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E001 Brookelyn Farthing
6.4k Plays6 years ago
Brookelyn Farthing was a recent high school graduate who was a trusting, vivacious young woman ready to tackle the world. However, circumstances unfolded at what should have been a celebratory field party that makes her the focus of this episode. It was, unfortunately, Brooke's trusting nature that led her to an empty, dark house, which would be the last place she would be seen alive.
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Transcript
The Scope of Missing Persons in the U.S.
00:00:02
Speaker
According to NAMUS, the National Missing and Unidentified Person Systems website, over 600,000 individuals go missing in the United States every year. Fortunately, many missing children and adults are quickly found alive and well. However, tens of thousands of individuals remain missing for more than one year, what many agencies consider cold cases.
00:00:28
Speaker
During 2013, in particular, 627,911 missing person records were entered into National Crime Information Center. That represents 627,911 grieving families who will never stop looking and never stop hoping.
Brooklyn Shay Farthing's Disappearance
00:00:51
Speaker
I wish as a mother myself that I could tell my daughter that she's safe, that there are still idyllic places in this world where people are who they seem and face value, and that trust is something that can be afforded to everyone. But our case today would prove me wrong.
00:01:10
Speaker
It's the case of a beautiful young girl who had just graduated high school and was ready to take on this great big world, the daughter of caring parents, a loving sister, and a good friend. But this is also the case of someone who disappeared from a seemingly idyllic small town in Kentucky, a girl whose hopes and dreams have been replaced with tears and lack of closure.
00:01:38
Speaker
This is the case of Brooklyn Shay Farthing.
Introduction to Cold Case Podcast
00:02:18
Speaker
Welcome to Coffee and Cases where we like our coffee hot and our cases cold. My name is Allison Williams. And I'm Maggie Dameron. We will be telling stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the cases will take those tips to law enforcement so justice and closure can be brought to these families.
00:02:35
Speaker
With each case, we encourage you to continue in the conversation on our Facebook page because these families will tell you conversation helps keep their missing family members in the public's eye and help keeps their memory alive. So sit back, sip your coffee, and listen to what's brewing this week.
00:02:51
Speaker
Maggie, this week I have a case that is practically from our own backyard, Berea, Kentucky. For those of you who are outside of our area, Berea is a small, close-knit town in Kentucky. According to most recent estimates, Berea has a population of around 15,600. Have you ever been there?
00:03:11
Speaker
Um, not really, but my cousin and her husband and family just moved there, so it's kind of creeping me out a little bit. I know! I know! Like, this could be anybody. Yeah, and they have two little girls, so. Berea is a town that's known for a college with excellent faculty whose students graduate without student
Brooklyn's Life Before Disappearance
00:03:30
Speaker
loans. It's a town that hosts a yearly craft festival, a town where many stores are closed on Sundays because people are at church,
00:03:37
Speaker
and is also a town haunted by what happened to Brooklyn Shea Farthing on June 22, 2013. Brooklyn Farthing, referred to as simply Brooke by her friends and family, had just recently graduated from Madison Southern High School located in Richmond, Kentucky in late May 2013.
00:03:58
Speaker
but I'm nervous. I know. Her senior year, I know about what's gonna happen. Oh, her senior year, the archery team had placed ninth in nationals. The cheerleading team had won the state championship. The varsity dance team had won five national titles at AmeriDance nationals. That's right. Maggie is a dance coach, so she recognizes how hard that is, right? At the AmeriDance nationals in Indianapolis, and the basketball team had won the state championship.
00:04:28
Speaker
And having just graduated with everyone about to go off into the world in their own separate direction, this was a final summer of bonding.
00:04:38
Speaker
So let's start by discussing the day before her disappearance. Friday, June 21st, 2013 was a normal day for Brooke's sister, Tasha Thomas. She works at the Stockyards restaurant and her sisters, Brooke and Paige had stopped by after testing for their driver's licenses. And I can remember how excited I was. I mean, I could not wait when I got my driver's license.
00:05:02
Speaker
I was just nervous and I was like, I'm never going to use this. I remember I had to take it in a car that was not the car that I'd been used to driving. And I was like, oh my gosh, I'm going to fail it. I took it with a police officer that was fully dressed and like his police, even in playing.
00:05:18
Speaker
Oh my gosh. So you can imagine what she was feeling, the nerves that were going through her that day. But their mom, Shelby, brought the sisters by the restaurant after the test. And according to Tasha, Paige was mad and ranting because she had failed. But I know. But Brooke was quietly smiling because she had finally passed it. And she had tried to pass it before. She finally did. And now she had hopes
00:05:44
Speaker
that their dad Randy would give her a Ford Ranger pickup to drive. And this was the pickup that she had always pictured herself driving. She was a country girl. She had this classic beauty with shoulder length, strawberry blonde hair, brown eyes, petite five foot one, 105 pound frame. I'm a little jealous. I'm like taller. I know she so was. And I've shared some pictures with Maggie and
00:06:14
Speaker
How would you describe the way she looks in these pictures? She to me looks like the just normal all-american high school sweetheart. Such a cutie with her little makeup done and her hair just speaks perfect in every picture and just smiling and happy. I know. And her little selfies.
00:06:31
Speaker
Well, according to her family, she loved animals. I know. She loved the outdoors. Not so much me on that one, but she had a Kentucky drawl. She was a tomboy who loved to dress up just like you saw in the pictures. Was spunky. She was somebody who said how she felt and she meant it. And she loved her family fiercely.
00:06:56
Speaker
So she's from Eastern Kentucky. Exactly. This is how we are. Later that Friday, this is the day before her disappearance, the whole family gathered to celebrate their Papaw Kinney's 70th birthday at their grandma Bonnie's house.
00:07:12
Speaker
I know. Their papa had been ill recently, so this party was an important one for all of them. They smiled, they goofed around, her family never realizing that this would be the last time they would share a joke with Brooke. Have a conversation with her or hold her in that tight hug that families are the best at giving.
00:07:36
Speaker
After her patballs party, Brooke, who is dressed in blue jean shorts, a Madison County FFA, those of you out there who don't know what that is, that is Future Farmers of America shirts, and scrunched hair.
00:07:48
Speaker
went along with her sister Paige and a cousin and they were headed to another party, a field party off of Red Lick Road. Now I was like good, like goody two-shoes in high school. I did not go to the field parties but they existed. Like I knew of them. I just didn't eat. It would have been fun though. I don't know.
00:08:12
Speaker
But they went to this field party off of Redlich Road. Brooke had made plans to stay with a friend after the party, so she packed a bag with things that she might need. And throughout that day on June 21st, Brooke had been sending texts to friends to make plans for the next day for the 22nd to go to a car show in Somerset, Kentucky.
