WEBVTT - Hell and Gone Murder Line: Brandy Dyson 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 --> 0:01:14.000 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. 0:01:31.481 --> 0:01:34.441 On November fifth, two thousand and five, a jogger was 0:01:34.481 --> 0:01:38.081 out running beside a lake in Lake Charles, Louisiana, behind 0:01:38.080 --> 0:01:41.121 the Civic Center, when they saw something floating in the water. 0:01:42.041 --> 0:01:45.401 When the jogger took a closer look, they realized it 0:01:45.481 --> 0:01:49.481 was the body of a woman. Police identified the victim 0:01:49.561 --> 0:01:52.920 as thirty two year old Brandy Renee Dyson, a mother 0:01:53.001 --> 0:01:56.160 of three who had recently been made homeless after Hurricanes 0:01:56.240 --> 0:02:00.761 Katrina and Rita. Those hurricanes devastated the state of Louisiana. 0:02:01.641 --> 0:02:04.921 It's been almost twenty years. There's been one arrest and 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:09.121 a lot of controversy, but Brandy's case is still unsolved. 0:02:09.881 --> 0:02:13.041 There's a lot we don't know about Brandy's murder, but 0:02:13.201 --> 0:02:17.241 we do know that it was violent. Her father, Adley 0:02:17.321 --> 0:02:20.841 Dyson told a local news station, quote, we had to 0:02:20.921 --> 0:02:24.201 bury her in a turtle necktwater because she was strangled 0:02:24.401 --> 0:02:26.881 and she was thrown in the lake end quote. 0:02:27.960 --> 0:02:29.120 I'm Catherine Townsend. 0:02:29.721 --> 0:02:32.800 Over the past five years of making my true crime podcast, 0:02:32.841 --> 0:02:35.601 Healing Gone, I've learned that there is no such thing 0:02:35.721 --> 0:02:39.561 as a small town where murder never happens. I've received 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:43.081 hundreds of messages from people all around the country asking 0:02:43.121 --> 0:02:46.841 for help with an unsolved murder that's affected them, their families, 0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:50.481 and their communities. If you have a case you'd like 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:52.721 me and my team to look into, you can reach 0:02:52.761 --> 0:02:55.481 out to us at our Helen Gone Murder Line at 0:02:55.521 --> 0:02:58.961 six seven eight seven four four six one four or five. 0:02:59.561 --> 0:03:03.521 That's six seven eight seven four four six one four five. 0:03:06.761 --> 0:04:00.201 This is Helen Gone Murder Line. A lot of time 0:04:00.321 --> 0:04:04.601 periods in Brandy Dyson's life are still unaccounted for. We 0:04:04.841 --> 0:04:07.521 and even the people closest to her didn't always know 0:04:07.601 --> 0:04:10.721 what was going on. What we do know were piecing 0:04:10.761 --> 0:04:15.201 together through her sister Miranda and her daughter Holly. Brandy 0:04:15.281 --> 0:04:20.241 Dyson was born on November one, nineteen seventy three. Growing up, 0:04:20.801 --> 0:04:24.561 her family was mostly based in Louisiana, and both her 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:28.400 daughter Holly and her sister Miranda told us that Brandy 0:04:28.481 --> 0:04:31.801 had a tough life. She struggled with mental health issues 0:04:32.041 --> 0:04:37.121 and addiction. Brandy had three children, a son who she 0:04:37.281 --> 0:04:40.160 had when she was around seventeen years old and later 0:04:40.241 --> 0:04:44.001 gave up for adoption, a daughter, Holly, and a second 0:04:44.081 --> 0:04:46.520 son who she gave birth to a few months before 0:04:46.561 --> 0:04:49.521 she died. Brandy was out of contact with a lot 0:04:49.521 --> 0:04:52.080 of her family for several years before she was killed, 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:55.520 and finding information on where she lived during that time 0:04:55.601 --> 0:04:59.960 period is challenging. American Press did a story on the case, 0:05:00.281 --> 0:05:02.761 and there's a video on YouTube with comments under it. 0:05:03.521 --> 0:05:06.361 One of the commenters said that they knew Brandy from 0:05:06.361 --> 0:05:08.721 when Brandy was in Texas for a job corp job 0:05:08.801 --> 0:05:12.121 at the age of sixteen. Later from her family, we 0:05:12.201 --> 0:05:15.401 know that Brandy lived in New York City for several years. 