a man. From witness descriptions, police were

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Speaker 2: able to draw sketch of a man whom Brandy was

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Speaker 2: seen hanging out with at the club. From that and

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Speaker 2: from other clues, they identified JEREMIAHS.

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Speaker 3: Salzark.

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Speaker 2: At the time, he had long brown hair. He was

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Speaker 2: also six feet tall. We don't know much about JEREMIAHS.

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Speaker 3: Either.

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Speaker 2: We know that he's from Leveland, Texas, and that he

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Speaker 2: did have some prior arrests, but we can't find a

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Speaker 2: record of him being arrested for anything violent. There were

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Speaker 2: some drug charges, also some glittering and indecent exposure charges that,

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Speaker 2: based on his history, could possibly have come from him

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Speaker 2: camping out in populated areas. By the time detectives identified him,

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Speaker 2: JEREMIAHS had already left Louisiana.

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Speaker 3: He was on his way to Tacoma, Washington, so they

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Speaker 3: drove back.

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Speaker 1: He called.

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Speaker 4: There was an s There was an evidence for an indictment, so.

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Speaker 3: Late Charles police went to Washington.

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Speaker 2: They went through the process of having JEREMIAHS arrested and

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Speaker 2: extradited back to Louisiana. Police said they believed JEREMIAHS and

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Speaker 2: Brandy knew each other. Sergeant Mark Krause with the Lake

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Speaker 2: Charles Police Department told a news station, quote, there was

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Speaker 2: some relationship, whether it be friends or something more substantial

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Speaker 2: between the two, and that's where we began our investigation

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Speaker 2: end quote. And three months after Brandy's body was found

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Speaker 2: in that lake behind the Civic Center, JEREMIAHS. Salazar was

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Speaker 2: charged with her murder. In January of two thousand and six,

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Speaker 2: four months after Brandy was brutally murdered in Lake Charles, JEREMIAHS.

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Speaker 2: Salazar was charged with Brandy's murder. Police got him extradited

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Speaker 2: from Washington State. He was brought back to Louisiana and

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Speaker 2: incarcerated in the Calcashu Jail. His bond was set at

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Speaker 2: a million dollars. But then there was a shocking turn

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Speaker 2: of events in this case. At first, the grand jury

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Speaker 2: returned true bill, meaning they believe there was enough evidence

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Speaker 2: to indict Jeremiahs. But then they met again this time,

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Speaker 2: they returned a no bill, which means they no longer

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Speaker 2: believed that there was enough evidence to charge him. I

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Speaker 2: want to put in a quick caveat here. There's a

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Speaker 2: lot we don't know about this DNA sample. We don't

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Speaker 2: know how much of a sample there was, how much

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Speaker 2: of it was degraded, or if there were issues with testing.

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Speaker 2: There's no evidence that that was the case, but I

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Speaker 2: just want to put it out there. I found an

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Speaker 2: interview with the district attorney in the case from back

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Speaker 2: in twenty eleven, six years after Brandy's murder on American Press.

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Speaker 2: In that interview, the DA says that DNA testing quote

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Speaker 2: excluded Jeremiahs. The district attorney said at that time the

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Speaker 2: grand jury felt that there was not sufficient probable cause

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Speaker 2: to go forward, but he added that if law enforcement

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Speaker 2: got any new evidence, they could reindict Jeremiahs or indict

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Speaker 2: another defendant. Miranda said she had regular contact with the

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Speaker 2: detectives on the case until Jeremias was taken in front

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Speaker 2: of the grand jury. She said the no bill decision

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00:22:51,761 --> 00:22:55,120
Speaker 2: was devastating for their family. So now there were a

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00:22:55,121 --> 00:23:00,041
Speaker 2: couple of questions outstanding. Some detectives apparently thought maybe Brandy

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Speaker 2: had sexual intercourse with someone else, someone other than JEREMIAHS,

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Speaker 2: and that JEREMIAHS had attacked her in a jealous rage,

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Speaker 2: But of course a very real other possibility is that

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Speaker 2: it was someone else. Entirely after Jeremiah was released, no

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Speaker 2: new suspects were ever arrested. In the same interview where

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Speaker 2: Brandy's father had mentioned that they had to bury her