00:08:32
Speaker
Again, like very Kentucky thing to do, right? Go to the car show. So she needed to pack for the overnight because she was going to be staying with a friend and pack something for the next day. And from what I can tell Maggie, she sounds like you or me because from the information I could find, she sounded like she was an overpacker and I pack like 21 outfits, like warm weather options, cold weather options, even when I'm just going to stay someplace for three days.
00:08:59
Speaker
so i totally get this yeah when i go on vacation i'm like well i might wear this but you know what if it's like really sunny or it's cold maybe i need my tennis shoes not these flip flops yeah what if we go someplace nice for dinner like i've got to be prepared
00:09:15
Speaker
We're like, we're going to eat again every day. I'm like, but really, we might go to dinner. Let me say distress.
The Night of Brooklyn's Disappearance
00:09:21
Speaker
Well, since she had packed her bag and she had plans made, it did not worry Brooke when her cousin left that field party, taking her sister Paige with her. Again, she was supposed to say that not with a friend, so that didn't face her. Later that night, however, something totally high school happened.
00:09:38
Speaker
And Brooke and the friend that Brooke was supposed to stay with got into a small argument and her friend left without Brooke in tow. Very high school. Very high school. We are high school teachers. We see this all the time. The high school drama. Later that night, however, from what we know,
00:09:59
Speaker
Again, Brooke stayed at the party. She wasn't alarmed because the party goers were people who she had known for her entire high school career. So again, even though the girl she's supposed to ride with goes, she's surrounded by people who she knows. So no alarms raised or anything like that. I'm sure they've been wanting to let kindergarten up together. Right, exactly. She knew these people.
00:10:22
Speaker
At this point Maggie, there are two different accounts. What is frustrating when trying to figure out what happened, as you can imagine, is that we don't know.
00:10:34
Speaker
It's hard to solve, you know, if you've ever tried to solve like a jigsaw puzzle, it's hard to solve a puzzle if you had two puzzles that are completely different with all the pieces mixed together and you don't have the box to try to figure out what it's supposed to look like. Yeah, where would you even start? Exactly. And so when you don't have that master picture to go by, everything just becomes extremely frustrating. Well, according to one account, a boy at the party, and I am intentionally not mentioning his name. I have read some sources online that did mention his name.
00:11:03
Speaker
But again, because he has never been called like a prime suspect or anything like that, I'm not going to mention his name. But he is someone who I read in several accounts, Brooke didn't know directly, but she had known of him vaguely through her ex fiance. Now I know Maggie just came out.
00:11:25
Speaker
a base like fiance? Yes, totally Kentucky thing too. I mean I knew lots of people who got engaged like right out of high school. Well I guess I didn't think that she'd probably been out of high school for about a month and a half. Right and so
00:11:42
Speaker
But of course now he's an ex-fiancee. So, but yes. Okay. So she knew vaguely of this guy at the party through her ex-fiancee. Well, according to this first version of the events, he said that Brooke could borrow his vehicle because remember her friend had left. So she has no way of getting home or anything like that.
00:12:02
Speaker
driver's license. That's right. She does have that. Said that she could borrow his vehicle, which I would think, like you just said, she would be super excited to do because she had just passed her driver's test that day. And according to this account, she wanted to take a drunk friend home
00:12:20
Speaker
and then bring the vehicle back to the house of this guy from the party because he only lived a few minutes drive from where the party had been. I guess in that version somebody else was going to drive him home and then she would like drop his vehicle back off and then he walked.
00:12:38
Speaker
I don't know. But the other account, which is what I have heard reported from Brooke's sister Tasha, and so I'm more inclined to believe, is that this young man from the party,
00:12:52
Speaker
heard that Brooke and the drunk friend needed rides and offered it to them. Like said, oh, overheard that she and her friend who was drunk needed rides home. And he was like, you know what, I got you. Right. Yes, this is the same unnamed person.
00:13:09
Speaker
And while there have not been named suspects in this case, the boy who offered Brooke either the vehicle or the ride, the one who would be the last person to see Brooke alive, obviously has garnered the most suspicion. Right. I mean, that makes sense. Yes. If he is guilty, it seems obvious either way the story goes to me that he would offer his vehicle or a ride. And do you know why, Maggie? Because either way,
00:13:38
Speaker
he becomes the hero.
00:13:40
Speaker
Right. So if he is guilty, you know, either he says, here's my vehicle, take it. Or he says, I will get you home. He's like the hero. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Like problem solved. He's the one who can come through to help when help is needed. Now this, I think is what makes life so scary for me. So scary as I tell my daughter about the world is that either
00:14:09
Speaker
This guy from the party is just a really nice guy, right? Who certain circumstances and coincidences have aligned and it makes him look guilty, but ultimately he's a good guy. Or he is a sinister person who knew how to convince this young girl in a vulnerable moment to trust him. So how do you protect someone when you don't know what or who the danger is?
00:14:40
Speaker
either story you hear about the ride after the party. While one version says after dropping her friend off at his house, Brooke returned to the truck, to this guy from the party. And the other version, with all three of them riding together, right, when he says like, I can drop you both off, says that they stopped by Floyd Branch Road to either see or ride horses, which
00:15:02
Speaker
I think sounds a bit odd to do this early in the morning, but hey, they are young teenagers. There are a lot worse things that young teenagers could do than, you know, go ride horses, right? You know, 1 a.m. or something like that. So that version has them all riding together, seeing or riding horses before dropping off the drunken friend. But both of these versions have Brooke ending up at that boy's house.
00:15:29
Speaker
on Dillon Court, a house that was in foreclosure with no electricity and no running water. This just is weird to me. You went to a party. Yes. You're probably a little drunk. Yes. Maybe. And then you go ride horses. You go ride horses at one o'clock at night.
00:15:56
Speaker
and then go to a house with no water. I would be like, I've been in the wilderness, I need a shower. I know. I know. Well, once at Dylan Court, Brooke had called her sister Paige to see if their cousin could come and pick her up from this boy's house, right? Because remember Paige and the cousin had left the party earlier, right? Because Brooke thought she had a ride home. So she calls her sister and says, Hey, could you get our cousin to come? Because remember Paige didn't pass her driver's license. Or Paige, I know.