0:05:16.201 --> 0:05:17.441 She didn't like small town life. 0:05:17.481 --> 0:05:18.601 We came from a small town. 0:05:19.201 --> 0:05:21.201 She didn't like that lifestyle. 0:05:20.801 --> 0:05:23.200 You know, like it was too slow for her. She 0:05:23.281 --> 0:05:26.961 went to New York City. She stayed there for ten years. 0:05:27.641 --> 0:05:28.241 She liked that. 0:05:29.241 --> 0:05:33.041 We talked to Miranda. She talked about Brandy's trouble times 0:05:33.081 --> 0:05:37.001 when she was a teenager. After living in different places 0:05:37.041 --> 0:05:40.321 on and off, at some point, her family thinks about 0:05:40.321 --> 0:05:45.601 a year before her death, Brandy came back to kinder. Now, 0:05:45.721 --> 0:05:48.361 her daughter, Holly, who was just ten years old when 0:05:48.361 --> 0:05:50.921 her mom was brutally murdered, has been reaching out to 0:05:50.961 --> 0:05:54.280 true crime podcasters, media, and anyone else who she thinks 0:05:54.281 --> 0:05:58.201 may help spread the word and hopefully get answers and justice. 0:05:59.321 --> 0:06:02.241 Holly was raised by her aunt and uncle. She said 0:06:02.281 --> 0:06:04.681 that while it was hard to grow up without her mother, 0:06:05.121 --> 0:06:08.320 Brandy made what she believes was the most loving and 0:06:08.521 --> 0:06:12.080 unselfish decision that she could have in those circumstances to 0:06:12.121 --> 0:06:14.681 give her children up so that they could be raised 0:06:14.721 --> 0:06:16.041 in more stable homes. 0:06:16.561 --> 0:06:20.041 You know, she had a baby very very young and 0:06:20.081 --> 0:06:23.121 gave them up for adoption. I know she had some 0:06:23.441 --> 0:06:27.361 issues within her own family. Two three times she had 0:06:27.361 --> 0:06:30.921 to make that impossible decision to let somebody else take 0:06:30.961 --> 0:06:34.601 care for baby and when I drop my son off 0:06:34.601 --> 0:06:38.081 at daycare, I feel mom guilt and I can only 0:06:38.081 --> 0:06:41.481 imagine what she went through with that. But she did 0:06:41.521 --> 0:06:45.641 the right thing and I will always admire her for that. 0:06:46.881 --> 0:06:50.481 She had her issues. She had schizo effective disorder, which 0:06:50.961 --> 0:06:56.121 at the time she had a bipolar in schizophrenia, but 0:06:56.281 --> 0:06:58.601 now what we call it is gizo effective disorder. 0:06:59.681 --> 0:07:05.200 Both Miranda and Holly believed that Brandy, due to circumstances, 0:07:05.401 --> 0:07:07.481 might have turned to sex work a few times in 0:07:07.521 --> 0:07:10.881 her life. Now, I want to be clear, I do 0:07:11.001 --> 0:07:14.481 not judge her for her lifestyle, but I do believe 0:07:14.521 --> 0:07:17.801 it's important to mention here because if that is the case, 0:07:18.161 --> 0:07:21.041 there could be a larger pool of suspects to consider. 0:07:21.961 --> 0:07:25.081 From what we understand, it appears that Brandy was not 0:07:25.201 --> 0:07:29.441 taking medication for her schizo effective disorder, but at times 0:07:29.561 --> 0:07:31.361 she did self medicate with alcohol. 0:07:32.241 --> 0:07:34.921 She kind of just never felt at peace in this world, 0:07:35.361 --> 0:07:38.561 and I think her demons kind of reared its head 0:07:38.721 --> 0:07:43.521 through drinking. You know. I remember her writing these for 0:07:44.481 --> 0:07:46.881 a couple of and I didn't know this at the time. 0:07:46.961 --> 0:07:50.721 My nana has told me this when I had gotten older, 0:07:50.961 --> 0:07:54.441 but she wrote me from rehabs that she was in 0:07:55.241 --> 0:07:56.601 or like Jill's, you know. 0:07:58.041 --> 0:08:02.081 Miranda said that her and Brandy's parents agreed with Brandy's 0:08:02.121 --> 0:08:05.641 decision to give up her son at age seventeen because 0:08:05.681 --> 0:08:08.721 even then Brandy was struggling with substance abuse. 