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Speaker 2: in a turtleneck, he pointed out there had been a

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Speaker 2: police officer murdered and brought to justice within a few

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Speaker 2: days at around the same time Brandy was murdered. He said,

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Speaker 2: just because Brandy was homeless and had mental health issues

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00:23:39,961 --> 00:23:43,521
Speaker 2: and addiction issues, that did not mean that her case

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Speaker 2: was any less important. The Lake Charles Police Department said

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Speaker 2: that they had tried to solve this case. They had

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Speaker 2: even gone so far as to go to another state

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Speaker 2: file charges extradite someone back, and they said they would

377
00:23:57,161 --> 00:24:02,161
Speaker 2: pursue any additional information that was given. However, the reality

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00:24:02,401 --> 00:24:05,640
Speaker 2: is that in Louisiana, both during and after Katrina and

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00:24:05,721 --> 00:24:10,321
Speaker 2: even today, law enforcement has a vast number of cases

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00:24:10,361 --> 00:24:12,481
Speaker 2: they need to clear, and new ones are piling up

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00:24:12,521 --> 00:24:18,201
Speaker 2: every day. Another thing that Holly has wondered over the years,

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00:24:18,761 --> 00:24:22,881
Speaker 2: is if Brandy's case could have any connection to other cases,

383
00:24:23,321 --> 00:24:26,561
Speaker 2: including the eight women who were killed in Jefferson Davis

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00:24:26,601 --> 00:24:31,001
Speaker 2: Parish that's right next to Calcashu Parish. They're known as

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Speaker 2: the jeff Davis a or the Jennings. A. Journalist Ethan

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00:24:34,641 --> 00:24:37,521
Speaker 2: Brown wrote a book about these unsolved murders and corruption

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Speaker 2: in the parish. It's called Murder in the Bayou. The

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00:24:41,161 --> 00:24:45,161
Speaker 2: first body was found on May twentieth, tive. A twenty

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Speaker 2: eight year old named Loretta Lynn Chase and Lewis was

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00:24:47,961 --> 00:24:51,440
Speaker 2: found in a canal in Jennings in the Jefferson Davis Parish.

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Speaker 3: Loretta was addicted to crack.

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Speaker 2: A lot of these cases were linked to the drug

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Speaker 2: trade that went down Interstate ten. There's also By the Way,

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00:25:03,121 --> 00:25:06,361
Speaker 2: an investigation discovery show based on Ethan's book, also called

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Speaker 2: Murder in the Bayeux. On June eighteenth, two thousand and five,

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Speaker 2: a thirty year old sex worker named Ernestine Marie Daniels

397
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Speaker 2: Patterson was also found in a canal south of Jennings.

398
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Speaker 2: Her throat had been slashed, her wrists were bound together.

399
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Speaker 2: This was a violent struggle to the death in Ernestine's case,

400
00:25:23,321 --> 00:25:26,400
Speaker 2: two men were arrested in charge with her murder, but

401
00:25:26,641 --> 00:25:30,241
Speaker 2: the charges were later dropped. On March eighteenth, two thousand

402
00:25:30,281 --> 00:25:32,921
Speaker 2: and seven, the nude body of twenty one year old

403
00:25:33,041 --> 00:25:37,241
Speaker 2: Kristin Lopez was found in a canal near Jennings. Kristin

404
00:25:37,361 --> 00:25:41,001
Speaker 2: was wearing only one sock on her left foot. Again,

405
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Speaker 2: two people were arrested in charge with Christian's murder, but

406
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Speaker 2: they were later released due to lack of evidence. Over

407
00:25:48,401 --> 00:25:51,281
Speaker 2: the next year and a half, four more victims were

408
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Speaker 2: found in that area. Twenty six year old Whitney Dubois,

409
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Speaker 2: twenty three year old Laconia Muggy Brown, twenty four year

410
00:25:58,241 --> 00:26:02,041
Speaker 2: old Crystal shab Bin Wazino, and seventeen year old Britney Gary.

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Speaker 2: All of these women were found in or around Jennings.