00:16:24
Speaker
could you get our cousin to come and pick us up? Well, Paige let Brooke know that the cousin was too drunk now. I guess she, I don't know. It was a little confusing from the different accounts. I don't know if she can tend to you to drink like once they got back from the party or feel like maybe she had drank something right before she drove them home or maybe she shouldn't have been driving them home in the first place. I don't know, but that she was too drunk to come and get Brooke and asked if Brooke wanted her to wake their mom up to come and get her, which
00:16:51
Speaker
I would have been like, yes. Right. But you can, like, how mad would the mom potentially have gotten though? And you know, if Brooke is like, no, I don't want to worry her. I don't want to, you know, we don't know what the mom had the next morning. Now in hindsight, and as mom myself, I would be like, yes, wake me up. You know, like, get me over there. You know,
00:17:14
Speaker
I want to be like, let me know. But then there's also a part of you that's like, do I really want to know? I know. Right. Because you want your kids to, but kids are going to drink. I mean, I feel like we would be a little bit naive if we were like, oh no, they're perfect angels. It would never do anything like that. Well, so Paige is like, hey, do you want me to wake mom up, come and get you? And Brooke said, no, don't do that. I'm going to try to find another way home. And she said to Paige,
00:17:43
Speaker
that she was going to call her ex-fiancee, Jared, to drive her home after he got off work at 6 a.m. from his third shift job, because she and Jared were still friendly. So that's good. Like, they're ex-fiancees, but friendly. Yes, on good terms. So she told Paige, no, I'm just going to text Jared. I'm going to see after he gets off work, can he come and pick me up?
00:18:07
Speaker
So Brooke asked that Paige be listening though for when she gets home to unlock the door to let her in before their parents woke up so that way at least Brooke I guess could like sneak in you know Paige let her in and then parents be none the wiser right that she was out that late. I would not be awake at 6 a.m. Yeah so Paige said that when she spoke with Brooke on the phone that Brooke did not seem intoxicated that she did not seem in distress she seemed
00:18:36
Speaker
normal. Brooke did not make any more phone calls after that went to her sister Paige though. Something shifted.
00:18:46
Speaker
Something happened that makes me think that Brooke did not feel as safe as she did when she spoke with Paige. She texted her ex-fiance, Jared, just like she told Paige that she would, to see if he could pick her up after he got off work and he agreed to do so. Good job, Jared. I know, I know. Even though their relationship was over, the family reports that, again, like I said, they were still on good terms. I have to wonder, though,
00:19:12
Speaker
If the boy that she had ridden with from the party had a running vehicle, after all, didn't they just drive it? Why couldn't he drop her off at her house?
00:19:26
Speaker
why right like this is my big question right he has a car they just wrote yeah they just wrote in it but then at the same time if that same boy from the party were a bad guy right and remember how does she vaguely know him according to most of these accounts the xv
00:19:48
Speaker
the ex-fiance, that if he were a bad guy and Jared at least still cares enough that he would help Brooke out and he knows where she is because he's going to have to pick her up from there when he gets off work, wouldn't he have warned her and said like, hey, this guy's bad news, like get out of there. I mean, I would think there's all kinds of there's all kinds of questions so far.
00:20:15
Speaker
At 4.26 a.m., remember, Jared's gonna get off at six, Brooke texted Jared, this time a bit more frantic, and here's what the text said, please hurry, I'm scared. Oh no. She texted Jared a few minutes after that, more urgent still. This next text that came through a few minutes after said, please hurry, please hurry.
00:20:46
Speaker
then close to an hour later a final text was sent from her phone at 5 30 a.m. around an hour before well not even 30 minutes I guess roughly before Jared was about to get off work to get her this final text had a complete shift in tone this final text said and I quote never mind I'm okay
00:21:13
Speaker
I'm going to a party in Rock Castle County. At 5.30 AM? At 5.30 AM. Is your party at Waffle House? Right. I know. It doesn't make sense. Jared asked her who she was going to the party with, but no other messages would be sent from Brooke's phone. Brooke's family do not believe that Brooke actually wrote that final text.
00:21:36
Speaker
It doesn't sound like it from her previous two.
Investigation Challenges
00:21:39
Speaker
Right. Now is when, unfortunately, the only information we have is from a single person. The boy she had ridden home with from the party. Which, I mean, again, could be a good guy. We don't know. We could like him. Right.
00:21:54
Speaker
Well, according to the boy from the party, he was worried about an awkward moment that could potentially happen when Jared would come and pick Brooke up. Since he was one of Jared's friends, right, the ex-fiance's friend, he was like, oh no, what's he gonna think when he comes to pick her up and she's at my house, right? So wanting to avoid this awkward conversation, confrontation moment, whatever, he said,
00:22:21
Speaker
and he left his home around 6 a.m. to tend to the horses that they had ridden the night before. So they were his horses? Apparently. I saw that in one of the accounts. Another account just said they rode horses. Well, 6 a.m. seems like a time people that do farm things would do farm things. Right. Get up early. Yes, tend to the livestock. But now there's about to be an odd shift.
00:22:50
Speaker
I know, as if it weren't on already. He said he returned home around seven and that's when he noticed the fire inside. But there's no electricity. Well, he calls the local fire department who come in and they contain the fire. They put out the couch that was on fire in the living room in the fire.
00:23:14
Speaker
the couch was burned to its frame. And again, we will have a picture posted of this on our website. I am showing right now burned to its frame, literally. Yeah, it's nothing. No cushions.
00:23:31
Speaker
A literal frame. Yes. You can see grass through the bottom. Yes. And it was a hole in the floor of the living room where the couch had been, right? Because the fire was so hot. Well, the fire department did not realize at the time that there was also a missing girl who was somehow linked to this house, right? They are just responding to this frantic call about there being a fire. Is she considered
00:23:59
Speaker
Well, they don't even know at this point. So the scene, this fire scene, was not handled with the delicacy that it otherwise would have been had they known all of the information at the time, right? The couch frame, which is all that is left of the couch, was drug out onto the front lawn and left there. And that's like the picture. It is literally just sitting on the lawn. So if there was any like DNA, anything? Gone. Gone. Gone.
00:24:28
Speaker
And what's sad, well, not sad, I cannot blame the fire department because they had no idea, right? They are just trying to contain a fire and obviously get it out of the house because, well, fires can continue, you know, they're smoldering the heat. It could catch something else on fire. So it makes sense why they would drag it outside. We love the fire department. Yes, we do. Allison's husband is a fire department.
00:24:54
Speaker
That's right. We do love firefighters. But that's not why I don't blame them, but I really don't blame them. Hours later,
00:25:01
Speaker
at 9 a.m. So again at this point the boy who drove her home has called the fire department but he says I'll wait just a second until I get to it. His story is going to change just a little bit. Hours later at 9 a.m. this is when Brooke was supposed to meet her friends for the plans that she had made the day before to head to the car show in Somerset Kentucky and Brooke doesn't show up.