0:08:09.481 --> 0:08:12.561 Even then, Brandy had some mantal illness. 0:08:12.761 --> 0:08:15.601 She drank young, so like. 0:08:15.521 --> 0:08:18.961 Sixteen seventeen, and that's when she would have her her 0:08:19.001 --> 0:08:21.041 manic failed. 0:08:20.801 --> 0:08:21.681 When she would drink. 0:08:22.961 --> 0:08:25.921 As long as she was sober, they needn't have any. 0:08:25.641 --> 0:08:27.961 You know, she was good. 0:08:29.041 --> 0:08:32.321 There is still a lot of very basic information that 0:08:32.441 --> 0:08:35.481 Holly doesn't know about her mother's life. There are a 0:08:35.481 --> 0:08:38.040 lot of blank spaces and blank years. 0:08:38.560 --> 0:08:40.561 I don't know if she was working. I don't know 0:08:41.001 --> 0:08:42.401 really what she did for work. 0:08:43.121 --> 0:08:45.761 It's not like she had like a trade or whatever. 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:49.721 So yeah, I think she's pretty broke most of the time. 0:08:50.721 --> 0:08:53.641 Holly said that when Brandy came back to kinder Louisiana, 0:08:53.920 --> 0:08:54.721 she was pregnant. 0:08:55.280 --> 0:08:56.560 She was living with her uncle. 0:08:57.160 --> 0:08:59.561 She gave birth to her baby son in July two 0:08:59.601 --> 0:09:02.761 thousand and five, and then she moved into her own apartment, 0:09:03.521 --> 0:09:06.361 and for a while, Brandy appeared to be on a 0:09:06.401 --> 0:09:07.241 more stable path. 0:09:08.081 --> 0:09:13.001 I remember talking to her after she had my little brother. 0:09:13.521 --> 0:09:17.201 And we were both so excited for him to come 0:09:17.201 --> 0:09:19.681 into this world because I always wanted a baby brother. 0:09:20.641 --> 0:09:23.201 And she thought that, you know, maybe that would help 0:09:23.241 --> 0:09:29.481 her get her stuff together. But after she got displaced 0:09:29.521 --> 0:09:33.921 from the hurricane, after she she took on those people 0:09:33.961 --> 0:09:37.081 that were displaced by the hurricane, I think that kind 0:09:37.121 --> 0:09:40.280 of knocked her back down a little bit, and I 0:09:40.361 --> 0:09:41.841 think she started drinking again. 0:09:42.881 --> 0:09:45.961 What Holly's talking about is that when Hurricane Katrina hit 0:09:46.001 --> 0:09:48.841 in two thousand and five, a lot of people evacuated 0:09:48.841 --> 0:09:53.281 to Kinder, Louisiana. Brandy took in refugees in her apartment, 0:09:54.041 --> 0:09:57.361 but that decision resulted in her being evicted, so she 0:09:57.521 --> 0:10:00.561 left her newborn son with her uncle. I'm not actually 0:10:00.601 --> 0:10:03.041 sure if she left her son with her uncle before 0:10:03.241 --> 0:10:06.121 or after she was evicted, but in any case, her 0:10:06.201 --> 0:10:08.761 son was not with her when she left and moved 0:10:08.761 --> 0:10:11.361 in to the Late Charles Civic Center, about forty minutes 0:10:11.401 --> 0:10:14.841 away from Kinder, where many people in Louisiana were sheltering 0:10:15.041 --> 0:10:17.561 after having to evacuate their homes from the storm. 0:10:18.481 --> 0:10:20.321 And I want to back up a minute here. 0:10:20.201 --> 0:10:22.281 And go over some of the chaos that was happening 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:26.401 in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina made landfall in August twenty ninth, 0:10:26.441 --> 0:10:28.961 two thousand and five. To help give some context for 0:10:29.001 --> 0:10:33.681 Brandy's final days, this storm was absolutely devastating for the 0:10:33.681 --> 0:10:38.521 state of Louisiana. After Katrina hit New Orleans, thirty thousand 0:10:38.601 --> 0:10:42.201 evacuees built the New Orleans Supernome. They were trapped inside 0:10:42.201 --> 0:10:44.841 there for days with no power and running out of supplies, 0:10:45.401 --> 0:10:48.241 and then FEMA left the area for their own safety. 