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Speaker 2: All of them reportedly had ties to sex work. Almost

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Speaker 2: all of the killings, according to police, were believed to

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Speaker 2: be caused by strangling or asphyxia. Only one Ernestine's involved

415
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Speaker 2: a stabbing. In August of two thousand and nine, twenty

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00:26:21,801 --> 00:26:25,281
Speaker 2: six year old Nicole Gilliery was found. This was in

417
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Speaker 2: a neighboring parish, Acadia Parish, but also near the iten.

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Speaker 3: So a task.

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Speaker 2: Force was formed between local law enforcement and federal and

420
00:26:34,521 --> 00:26:38,041
Speaker 2: state authorities, but progress was slow and they seemed to

421
00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:40,241
Speaker 2: have a lot of different theories about who was killing

422
00:26:40,321 --> 00:26:44,561
Speaker 2: these women. It's interesting because the sheriff and Jefferson Davis

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00:26:44,561 --> 00:26:48,120
Speaker 2: Parish Sheriff Edwards said he believed the killings could be

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Speaker 2: the work of a common offender, which a lot of

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00:26:50,801 --> 00:26:54,681
Speaker 2: people took to mean one serial killer work in the area.

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Speaker 2: But after reviewing a lot of public information and reading

427
00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:01,641
Speaker 2: Ethan Brown's excellent book, I agree with him. I think

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00:27:01,681 --> 00:27:04,761
Speaker 2: the evidence does not point to one single serial killer.

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00:27:05,881 --> 00:27:09,481
Speaker 2: What we do see are a lot of allegations of

430
00:27:09,521 --> 00:27:13,801
Speaker 2: police corruption and certain members of local law enforcement possibly

431
00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:17,761
Speaker 2: being involved in drug deals, and of law enforcement looking

432
00:27:17,801 --> 00:27:22,080
Speaker 2: the other way when certain types of crimes occurred. In fact,

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Speaker 2: one of the most shocking statistics I saw in Ethan

434
00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:29,481
Speaker 2: Brown's book was one about homicide clearance rates. He said,

435
00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:35,001
Speaker 2: in Calcashu Parish, where Brandy was murdered, the homicide clearance

436
00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:38,481
Speaker 2: rate is seven percent. I couldn't believe I read that right.

437
00:27:38,521 --> 00:27:41,801
Speaker 2: I had to read that a couple times. That means, presumably,

438
00:27:41,881 --> 00:27:45,080
Speaker 2: if that's correct, in that pair, you have a ninety

439
00:27:45,161 --> 00:27:47,681
Speaker 2: three percent chance of getting away with murder, which I

440
00:27:47,761 --> 00:27:52,200
Speaker 2: find shocking. Holly hasn't been sure what to think. There

441
00:27:52,241 --> 00:27:55,521
Speaker 2: seemed to be no evidence that jeremiahs had actually harm Brandy,

442
00:27:56,161 --> 00:27:59,561
Speaker 2: But could he, as detectives apparently wondered, have hurt her

443
00:27:59,601 --> 00:28:03,361
Speaker 2: mother because she had consensual sex with someone else? Or

444
00:28:03,361 --> 00:28:07,641
Speaker 2: could someone else, maybe the person whose DNA is inside Brandy,

445
00:28:07,921 --> 00:28:14,880
Speaker 2: have assaulted and murdered her. Holly hasn't been sure what

446
00:28:14,921 --> 00:28:18,041
Speaker 2: to think. There seemed to be no evidence that Jeremiah

447
00:28:18,121 --> 00:28:22,600
Speaker 2: harm Brandy, But could he, as detectives apparently wondered, have

448
00:28:22,801 --> 00:28:26,121
Speaker 2: hurt her mother because Brandy had consensual sex with someone else?

449
00:28:27,041 --> 00:28:30,761
Speaker 2: Or could someone else, maybe the person whose DNA is

450
00:28:30,761 --> 00:28:36,241
Speaker 2: inside Brandy, have assaulted and murdered her. Her mother's death

451
00:28:36,401 --> 00:28:40,081
Speaker 2: wasn't Holly's last brush with tragedy. In two thousand and four,

452
00:28:40,321 --> 00:28:44,921
Speaker 2: her father, Daniel Cercy, was murdered tenty sixteen. A man

453
00:28:45,001 --> 00:28:47,440
Speaker 2: named Sean Pinson, who is twenty eight years old at