00:25:28
Speaker
Now we have a problem. Now we have a problem. So her friends call her house and they're like, you know, hey, where's Brooke? She's supposed to meet us. We're supposed to go to this car show. And it is not until this point when Brooke's parents begin to question where Brooke was, because remember, as far as they knew, she had packed her bag to stay the night with her friend the night before.
00:25:56
Speaker
Oh, so they think this whole time she's accounted for. Right, that she is at this friend's house where she was supposed to stay that night. So Paige, her sister, now realizes, oh my gosh, I never unlocked the door for her to come in. So Jared must have never brought Brooke home that morning.
00:26:18
Speaker
Well, Paige at this point, I know, my heart is breaking. Yes. Let her family know the interactions that she had had with Brooke the night before. And that the last she heard from Brooke, she was at the boy from the party's house and was waiting for Jared to get off work to bring her home, which at this point had long since passed because Jared was, yes, Jared was supposed to get off around six. And now here it is 9 a.m.
00:26:43
Speaker
and they haven't heard anything. Well, the family was unfamiliar with the boy from the party, and so was Paige. But they said that a lot of the people at the party did know him and that Brooke would have never gone with him if she didn't at least vaguely know him. I mean, I think everybody would be the same. Like, if some random person came up to you and they were like, hey, I can give you a ride, you would be like, not today, sir. No, thank you.
00:27:14
Speaker
The problem is even though they know they trust Brooke enough where they're like, you know what? She wouldn't have gone anywhere with somebody who she did not know at all. They do not have this guy's contact information, right? So the last they know is that Brooke is with him, but they don't even know how to contact him. So Paige starts calling around to try to get his number.
00:27:33
Speaker
Is there somebody at the party who knew him enough to have his... For Jared. Right, or Jared. So when she finds it, Brooke's older sister Tasha calls this guy from the party to ask when he last saw Brooke and what information he could provide.
00:27:50
Speaker
So we've not called the police. Right, not yet. So Tasha said that when she called this guy from the party, he told her that he had seen Brooke that morning. He told Tasha about riding horses. He told her about taking the drunk friend home and about Brooke coming back to his house. So so far so good. Like he's telling her all these details. So he can take the drunk friend home, but can't take Brooke home.
00:28:16
Speaker
Right. Yeah. So he said that Brooke told him of her plans about Jared picking her up and that he was trying to avoid an awkward situation where Jared would come to pick her up since he knew Jared. And here was Jared's ex Beyonce at his house. So he left to tend the horses and that when he did, Brooke was sitting on the couch smoking a cigarette.
00:28:42
Speaker
explains the fire. He said that she was gone by the time he returned. He also told Tasha that he heard her say something about going to a party in Rockcastle County. So when they got off the phone, Tasha really had no more answers than she had before. But notice, he mentioned her being at his house
00:29:09
Speaker
He mentioned dropping off the drunk friend. He mentioned that Jared might potentially pick her up. He mentioned the party in Rockcastle County. He mentioned seeing her sitting on the couch smoking a cigarette. But then all he said was, when I came back, she was gone. He said nothing about the fire. Oh, I named boy. I know. I know.
00:29:38
Speaker
So Tasha gets off the phone with this guy again as far as she knows either Jared was gonna pick her up but again he was like but the last I heard she was gonna go to this party in Rockcastle County but she was gone when I got back. So Tasha still has no idea where to find Brooke. She has no idea of where to even look next other than to try to figure out what party she might have gone to in Rockcastle County because
00:30:06
Speaker
When Brooke texted Jared, that never mind, I'm going to a party in Rockcastle County, he had texted her back and said, oh, who are you going with? Nothing. No further texts, like no more texts came from Brooke's phone. So about 20 minutes later, Tasha's phone rings again, and it was the guy who I will keep unnamed calling her back.
00:30:33
Speaker
This time, she says he sounded worried. He told Tasha that he was scared. So he said he was scared. He said, Brooke left all of her things at my house and I'm worried about her.
00:30:59
Speaker
Well, Tasha asked him to go through Brooke's things, right? After all, they're right there. She says, go through her things, see what she left behind. Like, did she leave her cell phone? And that's why she hasn't been answering, right? The texts, the phone calls and all of that stuff, right? Makes perfect sense. However, his response was not exactly the response Tasha was expecting. He tells her, well,
00:31:26
Speaker
I can't at the moment look for her belongings because I'm looking at them through a hole in my window because I got home that morning and my house was on fire. I know. I'm looking at them through a hole in my window. Yes. Sorry. Can't look through her belongings. I'm looking at them from outside my house or a hole in my window because there was a fire.
00:31:57
Speaker
Well, Tasha starts questioning him about the fire and he responded that since he had seen Brooke smoking on his couch when he left to tend the horses, maybe she fell asleep or somehow caught the couch on fire and worried about the repercussions she had just left. How long was he gone?
00:32:16
Speaker
Well he says he left like somewhere around well it would have been before six because he wanted to avoid the weird confrontation or moment when Jared would come pick her up and he says he got back at seven. Would a couch have that like would it be able to burn that to that extent? That I would imagine so because fabric yeah I would think that it would it would go pretty quickly but you know so she just leaves which
00:32:44
Speaker
Like as a responsible kid, which it seems like she was because her parents obviously trust her a lot. I mean, I don't feel like that was I would be like finding everything to try to put the fire out. But remember,
00:32:57
Speaker
What is there not at this house? Water! Exactly, so there's nothing like, how are you gonna put out a fire, right? I would at least come out like screaming and try to find neighbors or something. Yeah, it's very out of character for what we know about her so far. Right. And just to leave a burning couch in this castle. Right, and not just to leave a burning couch, but like, I don't know, have you ever caught anything on fire on a stove?
00:33:23
Speaker
daily unplugged the fire alarm in our kitchen.
00:33:29
Speaker
that's bad that is so bad i know he will he will kill you but so but if if there were a fire in the kitchen i wouldn't then even if i didn't have running water i would try to find something to put it out right and you at least like the house isn't on fire yet like it wouldn't make sense if she is like afraid of repercussions she's trying to flee why would she leave her bag with all of her stuff there too like why it's right there yeah the same
00:33:57
Speaker
Right. And it's not burnt up because this guy comes back and he says, no, I'm looking at her belongings. Like they're still in there. So why would she not have grabbed them, you know, and headed out? Well, also Brooke's family says this would not be the case. They say that Brooke had always, she always wanted to look her best, right? They were adamant that this is not the case of a runaway. Like she would not have accidentally caused a fire and then be like, Oh, peace out. See ya. Never going to talk to my family again.