0:10:49.361 --> 0:10:52.281 I remember seeing footage of this on television and it 0:10:52.321 --> 0:10:56.121 was absolutely horrifying. There was a breakdown in law and order. 0:10:56.481 --> 0:11:00.001 There were no working bathrooms, there were feces on walls, 0:11:00.121 --> 0:11:04.521 fights breaking out over food and water, and multiple reports 0:11:04.561 --> 0:11:08.761 of rape and sexual assault. Some of the more horrific rumors, 0:11:08.881 --> 0:11:11.841 like bodies of children piling up in the basement, were 0:11:11.921 --> 0:11:15.881 later disputed by law enforcement. A report on NPR pointed 0:11:15.881 --> 0:11:18.641 out that while some of them were outrageous claims may 0:11:18.681 --> 0:11:22.721 have been proven false, others, like sexual assaults, were almost 0:11:22.801 --> 0:11:27.401 certainly underreported. According to the state Department of Health and Hospitals, 0:11:27.681 --> 0:11:31.801 there were ten deaths in the Superdome, including two suspected murders, 0:11:32.361 --> 0:11:35.001 and then, while the state was still reeling from the 0:11:35.041 --> 0:11:39.801 horrific impacts both environmental and social, of Katrina, Hurricane Rita 0:11:39.921 --> 0:11:46.800 hit just a few weeks later. Hurricane Rita made landfall 0:11:47.081 --> 0:11:49.441 on September twenty fourth, two thousand and five. 0:11:49.401 --> 0:11:50.361 In Cameron Parish. 0:11:51.041 --> 0:11:53.961 It was a Category three storm with storm surges of 0:11:54.081 --> 0:11:57.801 up to eighteen feet and sixteen inches of rain. Even 0:11:57.841 --> 0:12:00.161 though it didn't get as much media attention at the time, 0:12:00.721 --> 0:12:05.321 the devastating flooding caused by Rita literally white towns off 0:12:05.321 --> 0:12:10.961 the map. Parishes in southwest Louisiana were overwhelmed, Levies and 0:12:11.041 --> 0:12:14.481 New Orleans finally broke. There was a rise in crime 0:12:14.761 --> 0:12:18.401 and a loss of police manpower. Rita, by the way, 0:12:18.521 --> 0:12:22.121 has been called the forgotten storm because most people remember 0:12:22.201 --> 0:12:25.361 Katrina and the images of people on top of their 0:12:25.401 --> 0:12:28.081 cars begging for someone from the government to come help, 0:12:28.241 --> 0:12:30.721 or the images of people at the Superdome. 0:12:30.241 --> 0:12:31.201 In New Orleans. 0:12:31.761 --> 0:12:35.280 The storm surge flooded downtown Lake Charles and damaged the 0:12:35.361 --> 0:12:39.241 Civic Center, where the evacuees were seeking shelter and where 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:42.641 Brandy was living after being evicted from her apartment, and 0:12:42.681 --> 0:12:45.680 it was here at the Civic Center where Brandy's life, 0:12:45.761 --> 0:12:49.241 which had been on the road stability, started to spiral 0:12:49.401 --> 0:13:00.161 out of control. After she was evicted from her apartment, 0:13:00.601 --> 0:13:03.521 Brandy moved into the Lake Charles Civic Center, where a 0:13:03.521 --> 0:13:06.961 lot of evacuees from the hurricanes were staying, and it 0:13:07.041 --> 0:13:10.001 was around this time that Brandy started drinking again. 0:13:10.961 --> 0:13:15.001 She's staying at the Civic Center, she gets picked up 0:13:15.241 --> 0:13:18.481 or disturbing the peace, so they kick her out of 0:13:18.521 --> 0:13:22.401 the civic center, so she makes a makeshift shelter outside 0:13:22.401 --> 0:13:23.401 of the city center. 