454
00:28:47,441 --> 00:28:50,281
Speaker 2: the time of the murder, was sentenced to seventy years

455
00:28:50,281 --> 00:28:54,241
Speaker 2: in prison for Daniel's murder. Daniel's body was bound at

456
00:28:54,241 --> 00:28:57,001
Speaker 2: the hands and feet with zip tized speaker wire and

457
00:28:57,121 --> 00:29:01,281
Speaker 2: an electrical cord. According to an arrest report, there were

458
00:29:01,281 --> 00:29:04,681
Speaker 2: cleaning supplies and a scented candle and a fan being

459
00:29:04,721 --> 00:29:10,401
Speaker 2: directed through the chimney to mass the odor. The arrest

460
00:29:10,441 --> 00:29:14,321
Speaker 2: report stated that Sean had given a friend money to

461
00:29:14,321 --> 00:29:17,801
Speaker 2: buy supplies, including bleach and an air freshener from Walmart.

462
00:29:18,601 --> 00:29:21,921
Speaker 2: A former employee and friend of Shawn's testified that Shawn

463
00:29:22,041 --> 00:29:24,721
Speaker 2: told him he wasn't going to lie anymore and that

464
00:29:24,761 --> 00:29:30,200
Speaker 2: Sean had led him to see Daniel's body. Holly said

465
00:29:30,401 --> 00:29:33,441
Speaker 2: to this day she questions whether there may have been

466
00:29:33,481 --> 00:29:36,361
Speaker 2: other people involved in her father's death, people who have

467
00:29:36,481 --> 00:29:38,041
Speaker 2: never been brought to justice.

468
00:29:38,721 --> 00:29:42,841
Speaker 6: I do believe that there are others walking free Almongos

469
00:29:42,921 --> 00:29:46,881
Speaker 6: that were involved did my dad's death. But one thing

470
00:29:46,921 --> 00:29:52,081
Speaker 6: that I have had to realize, and it took me

471
00:29:52,121 --> 00:29:55,081
Speaker 6: a long time to realize, is that I'm not going

472
00:29:55,201 --> 00:29:58,441
Speaker 6: to know everything. I'm not going to know everything about

473
00:29:58,441 --> 00:30:00,601
Speaker 6: my mom, I'm not going to know everything about my

474
00:30:00,721 --> 00:30:05,041
Speaker 6: dad's case, and I just have to kind of make

475
00:30:05,121 --> 00:30:10,161
Speaker 6: my own closure. And this is like a form of

476
00:30:11,161 --> 00:30:15,281
Speaker 6: me doing that, you know, with the Justice for Brandy

477
00:30:15,361 --> 00:30:19,361
Speaker 6: Dyson and reaching out to the podcast I'm just trying

478
00:30:19,401 --> 00:30:27,841
Speaker 6: to make some foremost closure because really, my son had

479
00:30:28,401 --> 00:30:31,401
Speaker 6: both of his grandparents taken away from him. They will

480
00:30:31,441 --> 00:30:34,761
Speaker 6: never know him, and that makes me so sad for

481
00:30:35,641 --> 00:30:38,481
Speaker 6: all of them. So yeah, I've had to like make closure.

482
00:30:38,761 --> 00:30:52,201
Speaker 6: I've had to become at peace with not knowing every again.

483
00:30:52,521 --> 00:30:56,281
Speaker 2: Police had denied our foy requests. Holly, since she's next

484
00:30:56,281 --> 00:31:00,001
Speaker 2: of Ken, is trying to get access to Brandy's autopsy.

485
00:31:00,041 --> 00:31:03,401
Speaker 2: If we had the autopsy, we could possibly find out

486
00:31:03,481 --> 00:31:06,521
Speaker 2: if there was water in Brandy's lungs, possibly what other

487
00:31:06,561 --> 00:31:09,561
Speaker 2: tests were done, and if there is any other evidence

488
00:31:09,561 --> 00:31:13,521
Speaker 2: that police may have overlooked. Plus we would know what

489
00:31:13,681 --> 00:31:18,001
Speaker 2: types of samples they took. In the meantime, she's had

490
00:31:18,081 --> 00:31:21,961
Speaker 2: frustrating encounters with the Lake Charles Police Department, especially when

491
00:31:21,961 --> 00:31:23,841
Speaker 2: it comes to asking about the Jeff Davis A.