00:34:26
Speaker
You can tell that from her pictures too. She's so well dressed and so cute in all of her photos. She would not do that. No, and they said she would never have left her suitcase with her clothes and all of that there. Well, on June 24th, two days after her disappearance, Brooke's family made a public appeal for Brooke to come home. Those are always so heartbreaking. Oh my gosh, I know. Well, I just keep putting myself in that situation and I'm like, I can't, I can't imagine.
00:34:52
Speaker
Once the family had contacted the police to report Brooke missing.
00:34:57
Speaker
By the 25th, and this is three days after her disappearance, Brooke's stepdad, Randall Walker, the one who she was hoping would give her the pickup, right? That the police were searching via helicopter and the family gave interviews.
Family's Plea and Police Efforts
00:35:11
Speaker
Randy, Randall, the stepdad, he said that the family was not whole without her. And in this interview, her mom was pleading that she did not care about the circumstances. She did not care who was involved. She just wants Brooke and nothing else.
00:35:27
Speaker
So heartbreaking. I know. CBS reported on June 26th that police had begun conducting interviews and searching neighborhoods from which she was potentially abducted. Because again, at this point you don't know. Has she run away? I know the family says like that is so not her, but you never know in these situations. Better safe than sorry. Right. The Madison County Fire Department Sergeant Harvey Baxter
00:35:53
Speaker
said that the fire and the disappearance at this point were still being treated as separate events even though arson investigators were brought in to analyze the fire's cause after all the home had no electric also so it couldn't have been like an electrical short or something like that that caused it. Prayer chain calls went out at this point everybody who was involved even the boy from the party the homeowner
00:36:20
Speaker
He had given statements to the police, and at the time, the police announced that there were no suspects and no persons of interest. Everyone was continuing to call Brooke's phone with no answer. Authorities traced the cell phone pings to a tower in Blue Lick, which is somewhat close to the Dillon Court area, which is the home where she had ridden to with the boy. Then the phone.
00:36:49
Speaker
went silent, so we can only assume that the battery died.
00:36:53
Speaker
at that point. No more pings, no more way to trace more than a week passed and Brooke did not return home after an extensive search. The weekend of june 28th and 29th provided no clues in a statement on july 2nd Kentucky state police asked property owners to pay attention and I quote to freshly turned earth unusual smells, ditch lines,
00:37:19
Speaker
and remote areas on their property and police expanded their search to surrounding counties. So at this point, they're like, her body must be somewhere. So at this point, we're turning more towards and not so happy. Yes, yes. August 19th.
00:37:39
Speaker
Brooke's 19th birthday came and went with no word from Brooke and I know I can only imagine how hard that day must have been for Brooks family because I am sure and you think about it how much hope
00:37:55
Speaker
must have been hinged on that being the day that she would come back. Yeah. Right. And especially if she had like run away, I mean, you would think like this would be the day. Why would you want to be a boy from your family on your birthday? How many prayers must have been said on that day and how many tears must have been shed at the day's ending when no more knowledge of Brooke's whereabouts were, you know, than they had the day before. The next day,
00:38:26
Speaker
the next year on April 24th, 2015, there was a potential break in the case. A Rockcastle County man was hunting mushrooms. And remember she said she was going to go to a party in Rockcastle County, right? So this Rockcastle County man is hunting mushrooms. To clarify people, these are not magical mushrooms. These are mushrooms and I'm sure we from Eastern Kentucky refer to as dry land fish, which are delicious fried. I have never had them.
00:38:48
Speaker
Well, sorry.
00:38:56
Speaker
They're so good. There's a festival. We'll go. What? Okay. So good. New plan. Anybody visiting Kentucky, there's a festival. Yes. So just Google it. Well, he said he was hunting mushrooms and he stumbled across bones. Oh no. Skeletal remains. So so many people thought this is for carving, right? But after a dental records check, the bones were not a match.
00:39:23
Speaker
Now, we are six years after her disappearance and Brooke has still not returned home. No word. No word. Nothing. Nothing. Today, Trooper Robert Purdy of the Kentucky State Police admits that now they believe the fire did play a key role in Brooke's investigation, but they will not elaborate since the state police are continuing to work this case.
00:39:49
Speaker
and follow up on any leads they receive. And I think that's pretty common with cold cases. They'll give bits of information, but they're not going to give all of the information because then how would they know if a witness comes forward? Exactly. Information was true.
00:40:03
Speaker
Right, because if you put it all out there, then somebody could just cite a report that they read. In total, the Kentucky State Police have searched more than 16,000 acres in three counties. So the police have really done their due diligence. It's not like they just searched some small area. 16,000 acres.
00:40:28
Speaker
here in central Kentucky, like if somebody lives on a five-acre track, like that's a lot to mow. I mean that's, you probably don't know what's going on on your five-acre track and this is 16,000 acres. Wow. So huge search area. They sent out cadaver dogs, they searched bodies of water,
00:40:51
Speaker
but here's the problem. This area around the Blue Lick Cellphone Tower is not flat land. It is heavily wooded. There are sinkholes, caves, abandoned wells, cliffs, drop-offs. I mean, this is not an area that is easily searched.
00:41:13
Speaker
we are kind of known for sinkholes and cave systems. Right. And so literally anything could be anywhere. So now Maggie, let's talk about some of the questions that I could not help thinking about surrounding this case. There's so many. I know. First, why would she go to this house? And here, let me tell you the reasons why I'm thinking this and then I want to get your feedback. Number one,
00:41:42
Speaker
If you've ever visited Kentucky, especially during the summer, summers are hot and they are humid. She is going to a house, and even if it's 1 a.m., she is going to a house where there is no air conditioning.
00:42:02
Speaker
after which like physical exertion you would be hot and sweaty she goes to a house where there's no air conditioning there are also no lights and they are arriving there hours before daylight Maggie if I am home alone I'm so scared that I want lights on
00:42:23
Speaker
When Anthony goes on conferences, I literally check all of my doors and windows at least three times before going to sleep. And I sleep with the living room light on and my door open. I totally sleep with the light on. Yes. So I cannot imagine going to a house.
00:42:39
Speaker
hours before daylight. Someone you kinda know. Somebody you kinda know. But not really. Right. Where there is no electricity. And they also, I at least have to assume because they went to a field party, been drinking. And if you have been drinking, what are you eventually going to have to do? Pee. Pee! And you're going to a house with no running water? But...