0:13:24.521 --> 0:13:29.081 So drinking broke the civic center's rules. Brandy was kicked 0:13:29.081 --> 0:13:31.641 out of the civic Center, but she stayed close to 0:13:31.681 --> 0:13:35.081 the building. According to reports, she set up camp in 0:13:35.161 --> 0:13:37.321 the area of the pier, which was just a few 0:13:37.321 --> 0:13:40.961 feet away from the Civic Center. Polly said she was 0:13:41.041 --> 0:13:43.280 unsure who her mom's friends were at the time of 0:13:43.321 --> 0:13:47.680 the storm, or even if Brandy had a cell phone, 0:13:47.881 --> 0:13:50.881 but there was someone hanging out with Brandy at her 0:13:50.881 --> 0:13:54.721 shelter on November fourth. Police have said that this was 0:13:54.761 --> 0:13:59.281 a man named Jeremiah Salazar, and according to Holly, they 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:03.281 had been hanging out prior to that. Miranda said detectives 0:14:03.321 --> 0:14:06.721 told her how they figured out that JEREMIAHS and Brandy 0:14:06.961 --> 0:14:07.801 had been hanging out. 0:14:08.761 --> 0:14:11.641 The only things that I know about him is what 0:14:11.881 --> 0:14:14.401 the detective told me, Like, we didn't know him. 0:14:14.561 --> 0:14:16.641 We were all this place, we were all homeless. 0:14:17.081 --> 0:14:20.081 I was living in Alabama when she died, So this 0:14:20.281 --> 0:14:24.801 is how they got to kid him. So when Brandy 0:14:24.881 --> 0:14:28.961 was found, her fingerprints was in the system because she 0:14:29.041 --> 0:14:32.041 had been arrested a few days before, so they were 0:14:32.081 --> 0:14:35.681 able to identify her really fast because of it. But 0:14:35.721 --> 0:14:38.601 when they ran her name or they might have found. 0:14:38.441 --> 0:14:42.001 This ticket because she was living off that pier m HM. 0:14:43.241 --> 0:14:47.361 Instead there was another ticket tied to that ticket for 0:14:47.561 --> 0:14:52.881 her in sala'sorber going to Tacoma, Washington together. Well, her 0:14:52.921 --> 0:14:55.721 body comes up, so they think that he's going to 0:14:55.801 --> 0:15:00.321 change his course, but they have police waiting to see 0:15:00.481 --> 0:15:01.801 if he's going to or not. 0:15:03.361 --> 0:15:07.321 After Brandy was murdered, Apparently, JEREMIAHS did follow through on 0:15:07.361 --> 0:15:10.681 his plans to go to Tacoma, but detectives were able 0:15:10.681 --> 0:15:14.441 to arrest him and extradied him back to Louisiana. He 0:15:14.721 --> 0:15:17.881 denied having anything to do with Brandy's murder and what 0:15:18.121 --> 0:15:21.481 happened the night of November fourth, leading into the early 0:15:21.521 --> 0:15:25.801 morning hours of November fifth, is still a mystery. Miranda 0:15:25.801 --> 0:15:29.121 and Holly were told by detectives that Brandy and Jeremiahs 0:15:29.201 --> 0:15:31.161 went to a bar close to the civic Center called 0:15:31.201 --> 0:15:34.761 Crystals on the night of November fourth. Now, reviews of 0:15:34.841 --> 0:15:38.121 this bar online indicate that it was apparently a gay bar, 0:15:39.001 --> 0:15:41.121 but it was also one of the only bars that 0:15:41.241 --> 0:15:43.001 was openly after the hurricane hit. 0:15:43.801 --> 0:15:46.041 They believe something happened at that bar. 0:15:46.881 --> 0:15:51.881 Now, one theory that Brandy's family told us detectives mentioned 0:15:51.881 --> 0:15:54.721 to them was that Jeremias could have gotten annoyed when 0:15:54.721 --> 0:15:58.561 he saw Brandy talking to or possibly flirting with another man, 0:15:59.201 --> 0:16:02.921 and that Jeremiahs left that bar without Brandy. Holly talks 0:16:02.921 --> 0:16:06.001 about this now, again, this is just speculation on her part. 0:16:06.441 --> 0:16:09.161 She's describing what members of her family have heard from 0:16:09.201 --> 0:16:11.960 the Lake Charles Police detectives over the years. 0:16:12.641 --> 0:16:16.281 I think that they were probably more just like drinking buddies, 0:16:16.681 --> 0:16:19.881 or they might have had a relationship, but all of 0:16:19.921 --> 0:16:22.721 that has been kind of kept in the dark from us. 0:16:22.521 --> 0:16:22.681 And. 0:16:24.201 --> 0:16:28.801 My family in Louisiana didn't know who who he was either. 