492
00:31:25,961 --> 00:31:32,321
Speaker 6: There are eight unsolved cases thirty five miles away from

493
00:31:32,321 --> 00:31:36,161
Speaker 6: where my mom was murdered, and I think that all

494
00:31:36,201 --> 00:31:39,921
Speaker 6: of those people deserve kind their cases looked at. And

495
00:31:39,961 --> 00:31:44,081
Speaker 6: I think this is not only I think it's is

496
00:31:44,161 --> 00:31:49,961
Speaker 6: like not only a department full issue of Louisiana. It's

497
00:31:50,001 --> 00:31:53,721
Speaker 6: a systematic issue because those women were also of a

498
00:31:53,801 --> 00:31:58,961
Speaker 6: high risk lifestyle. Let me tell you exactly what they said.

499
00:32:00,401 --> 00:32:03,161
Speaker 6: The case has not been reassigned. We have four violent

500
00:32:03,241 --> 00:32:07,441
Speaker 6: crime detectives. We are investigating a homicide that occurred on twelve,

501
00:32:07,521 --> 00:32:12,081
Speaker 6: twenty nine, and we're investigating another that occurred on twenty

502
00:32:12,121 --> 00:32:16,241
Speaker 6: one before the weather of it here in els, to

503
00:32:16,401 --> 00:32:20,121
Speaker 6: my knowledge, our agency has never been the lead investigating

504
00:32:20,641 --> 00:32:24,121
Speaker 6: to since e on a case, only to pass it

505
00:32:24,161 --> 00:32:32,121
Speaker 6: off to another inner agency. And I contacted crime stoppers

506
00:32:32,161 --> 00:32:35,801
Speaker 6: in the parish and they informed me that LCPD needs

507
00:32:35,921 --> 00:32:38,641
Speaker 6: to request to feature their case on Facebook. Would you

508
00:32:38,681 --> 00:32:41,641
Speaker 6: be able to reach out to them on her behalf.

509
00:32:42,841 --> 00:32:49,721
Speaker 6: I know how underfunded and understaffed police departments are, but

510
00:32:49,841 --> 00:32:55,201
Speaker 6: that that does not give me peace, but does not

511
00:32:55,281 --> 00:33:00,481
Speaker 6: giving me justice. And I would like somebody to care

512
00:33:01,601 --> 00:33:07,841
Speaker 6: from the LCPD. It's just so that to me, I'm so,

513
00:33:07,961 --> 00:33:11,241
Speaker 6: I'm a recovering addict. I have five years sober, and

514
00:33:11,561 --> 00:33:14,841
Speaker 6: you know a lot of my addiction has dealt with

515
00:33:14,921 --> 00:33:20,321
Speaker 6: the traumas of losing my parents, and like people like me,

516
00:33:20,521 --> 00:33:23,281
Speaker 6: people like my parents don't deserve to be thrown away,

517
00:33:23,801 --> 00:33:24,001
Speaker 6: you know.

518
00:33:27,521 --> 00:33:31,961
Speaker 2: Meanwhile, Brandy's family needs someone to come forward, Someone who

519
00:33:32,001 --> 00:33:35,401
Speaker 2: may have seen Brandy at that night club or who

520
00:33:35,441 --> 00:33:37,761
Speaker 2: may have been in the area on November fourth or

521
00:33:37,801 --> 00:33:41,961
Speaker 2: November fifth, two thousand and five. There are pieces of evidence,

522
00:33:42,561 --> 00:33:45,241
Speaker 2: like the Halloween masks? What kind was it? Could it

523
00:33:45,281 --> 00:33:49,641
Speaker 2: be traced? Was their DNA taken off the mask? Also,

524
00:33:49,881 --> 00:33:51,961
Speaker 2: we have not received any part of the case file,

525
00:33:52,561 --> 00:33:55,441
Speaker 2: so we don't know if it was something her killer wore,

526
00:33:55,561 --> 00:33:57,961
Speaker 2: or if she was wearing it for some reason, or

527
00:33:58,041 --> 00:34:01,401
Speaker 2: if it was just randomly there trash that someone chucked

528
00:34:01,401 --> 00:34:04,161
Speaker 2: in the water from Halloween which had been four days earlier.

