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E092: Kelley Brannon
1.5k Plays4 years ago
From hitchhiking all the way to Canada and back down to Mexico, to couch-surfing her way to Florida, to starting her own rock band, Kelley Brannon was the definition of a free spirit. But when this free-spirited soul left a voicemail message on her boyfriend’s cellphone that she was “getting in a car,” no one thought that over a year later she still wouldn’t be back home.
Please consider joining the Facebook group Kelley Brannon-Missing Discussion Group.
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Transcript
Starting a Podcast with Buzzsprout
00:00:00
Speaker
Sleuth Hounds, have you ever considered creating your own podcast? Have you been inspired by listening to some of your favorites and thought, I'd love to try this out on my own. Whether it's a true crime podcast like ours, a motivational podcast, or maybe one filled with tips and strategies for those interested in the same activities you are.
00:00:20
Speaker
When Maggie and I first decided to start our podcast, we knew absolutely nothing about what podcasting would entail. But when we found that the platform Buzzsprout was one for which we didn't need any special equipment, just a computer microphone, some quiet space, and each other, we knew that this was the way to go. It is intuitive to use, fun to play around with, and so helpful in getting analytical data about our number of downloads to track trends
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Speaker
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00:01:04
Speaker
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A Brother's Final Call
00:01:35
Speaker
I didn't really comfort her at the moment, but I should have.
00:01:40
Speaker
I didn't tell him I love him, but I should have. How many times have we all spoken words similar to those? I know personally, I'm haunted by the last phone call I had with my brother. I vividly remember answering the phone late one night on August the 26th. I was sitting on our maroon oversized chair and the TV hummed in front of me. The phone rang, jerking me out of my stupor.
00:02:05
Speaker
When I picked it up, I heard my brother's voice on the other end. I remember being agitated that his call had interrupted the show I was watching. I rolled my eyes and answered the phone. Now, as our longtime listeners already know, my family and I are very close. We're like the Waltons, calling I love yous and good nights as we fall asleep. So despite the fact that my brother was 26 years old, he still called to check in with my mom when he was going to be late. Gee, which is my childhood nickname.
00:02:33
Speaker
Tell mom I'm not coming home tonight. I don't want her to worry, he said. I told him I would relay the message. Gennady said, bye, I mumbled as I hung up the phone and turned my attention back to the television. My brother died the next afternoon in a freak car accident in our driveway. He was 26. I was almost 17. The last phone conversation with him replays on my saddest days and I find myself saying if, over and over.
00:02:59
Speaker
I didn't tell him that I loved him and I should have. If I had known the last time we talked would be the last time. I would have told him how proud I was of him. If I had known the last time we talked would have been the last time, I would have told him he was my hero. If I would have known the last time was the last time, I would have told him that I loved him and really sounded like I'm in it. If I had known, I would have told him that all he did for me, the rides to practice, the trips to the Mexican restaurant,
00:03:26
Speaker
The trips to the doll hair's department store, the unknowingly cleaning vomit out of his truck, would be the times I look back on and smile. It's all the things left unsaid that creep in on me in those darkest moments. It's the actions of love and appreciation left not acted that break my heart.
00:03:46
Speaker
I know we've all heard the saying that actions speak louder than words. Opening the door for the stranger shows your manners more than simply saying, I have good manners. Hugging your friend at her mother's funeral can say more than simply saying, I'm sorry.
Introducing Kelly Brannon's Story
00:04:00
Speaker
When the couple at the center of today's story argued so badly that one stormed off and the other said in the motel room, it was all the unsaid words and actions not carried out that haunt this boyfriend. Quote, I slipped her keys off her wrist so she couldn't drive, Eddie said.
00:04:15
Speaker
I didn't really comfort her at the moment, but I should have." This is the story of Kelly Brannon.
00:04:57
Speaker
Welcome to Coffee and Cases where we like our coffee hot and our cases cold. My name is Alison Williams. And my name is Maggie Dameron. We will be telling stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the case will take those tips to law enforcement so justice and closure can be brought to these families.
00:05:18
Speaker
With each case, we encourage you to continue in the conversation on our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases podcast, and to follow us on Instagram at Coffee Cases podcast and on TikTok at Coffee and Cases podcast. Because as these families know, conversation helps to keep their missing family member in the public consciousness, helping to keep their memories alive. So sit back, sip your coffee, and listen to what's brewing this week.
00:05:45
Speaker
So in one of the episodes that we had pre-recorded in July, we were asking all of the slow towns out there to vote, vote, vote on podcast magazine Hot 50s and continue to vote for us. Please continue to do so every day if you would like, but you know, at least once.