00:43:05
Speaker
she was categorized as a country girl. That is so true. And I am not but some of my friends are and they have absolutely no problem with squatting. Oh yes. I mean guys it's super easy. Like they can just you know right turn around and go but for girls it's a little bit different but that is true. Like we have gone riding ATVs
00:43:28
Speaker
Um, there's a place called Wildcat. It's good riding land. And what Rodney actually got me, this is kind of gross, like TMI, but I'm going to tell you anyway, there's like this pee cup. I'm not saying Brooke had one of those, but I mean, she is a country girl. Like a she-wee? Something like that. I think it is.
00:43:48
Speaker
I've never used it for the record. It is as clean as the day you bought it for me. But I just, I still think that even if she's a Tom girl, like you would feel more comfortable going into a bathroom. And I think that would be a little odd. And again, like, then you're going to be like, uh, hold on a second, pause the conversation. I gotta go outside to pee. I'll be right back. I don't know. So my second question is this, as soon as I read the story,
00:44:13
Speaker
I went to Rodney, my husband, and like Maggie said, he's a firefighter, and I told him about this couch fire. He literally stopped me in the middle of the sentence, and he was like, wait, in a house with no electricity? And I said yes, and he immediately said, arson. It makes sense. It does. Now, again, if we believe the guy from the party, it was acci... Can arson be accidental? Or does arson mean it's purposeful? Yeah.
00:44:44
Speaker
So either she accidentally set the house, the couch on fire, or the guy from the party set the couch on fire. Or maybe you went to attend the horses. Somebody else. That is so true. So either way, we're all thinking, somebody set this fire. My really big question though has to do with that final text.
00:45:11
Speaker
I don't think that she sent it either. I don't know what you think. I do not think that Brooke sent that text. Now there have been in a lot of the reports that I read, people who were like, oh, obviously this text is fake because they question why somebody would say the county that they were going to a party in. But that's not the part that I question because I don't know about you Maggie, but here in Kentucky, we named the county. Like, I mean,
00:45:38
Speaker
And we do it all the time, especially if you live in rural Kentucky. So like if people said, where did you grow up? I don't say Grayson or Greenup. I don't say the cities. I say Carter County or Greenup County. Like it's just a Kentucky thing. And we work with a lady who is not from Kentucky and she even mentioned that, that she had never like
00:46:02
Speaker
been around people that when she would say like oh where's so and so people be like oh it's in fayette county right that's in jessamine county yeah instead of the city like that's in lake seapander that's in nicholasville we just say the county yeah we that's what we do again we've said that a lot in this episode this is just how we do in kentucky this is it most counties in kentucky just have like one big city probably
00:46:24
Speaker
And so we just associate everything in that county, like that city is that county. Right. I also read something, this is a little bit like geeky academic, but that said, there's a lot in terms of like cultural heritage in Kentucky. There's a lot of people who have Irish ancestors. And in Ireland, that's a common thing, like from County Cork or something like that. So is it like something that, you know, has just happened to evolve?
00:46:49
Speaker
I don't know. I mean, it could be either, but that is not the part of the text that I have a problem with, right? That she's going to a party in Rockcastle County. My problem is the time.
00:47:01
Speaker
Now, Maggie and I are both high school teachers and my seniors and her freshmen are barely awake at 8 a.m. So you are telling me, yes, that there is a party that would still be going strong at 6 a.m. at the time that it would have been when Brooke would have gotten there.
00:47:21
Speaker
right. That's what I, that's what I don't understand. I feel like you're right. You are either done or you are wrapping up. Yeah. At six a.m. You're not like, let's go strong. Yeah. In brook who had been, let me remind you actively trying to get a ride home and had sent those texts that make her seem, you know, pretty anxious within just
00:47:45
Speaker
calmly say that she's going someplace even further from her home knowing that she was supposed to meet friends at 9 a.m. only three hours later to spend the whole day out of town at a car show. Like none of that makes sense to me.
00:48:01
Speaker
No, she seems pretty responsible. Like texting her sister. Right. Would you let me in at this time? Yep. Like to me, I feel like if I were in a situation I was uncomfortable with and I had texted Anthony like, please hurry, please come pick me up. I'm so scared. Like if the situation calmed down, I would call him. Right. Hey, I'm okay. Don't worry. I have it figured out. Right. Not send a completely
00:48:24
Speaker
I am fine. Do not come get me completely stoic. Yeah, super robotic. You're right. And again, like if she's going to meet her friends for this day that they obviously have planned and she's supposed to meet them at 9 a.m., I wouldn't imagine that she would be like, oh, you know what, I'm just going to go, you know, further away from them and go to this party again at 6 a.m., right? High school students.
00:48:49
Speaker
Yeah, no party's still going on. And as you can imagine, the police did a search and they could not find a party going on in Rockcastle County at 6 a.m. And another big question that I have is the inconsistencies.
Suspicion and Theories
00:49:04
Speaker
I really want to give the benefit of the doubt to this guy from the party, right? We always want to and I don't want to, I would never want to falsely accuse somebody of something because I would think that that would be the worst, especially if you are innocent and now like everybody thinks that you're guilty, right? But the inconsistencies in his story, especially when he talked to Tasha
00:49:30
Speaker
Here's why I question, are you ready for this? I bet you haven't even thought about this. Okay, so the boy from the party reported to Tasha both that he overheard Brooke mentioning that she was going to a party in Rockcastle County.
00:49:46
Speaker
and that he left to avoid an awkward moment when Jared would pick her up. But it can't be both. It's got to be an either-or. I have a light bulb over my head. I did not think about that because she would have sent the text while he was tending the horses. Right.
00:50:07
Speaker
Right. And, like, let's say before she sent that text that she had been talking to him about going to a party in Rockcastle County or something like that, right?
00:50:18
Speaker
then again, for him, for this boy from the party, either she's going to this party in Rockcastle County, in which case Jared would not be coming to pick her up, so why would he need to avoid an awkward moment? Right, he wouldn't, because then he would know, oh my gosh, Jared's not even coming by. So I don't need to worry about that. Exactly. So either that's happening, and he knows there's not going to be an awkward moment, or
00:50:46
Speaker
Jared is going to come and pick her up and he is trying to avoid the situation. But then if that is the case, why would he have reported to Tasha, oh, hey, I overheard her talking about going to a party in Rockcastle County. It can't be both. Cannot be both. Right. So and I also question
00:51:13
Speaker
Why, if Brooke was scared, why would she have told him that she was going to a party in Rockcastle County? Like why would she have given him any more information? I would have just, this is me. And I hope I'm not like getting ahead. So because if you can't tell, I don't know what's the full story that Alison is telling. But I think maybe it's just my personality. But if I was somewhere that someone could not get to me, like right away, and I was scared, I would call 911.