529
00:34:05,361 --> 00:34:08,521
Speaker 2: There's a killer on the loose, one who got away

530
00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:11,640
Speaker 2: with it in two thousand and five, and you very

531
00:34:11,681 --> 00:34:13,361
Speaker 2: well could still be out there.

532
00:34:14,281 --> 00:34:19,281
Speaker 6: Yeah, absolutely, Like what like, we've just let this person

533
00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:24,000
Speaker 6: be on the streets and other people could be going

534
00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:27,960
Speaker 6: through the same thing that I was, and they had them.

535
00:34:28,361 --> 00:34:29,440
Speaker 6: I try to stay.

536
00:34:29,161 --> 00:34:33,720
Speaker 8: Out of the what is uh? Yeah, there could be Oh.

537
00:34:33,641 --> 00:34:37,000
Speaker 6: There's so many what if you know? And with no

538
00:34:37,201 --> 00:34:42,201
Speaker 6: information or hardly any information, it's just it's hard.

539
00:34:45,641 --> 00:34:48,841
Speaker 2: Next week, we're gonna dig deeper into Brandy's murder. We're

540
00:34:48,881 --> 00:34:50,960
Speaker 2: going to try to retrace her steps on the night

541
00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:54,441
Speaker 2: she was killed and explore the possibility of DNA testing

542
00:34:54,521 --> 00:34:57,560
Speaker 2: and find out what the next steps could be. We're

543
00:34:57,561 --> 00:35:00,640
Speaker 2: gonna try to do a deeper dive into these parts

544
00:35:00,681 --> 00:35:05,481
Speaker 2: of Louisiana and find out why apparently in some corners

545
00:35:05,521 --> 00:35:09,281
Speaker 2: of that state, people have a greater than ninety percent

546
00:35:09,401 --> 00:35:12,841
Speaker 2: chance of getting away with murder. We want to understand

547
00:35:13,681 --> 00:35:18,160
Speaker 2: why are so many disadvantaged women being killed and dumped here.

548
00:35:20,121 --> 00:35:25,361
Speaker 2: I'm Katherine Townsend. This is Helen Gone Murder Line. Helen

549
00:35:25,401 --> 00:35:27,761
Speaker 2: Gone Murder Line is a production of School of Humans

550
00:35:27,801 --> 00:35:31,041
Speaker 2: and iHeart Podcasts. It's written and narrated by me Catherine

551
00:35:31,081 --> 00:35:34,961
Speaker 2: Townsend and produced by Gabby Watts. Special thanks to Amy

552
00:35:35,001 --> 00:35:38,601
Speaker 2: Tubbs for her research assistance. Noah Kamer mixed and scored

553
00:35:38,641 --> 00:35:42,281
Speaker 2: this episode. Our theme song is by Ben Salek. Executive

554
00:35:42,281 --> 00:35:46,801
Speaker 2: producers are Virginia Presco, Brandon Barr, and LC Crowley. Listen

555
00:35:46,841 --> 00:35:49,681
Speaker 2: to Helen Gone ad free by subscribing to the iHeart

556
00:35:49,681 --> 00:35:50,801
Speaker 2: True Crime Plus.

557
00:35:50,561 --> 00:35:51,921
Speaker 3: Channel on Apple Podcasts.

558
00:35:52,401 --> 00:35:55,080
Speaker 2: If you were interested in seeing documents and materials from

559
00:35:55,081 --> 00:35:58,361
Speaker 2: the case, you can follow the show on Instagram at

560
00:35:58,521 --> 00:36:01,561
Speaker 2: Helen gonpod. If you have a case you'd like me

561
00:36:01,601 --> 00:36:03,801
Speaker 2: and my team to look into, you can reach out

562
00:36:03,801 --> 00:36:06,321
Speaker 2: to us at our Helen Gone Murder Line at six

563
00:36:06,401 --> 00:36:10,241
Speaker 2: seven eight seven four four six one four five. That's

564
00:36:10,241 --> 00:36:13,921
Speaker 2: six seven eight seven four four six one four or five.

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00:36:19,201 --> 00:36:20,961
Speaker 1: School of Humans