00:06:06
Speaker
But we didn't even ask the previous month because we had pre-recorded all of our episodes.
Podcast Success and Humor
00:06:13
Speaker
And the podcast magazine volume that came out at the beginning of this month, we were number nine. I know. So we dropped a little bit. Now we're back up in the top 10. Okay. I soon would like to see us up there in top five. I won't lie about it. No, no, but I'm happy.
00:06:33
Speaker
same and a little disclaimer about me because you guys know I tell you about my life um if I sound a little hoarse today recording this is because I nearly died eating dinner this afternoon she choked on chili
00:06:49
Speaker
I just choked on chili and a cracker and I thought Anthony was going to have to give me, well I thought I was going to have to do like the sign for choking because he was just staring at me and I was like, like trying to cough it up. And finally he said, are you okay? And I was like, I mean, I'm almost dead now, but I got it back up. So I'm fine. I don't know why I'm laughing. I don't want you.
00:07:17
Speaker
I don't want you to choke. Well, anyways, so on to today's episode, which has nothing to do with chili. Or I'm like maneuver probably. It does have to do with chickens though. So there's that. I'm ready. So it was actually a suggestion brought to us through one of the many true crime groups we belong to. And before we started recording, Allison belongs to like 50 something. Yeah, 59.
00:07:46
Speaker
59 true crime groups on facebook. So yeah we're addicted but this case is a newer missing persons case Allison.
Kelly Brannon's Life and Advocacy
00:07:56
Speaker
It's only about a year old but if you're anything like me and obviously I know you are, this case is going to seem like a case for like the 60s or 70s because the circumstances around this case
00:08:10
Speaker
Which I hear the irony in this statement are so weird for 2020, which I know is this ironic. But like the people we're talking about, specifically one person named Kelly was just such like an old spirit and a lot of the things that like she did just don't fit with the time period of today. Okay. I feel like I'm an old spirit too in a lot of ways. So we'll see.
00:08:37
Speaker
Yeah like there's going to be some things about us that like we can identify with with Kelly and then there's some that I don't think that you would but you may surprise me I don't know. Okay I'm ready to see. So I know a lot of the times we run into
00:08:54
Speaker
like with newer cases that there is not as much information because they're so new. But that is not the case with Kelly because there are people like Marshawn Adams and she was actually who contacted me about Kelly's case, but she has kind of like picked up the task of keeping Kelly's case fresh in everyone's mind. And she has a Facebook group where she added me to a Facebook group.
00:09:22
Speaker
dedicated to bringing Kelly home called Kelly Brannon missing discussion group. And this page has like
00:09:29
Speaker
Probably a dozen files on Kelly. There's timelines on their videos So despite the fact that sluess hounds Kelly has no it's like she doesn't really have a family. She has an elderly mother but her Like circle of people have done such a good job of keeping her case of focus in the eyes of the public So, you know, it's up to us to be her voice and we have to keep pushing for her and so I'm anxious to kind of share this story with you guys today and
00:09:59
Speaker
That's awesome. So shout out to Marshane Adams for doing that because that's so crucial for, you know, all of the people at the center of our cases to have somebody who makes it their task to kind of share information. But like you said, Maggie, I mean, that makes it even more important that useless towns and that Maggie and I join these groups too. So make this, I guess, group 60.
00:10:27
Speaker
Right? That I'm going to join because, yeah, we do need to be the voice of the people in our cases because these are the cases that, you know, it's not the high profile, you know, that you're seeing on 2020. Exactly. And like I said, Kelly didn't have like a large family that she was in constant communication with.
00:10:50
Speaker
She did though have a pretty large friend group and in that circle of friends Kelly was the life of the party the free spirit the one who was like Guaranteed to make you smile. Oh Yeah, that's not me. I'm not the life party. I'm only in bed by 930 Yeah, you're like I'm the life of the party until like it's like 8 p.m. Yeah, I go home to get my jammies on yeah, and then the free spirit I don't
00:11:18
Speaker
No, I'm too much of a rule follower. Yeah. Yeah. But kudos to Kelly. Yeah. In some parts of her life, I am kind of envious of the lifestyle that she is able to live. And one of her friends, Cheryl, actually spoke with WCTV's Katie Chaplin and said, quote, Kelly is unlike any other person I will probably meet in my life. Always, always interested in creating just an incredible person, end quote.