00:51:41
Speaker
like I'm scared. I don't feel like please come get me. I'm totally gonna get to that. I know but one more suspicious thing before we get to the 911 lack of call is that it also seems suspicious to me that this boy from the party when he's talking to Tasha
00:52:00
Speaker
would not have mentioned the fire in the first phone call. Yeah that's a pretty big oh my couch was on fire. Right and I mean if he is innocent and he truly thought that Brooke could have caused it because
00:52:15
Speaker
How else could it have started other than a cigarette or some sort of like lit accelerant? Why wouldn't he have led with that in this conversation with Tasha? Because I would think that a fire would be the most traumatic thing that would have happened that morning and not something that you would just, I don't know, forget to tell somebody about.
00:52:35
Speaker
Right. And I feel like he would have connected the dots. Oh, it's kind of weird. We don't know where she's at. And I came home on my couch. Right. So why would he have not said to her sister in that first phone call? Do we know how old this kid is?
00:52:48
Speaker
I have not read that, but I think he was like a year or two older than Brooke, up to a couple years older, but still youngish. Now to the 911 call. So as Maggie said, a lot of people have questioned why wouldn't Brooke have just called 911 instead of texting Jared, please hurry, please hurry, I'm scared. But for me,
00:53:16
Speaker
I think her reaction was normal. And here's why I say that because I know even if I were nervous about something, it's been so ingrained in my head. So Rodney's a firefighter, my husband, my dad was a firefighter growing up. And so I've always heard like 911 is for emergencies. Like 911 is not something that you like play around and call. And not that she didn't think that she was in like
00:53:39
Speaker
potentially a situation where she obviously she felt scared, right? But in my head, I probably wouldn't have called immediately either because I probably would have been trying to convince myself that, oh, yeah, it's not. I'm just getting ahead of myself. Exactly. I'm just feeling jumpy. I would have attempted to call myself down. Yeah, exactly. I'm overreacting. And even if I felt uncomfortable, you know, I would be thinking, well, Jared's about to pick me up soon.
00:54:09
Speaker
Like I just have a little bit longer to wait it out. So maybe I wouldn't have been, you know, getting too freaked out. Or there's a second option. And that is that the situation was so concerning to her and that she was scared for her life, which is why after the phone call to Paige, there were no more calls
00:54:38
Speaker
only texts. Now, again, we're high school teachers. Students try to sneak texts all the time, right? But you can't sneak a phone call, right? And so maybe she knew that there was no way to call 911 without suspicion.
00:54:59
Speaker
and she was in immediate danger. So this led me to question with all of the technological advances that we have, can you text an emergency to 911 in case of situations like this? And I was surprised to find that in most cases you cannot. So you guys can't see obviously what we're doing but we have
00:55:23
Speaker
paper and pen on our discs and I literally took the pen from Alice's hand to write a note to ask her because she takes that moment. Right, but no. Oh my. I was shocked because why can we not do this yet? I
00:55:41
Speaker
flabbergasted because we have so many technological advances that we can't text 911. I did find that in some areas of the country, you can text 911. But in most cases, when you try to text 911, it will send back an error message directing you to call 911 instead. So there's something that recognizes that you're texting an emergency number, but nothing on the other end
00:56:10
Speaker
to like actually receive the message. They just send you back. Something that says call 911. But what if you can't?
00:56:23
Speaker
All right, so now we're gonna talk through some of the theories, and I've read a lot of research about this case, and there are lots of theories. Some of them, in my opinion, completely misguided, but I mean, I'm gonna mention them anyway. One theory is that the homeowner, the guy from...
00:56:42
Speaker
from the party had set the fire to the couch in order to cover up some form of DNA evidence, be that blood, urine, vomit, or semen, and that the horse was an excuse to ditch the body. Again though, the fire. Right, so they're saying like he did that on purpose
00:57:08
Speaker
when he got back. Yes. And so that he, something happened that he is responsible for Brooke's death, I guess is in essence what that theory is. It seems kind of, again, not to point fingers, kind of plausible though, because
00:57:25
Speaker
there's a random fire to this random couch that he doesn't mention in his phone call to her sister. And we know he supposedly left the house and came back and was only gone for like an hour. Again, I'm not a pharmacy person. I mean, I love animals. If someone else like feeds them and shovels their poo and I just get to like pet them and ride them. But I feel like if you have like a pretty large arm, you're going to need more than an hour.
00:57:56
Speaker
Right. To like take care of all of your animals. I mean I would think. Now there are horses that are near where I live and I know that the woman who takes care of him she puts like feed buckets out so I mean maybe he just went to like feed buckets out I don't know but like you said it seems odd that
00:58:14
Speaker
If he is innocent, and again, I don't want to point fingers, I'm just questioning, if he is innocent, when he talked to Tasha, like you said, why would he have not said,
00:58:27
Speaker
there was a fire at my house unless this is something that you have said and you're trying to cover it up. And then you're like, oh my gosh, I totally forgot to tell her. I've got to tell her, right? And now I'm going to call back and act like I'm worried. Yeah. Also, people argue that the fire department and the police botched the investigation. And they note that, and this is according to an interview on CNN on August 23rd of 2013, that the couch had been drug out to the front yard and left there.
00:58:57
Speaker
sitting in the elements. So they want to argue that, oh, the fire department, the police, they just botched this investigation. But I feel like, I mean, I could be wrong, but I feel like in a fire, if there's an object on fire, you want to get it out of the house so that it doesn't catch the rest of the house on fire. Because they had no idea she was missing. Right. So how can they botch an investigation that they don't even know existed?
00:59:19
Speaker
And Brooke's stepdad also believes in the law enforcement officers and the fire department. And he has said that the police had already gotten everything from it that they needed. And so that's why, like, I have heard in some reports that like for months afterwards, the couch was sitting out on the lawn. So even after they had like said, oh, they could be linked. But Brooke's stepdad was like, no, the police already got everything from it that they could.
00:59:46
Speaker
But it does seem a little bit odd, still, that a key piece of evidence was not collected. Even after, especially since they ended up connecting. Right. And that it was just left to sit in that front yard for months. So that seems a little bit odd. Also, a lot of people who focus on the boy from the party, the homeowner, they argue, well, you know what?
01:00:07
Speaker
Maybe the couch wasn't evident. Maybe the couch was just this red herring. Like he lit it to throw people off from the real scene of the crime. But I mean, that seems a little bit too complex for me. And we work with high school students. I love them.