0:16:28.961 --> 0:16:30.041 They had never heard of. 0:16:30.041 --> 0:16:36.121 Him, but it wasn't unusual for her to kind of 0:16:36.801 --> 0:16:42.001 keep it, yeah, cease communication for some weeks or. 0:16:41.881 --> 0:16:42.881 Some months, you know. 0:16:43.761 --> 0:16:46.201 And it just said they had a relationship, that didn't 0:16:46.241 --> 0:16:47.241 say what typ. 0:16:48.121 --> 0:16:50.481 Yeah, I think that it was. I think it was 0:16:50.761 --> 0:16:55.801 somewhat romantic, actually, but that's just me speculating. 0:16:56.801 --> 0:17:00.561 And she was seen going to the bar Crystals with 0:17:00.721 --> 0:17:04.960 him from midnight to two am, and then he left, 0:17:05.201 --> 0:17:09.321 she staved and drank, and then the theory is that 0:17:10.241 --> 0:17:14.281 she became intimate with another man. He came back and 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:17.001 saw that he became upset. 0:17:18.080 --> 0:17:20.960 We don't know for sure what happened after Brandy went 0:17:21.001 --> 0:17:23.841 to this bar. What we do know is that the 0:17:23.880 --> 0:17:29.080 next morning, November fifth, that jogger found Brandy's body. We 0:17:29.241 --> 0:17:32.801 also don't know much about the condition of Brandy's body. 0:17:32.840 --> 0:17:35.361 We have sent boy a request for the case file, 0:17:35.481 --> 0:17:37.881 but so far we've been denied due to this being 0:17:37.880 --> 0:17:42.281 an open investigation. Polly has requested a copy of Brandy's 0:17:42.281 --> 0:17:45.840 autopsy as a family member, but so far we have 0:17:45.961 --> 0:17:46.801 not heard back. 0:17:46.961 --> 0:17:48.200 We will keep you posted. 0:17:49.041 --> 0:17:52.601 The Lake Charles Police Department was able to identify Brandy 0:17:52.681 --> 0:17:57.601 through fingerprints. They told Brandy's family the murder had been violent, 0:17:58.001 --> 0:18:01.601 and that they believed that Brandy had been strangled, exphyxiated, 0:18:01.801 --> 0:18:05.721 and thrown into the lake. Police found a few clues 0:18:06.121 --> 0:18:09.600 there was a Halloween mask near Brandy's body, but even 0:18:09.641 --> 0:18:13.881 though according to Brandy's family, she had DNA inside her, 0:18:14.481 --> 0:18:21.321 detectives apparently concluded there was no evidence of sexual assault. 0:18:22.801 --> 0:18:26.321 Holly remembers the funeral and the shock of losing her 0:18:26.361 --> 0:18:30.961 mother so suddenly, and of saying goodbye to her. Over 0:18:31.001 --> 0:18:34.161 the years, Holly has reached out to her older brother, 0:18:34.761 --> 0:18:37.321 the one who was given up for adoption when Brandy 0:18:37.401 --> 0:18:41.401 was seventeen. Holly talked about the emotion of finding him 0:18:41.481 --> 0:18:44.201 and telling him that he had a sister and that 0:18:44.321 --> 0:18:47.001 his biological mother had been brutally murdered. 0:18:47.721 --> 0:18:48.881 He didn't know about my mom. 0:18:49.521 --> 0:18:51.281 We're not super super closed. 0:18:51.681 --> 0:18:54.801 I think I talked to him like last Christmas, but 0:18:55.161 --> 0:18:59.241 I remember my mom telling me about him and I 0:18:59.401 --> 0:19:04.680 had always loved him, and just telling him that, Hey, like, 0:19:04.801 --> 0:19:06.801 I know this is a lot for you, but I 0:19:06.881 --> 0:19:09.681 just want you to know that I have always thought 0:19:09.721 --> 0:19:13.600 about you. I have always cared about you. Your mom 0:19:13.761 --> 0:19:18.201 always loved you. She talked about you, and I think 0:19:18.441 --> 0:19:23.801 he had a really good life. His adoptive mom did 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:28.600 a great job. He is happy. 0:19:28.641 --> 0:19:31.521 From what Holly has been told by detectives, the last 0:19:31.561 --> 0:19:34.360 time that Brandy was seen alive was between midnight and 0:19:34.401 --> 0:19:37.361 two am on November fifth, two thousand and five, at 0:19:37.361 --> 0:19:42.521 the nightclub with a man. From witness descriptions, police were 0:19:42.561 --> 0:19:46.160 able to draw sketch of a man whom Brandy was 0:19:46.161 --> 0:19:49.241 seen hanging out with at the club. From that and 0:19:49.321 --> 0:19:52.001 from other clues, they identified JEREMIAHS. 