01:00:23
Speaker
but that seems like a great deal of like planning and thinking and this kind of seems like I'm more like oh it just happened. Right because I mean at the party that night he didn't even know this girl was gonna be coming home with him so like yeah that is a lot of planning and if she sent that last text well
01:00:41
Speaker
I guess we don't know if she sent that last text. So as far as we know, the last text that her family thinks she sent was somewhere around 4.30. So that does, I guess, and they're not calling until around 9 a.m. when her friends are like, hey, she was supposed to go to Somerset with us and she's not here. So I mean, I guess that would give him like five hours. But he called the fire department, I think it was around seven. So
01:01:08
Speaker
He still would have time, but again, I think that is giving anybody too much credit. Oh, this is to throw people off. Another theory, and again, I will go ahead and say, I think this one is a little bit far-fetched. This one comes from a private investigator out of Florida.
01:01:27
Speaker
is that this is a work of a serial killer. Oh my. Yeah, it got dark. Super quick. As if it weren't already dark. He said after all, there was no nationwide search for Brooke. And so maybe they wouldn't have been able to connect her death with other people. Brooke's stepfather says that they didn't do a nationwide search because the family had been asked to wait on the state police.
01:01:50
Speaker
to run and finish their own investigation first. He argued that several missing women in Kentucky, this is the private investigator argued this, among other states are the actions of one serial killer who has targeted similar looking women, all blonde, all around five foot one, who all weighed 105 to 110 pounds. Now,
01:02:14
Speaker
Here's why I find this unlikely, not to say that serial killers aren't out there. I just read an article though that the statistics of zero, it's super small. And remember, she is out of house.
01:02:26
Speaker
And well, we know Berea, this house is like, it isn't a subdivision, but it's like rural. So I find it a little bit unlikely that Brooke is so far out in the country that a serial killer is just going to be like, Oh, let's go into this rural small town and just happen upon her in a home with no electricity alone in this rural area.
01:02:51
Speaker
missing girls from central Kentucky for a few years. Right. So I can see where he would like kind of cling to that or like kind of start there. Well and similarly a third theory is that Brooke had become a victim of sex trafficking.
01:03:07
Speaker
And I will admit that sex trafficking in Kentucky and Tennessee has become a major eye-opening topic, especially here recently. And interestingly, in the Richmond area from where Brooke disappeared, there have been several similar-looking women
01:03:24
Speaker
who have disappeared with equally mysterious circumstances and no leads. So here recently, there was a case, it was just a few years before Brooke, this girl Paige Johnson, and I'm gonna show you a picture, Maggie. And in my perspective, she does look shockingly similar to...
01:03:48
Speaker
Brooke Farthing. So Maggie, I'm going to share with you these two pictures and I want you to tell the listeners the similarities that you notice. So when she laid these up for me, my mouth dropped. They, from a distance, I think you might not even be able to tell them apart.
01:04:10
Speaker
one brook has maybe like a more defined cheekbone like you can see like her cheekbone better one has dimples but
01:04:20
Speaker
like same hair, same highlights, straight hair, blonde. They look, they can almost pass this decision. They really could. But the only thing that stops me from believing that, because like valid theory if you're looking at these pictures and you're like, okay, if they were looking for similar looking girls for this, they got it. But I would also wager a guess
01:04:42
Speaker
Again, that these abductions rarely take place in rural homes. Again, I could be wrong, but I would wager a guess. There are still others who argue that Brooklyn ran away. Those who argue this, they say she had no college plans. She had broken up with her long-term fiance or long-term boyfriend, her recent fiance, and they give other reasons like that, but
01:05:08
Speaker
she wouldn't have left on her own with no car and no thing right and no things that would have been a long walk yes right like we have said this is not like a big city and then houses in a suburb like right outside the city where he has a small town these were probably at
01:05:27
Speaker
at least like a mile to half a mile outside of this small town. Right. She's gonna have to go even further to like Lexington, Louisville, Cincinnati to get to a big city. And even though like we're from small towns
01:05:42
Speaker
And there's a little bit more of a sense of safety. I feel like not safety enough that I would go out walking at like four or five a.m. in the dark. First of all, without my things that I'm going to leave at this boy's house where I've already told somebody I'm scared to be like I wouldn't want to have to go back for them.
01:06:01
Speaker
No, it doesn't.
Public Appeal for Help
01:06:03
Speaker
And not to mention the fact that she had plans for the next day and she had just gotten her driver's license. So she did at least have something exciting happening in her life, like something to think about. And even though she had broken up with her ex-fiancee, like they're still on good terms. So it's not like her life is seemingly in shambles or something like that.
01:06:25
Speaker
I have lots of seniors who don't have like definitive plans the moment they are graduating from high school, but they're not like, oh, I should just run away. Right. So I have no answers for you.
01:06:40
Speaker
I wish I did. Instead, all I have are speculations and questions to consider. But there is clear human desire to find answers to questions, to not be satisfied until the uncertainty is gone. We cannot stop looking for the answers to help Brooke's family.
01:07:03
Speaker
The missing and have you seen me signs have long since faded, been ripped away by the wind or become tattered. But the longing in the hearts of Brooke's family is as strong as ever. For them, her smile is as vivid an image as it ever has been.
01:07:22
Speaker
Brooke Farthing had the whole world in front of her and places to go. In the wee morning hours of June 22nd, 2013, she did go somewhere. But where?
01:07:37
Speaker
We urge you, if you have any information related to this case, pictures from that night, recalled snippets of conversations, please take that to the police. It might seem insignificant to you, but be crucial to their investigation.
01:07:53
Speaker
You can contact the Kentucky State Police at 859-623-2404 or text them anonymously at 67283 and type in all capitals KSP
01:08:17
Speaker
tip to begin the message. There is a $14,000 reward for any tip that leads to Brooke's return or to a conviction in this case. As Tasha mentioned in an interview, the families of cold case victims continue to feel grief.
01:08:35
Speaker
Over and over again, every Thanksgiving, every birthday, every moment that should be a joyous situation, an empty chair. Let's help them find closure. All right, my sleuth hounds, now it's up to you. We cannot let this case be forgotten.
01:08:59
Speaker
Again, please like and join our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases podcast, to continue the conversation and see images related to this episode. As always, follow us on Twitter, at casescoffee, on Instagram, at coffee cases podcast, or you can always email us suggestions to coffeeandcasespodcast at gmail.com. Please tell your friends about our podcast so more people can be reached to possibly help bring some closure to these families. Don't forget to rate our show and leave us a comment as well. We hope to hear from you soon.
01:09:29
Speaker
Stay together. Stay safe. We'll see you next week.