0:19:52.161 --> 0:19:52.721 Salzark. 0:19:53.241 --> 0:19:55.840 At the time, he had long brown hair. He was 0:19:55.881 --> 0:19:59.681 also six feet tall. We don't know much about JEREMIAHS. 0:19:59.721 --> 0:19:59.961 Either. 0:20:00.441 --> 0:20:02.840 We know that he's from Leveland, Texas, and that he 0:20:02.881 --> 0:20:05.920 did have some prior arrests, but we can't find a 0:20:06.001 --> 0:20:09.681 record of him being arrested for anything violent. There were 0:20:09.721 --> 0:20:14.920 some drug charges, also some glittering and indecent exposure charges that, 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:18.121 based on his history, could possibly have come from him 0:20:18.121 --> 0:20:22.601 camping out in populated areas. By the time detectives identified him, 0:20:23.001 --> 0:20:25.001 JEREMIAHS had already left Louisiana. 0:20:25.361 --> 0:20:28.721 He was on his way to Tacoma, Washington, so they 0:20:28.801 --> 0:20:29.441 drove back. 0:20:29.961 --> 0:20:30.481 He called. 0:20:31.361 --> 0:20:36.400 There was an s There was an evidence for an indictment, so. 0:20:36.601 --> 0:20:38.521 Late Charles police went to Washington. 0:20:38.921 --> 0:20:41.841 They went through the process of having JEREMIAHS arrested and 0:20:42.001 --> 0:20:46.721 extradited back to Louisiana. Police said they believed JEREMIAHS and 0:20:46.801 --> 0:20:50.361 Brandy knew each other. Sergeant Mark Krause with the Lake 0:20:50.441 --> 0:20:54.321 Charles Police Department told a news station, quote, there was 0:20:54.361 --> 0:20:57.600 some relationship, whether it be friends or something more substantial 0:20:57.601 --> 0:21:00.440 between the two, and that's where we began our investigation 0:21:00.761 --> 0:21:05.041 end quote. And three months after Brandy's body was found 0:21:05.121 --> 0:21:09.201 in that lake behind the Civic Center, JEREMIAHS. Salazar was 0:21:09.321 --> 0:21:19.841 charged with her murder. In January of two thousand and six, 0:21:20.281 --> 0:21:24.561 four months after Brandy was brutally murdered in Lake Charles, JEREMIAHS. 0:21:24.761 --> 0:21:28.840 Salazar was charged with Brandy's murder. Police got him extradited 0:21:28.840 --> 0:21:31.920 from Washington State. He was brought back to Louisiana and 0:21:32.001 --> 0:21:36.001 incarcerated in the Calcashu Jail. His bond was set at 0:21:36.041 --> 0:21:39.681 a million dollars. But then there was a shocking turn 0:21:39.721 --> 0:21:43.041 of events in this case. At first, the grand jury 0:21:43.161 --> 0:21:46.881 returned true bill, meaning they believe there was enough evidence 0:21:46.921 --> 0:21:50.761 to indict Jeremiahs. But then they met again this time, 0:21:50.840 --> 0:21:54.041 they returned a no bill, which means they no longer 0:21:54.080 --> 0:21:57.360 believed that there was enough evidence to charge him. I 0:21:57.441 --> 0:22:00.080 want to put in a quick caveat here. There's a 0:22:00.121 --> 0:22:02.881 lot we don't know about this DNA sample. We don't 0:22:02.921 --> 0:22:05.081 know how much of a sample there was, how much 0:22:05.080 --> 0:22:08.081 of it was degraded, or if there were issues with testing. 0:22:08.561 --> 0:22:11.160 There's no evidence that that was the case, but I 0:22:11.241 --> 0:22:13.880 just want to put it out there. I found an 0:22:13.921 --> 0:22:16.361 interview with the district attorney in the case from back 0:22:16.361 --> 0:22:21.321 in twenty eleven, six years after Brandy's murder on American Press. 0:22:21.321 --> 0:22:24.600 In that interview, the DA says that DNA testing quote 0:22:24.681 --> 0:22:29.441 excluded Jeremiahs. The district attorney said at that time the 0:22:29.521 --> 0:22:32.481 grand jury felt that there was not sufficient probable cause 0:22:32.521 --> 0:22:36.241 to go forward, but he added that if law enforcement 0:22:36.281 --> 0:22:40.561 got any new evidence, they could reindict Jeremiahs or indict 0:22:40.601 --> 0:22:44.400 another defendant. Miranda said she had regular contact with the 0:22:44.441 --> 0:22:47.761 detectives on the case until Jeremias was taken in front 0:22:47.761 --> 0:22:51.361 of the grand jury. She said the no bill decision 0:22:51.761 --> 0:22:55.120 was devastating for their family. So now there were a 0:22:55.121 --> 0:23:00.041 couple of questions outstanding. Some detectives apparently thought maybe Brandy 0:23:00.121 --> 0:23:03.721 had sexual intercourse with someone else, someone other than JEREMIAHS, 0:23:04.080 --> 0:23:07.361 and that JEREMIAHS had attacked her in a jealous rage, 0:23:07.481 --> 0:23:10.600 But of course a very real other possibility is that 0:23:10.681 --> 0:23:19.281 it was someone else. Entirely after Jeremiah was released, no 0:23:19.521 --> 0:23:24.721 new suspects were ever arrested. In the same interview where 0:23:24.840 --> 0:23:27.400 Brandy's father had mentioned that they had to bury her 0:23:27.441 --> 0:23:30.201 in a turtleneck, he pointed out there had been a 0:23:30.201 --> 0:23:32.921 police officer murdered and brought to justice within a few 0:23:33.001 --> 0:23:36.521 days at around the same time Brandy was murdered. He said, 0:23:36.721 --> 0:23:39.961 just because Brandy was homeless and had mental health issues 0:23:39.961 --> 0:23:43.521 and addiction issues, that did not mean that her case 0:23:43.561 --> 0:23:48.080 was any less important. The Lake Charles Police Department said 0:23:48.201 --> 0:23:50.521 that they had tried to solve this case. They had 0:23:50.561 --> 0:23:52.961 even gone so far as to go to another state 0:23:53.041 --> 0:23:57.161 file charges extradite someone back, and they said they would 0:23:57.161 --> 0:24:02.161 pursue any additional information that was given. However, the reality 0:24:02.401 --> 0:24:05.640 is that in Louisiana, both during and after Katrina and 0:24:05.721 --> 0:24:10.321 even today, law enforcement has a vast number of cases 0:24:10.361 --> 0:24:12.481 they need to clear, and new ones are piling up 0:24:12.521 --> 0:24:18.201 every day. Another thing that Holly has wondered over the years, 0:24:18.761 --> 0:24:22.881 is if Brandy's case could have any connection to other cases, 0:24:23.321 --> 0:24:26.561 including the eight women who were killed in Jefferson Davis 0:24:26.601 --> 0:24:31.001 Parish that's right next to Calcashu Parish. They're known as 0:24:31.041 --> 0:24:34.600 the jeff Davis a or the Jennings. A. Journalist Ethan 0:24:34.641 --> 0:24:37.521 Brown wrote a book about these unsolved murders and corruption 0:24:37.641 --> 0:24:41.041 in the parish. It's called Murder in the Bayou. The 0:24:41.161 --> 0:24:45.161 first body was found on May twentieth, tive. A twenty 0:24:45.201 --> 0:24:47.920 eight year old named Loretta Lynn Chase and Lewis was 0:24:47.961 --> 0:24:51.440 found in a canal in Jennings in the Jefferson Davis Parish. 0:24:52.281 --> 0:24:54.161 Loretta was addicted to crack. 0:24:54.840 --> 0:24:59.080 A lot of these cases were linked to the drug 0:24:59.121 --> 0:25:03.081 trade that went down Interstate ten. There's also By the Way, 0:25:03.121 --> 0:25:06.361 an investigation discovery show based on Ethan's book, also called 0:25:06.441 --> 0:25:09.521 Murder in the Bayeux. On June eighteenth, two thousand and five, 0:25:09.641 --> 0:25:12.640 a thirty year old sex worker named Ernestine Marie Daniels 0:25:12.681 --> 0:25:15.601 Patterson was also found in a canal south of Jennings. 0:25:15.921 --> 0:25:18.801 Her throat had been slashed, her wrists were bound together. 0:25:19.521 --> 0:25:23.241 This was a violent struggle to the death in Ernestine's case, 0:25:23.321 --> 0:25:26.400 two men were arrested in charge with her murder, but 0:25:26.641 --> 0:25:30.241