00:11:47
Speaker
So super artistic it sounds like or at least like
00:11:52
Speaker
free thinking not maybe not even just free-spirited? Both of those are yeses yeah she is like free-spirited and she's also um free-thinking so there's a two-part article called Unsolved Florida who is Kelly Brannon and Cheryl speaks in detail about about Kelly and the friendship that they shared um and a portion of the article I think really kind of
00:12:17
Speaker
spoke to who Kelly was. She says, quote, it was Brennan's, meaning Kelly, spark that drew the pair together 20 years ago in fourth grade. And what makes it so hard now that she's gone? And Cheryl says, we want closures. No, that's not at all what Cheryl said. What did she really say? We want closure. We want answers, end quote.
00:12:44
Speaker
And we all know someone who, like, if you think back on growing up, like someone who couldn't wait to escape the town they grew up in, you know, maybe that person is you, sleuth hounds out there listening. Um, but we know somebody who needs more and needs to find it by kind of exploring the world on their own. I see that a lot with my students. Yeah. It's kind of like.
00:13:14
Speaker
And I think the same with Kelly, I mean, I don't know, but just thinking about like our kids, because we both teach in small towns. So it's like, there's so much more that they see through social media or the news or just hearsay. And it's like they want to experience that and they kind of have to experience it for themselves, but eventually they come back to their roots.
00:13:37
Speaker
And Kelly did the same thing. So Cheryl described how Kelly knew right away that she would leave their small New Hampshire town to travel after high school. So very unlike us, Allison. This is why I was saying some things I don't think that we will identify with her with, and this I think is one of them. But she actually hitchhiked her way across country, making it as far south as Mexico and as far north as Canada. Oh, no. Mm-mm. Yeah. No.
00:14:08
Speaker
No, I'd be like really one mom. Do you want to go on a road trip with me? You know, like bring my mom with me or something. Yes, exactly.
00:14:20
Speaker
And I really envy people that have a spirit like Kelly. I wish I was just brave enough. And that's how I describe it, because it takes bravery just to live that type of lifestyle. But I'm just way too cowardly to let go. I have to have too much control. Yeah. So what is like us, Allison, is the fact that Kelly recorded all of her travels and experiences and what she was planning to become a documentary of her
00:14:51
Speaker
life travels. Oh, that is neat. So she knew her life on the road was temporary and she actually ended up coming back home to earn a college degree and eventually went on to get her master's in creative writing. So that's why I said she was kind of both of those things that you talked about earlier. Yeah. So she was free spirited and she was free thinking. Yes. And yet it seems kind of grounded to like knowing that she needs to get the degree and and things like that.
00:15:20
Speaker
Yeah, that's a like kind of here and there lifestyle for forever for her. She's also by many described as a hardcore activist friend said that she was at the front of the occupy Wall Street movement, which was I thought really cool. I could totally see that with everything that you've said so far.
00:15:41
Speaker
And then she actually ended up living in New York city for about 10 years. Along the way, she picked up music. She started a rock band. Kelly like lived. Multi-talented too. Yes. And she played in that rock band like anywhere and everywhere she could. So parties, bars, outside on the street, just like anywhere where people could hear her music. About as close as I've gotten this karaoke. I'm scared to even do karaoke. What?
00:16:09
Speaker
I did have that signature Funky Colma Dina. That was my song. Well, one of my friends that I work with, her husband does karaoke and he always does a boy named Sue. And he did it on their honeymoon this summer in Mexico at like whatever resort they were staying at. Oh my goodness. I feel like everyone who does karaoke has like their signature song. So maybe we'll have to post on our social media and ask what everybody's signature karaoke song is.
00:16:38
Speaker
Like last Sunday, I went to church with my mom and we sing in the choir and like I sing and like the people that do the announcements are like, you should sing a solo. And then like people will say, like there was a new person there and they were like, who's that girl? She has a really great voice. And they're like, well, we try to get her to do solos, but she won't. And I'm like, that's exactly correct. I will not. So you're not going to be starting a rock band like Kelly then. Oh no. In my shower for sure. Shower band.
00:17:08
Speaker
Yes, and she actually would go on to do something else that I could not do, but she couch surfed her way to Florida.
00:17:17
Speaker
Yeah, she's trusting of people. She is. So she stopped in Tallahassee through these couch surfing travels to play at the bark downtown, which I'm assuming is a bar, in June of 2019. And Kelly actually ended up being a regular there at that establishment. And sadly, her picture, her missing persons poster is still hanging on the wall in that bar.
00:17:43
Speaker
which I think is sad and it's fading as time passes without significant progress made in her case. But yeah, she sounds very like nomadic too, which is weird because the whole like, she is like an anomaly, you know, because I said like grounded yet free thinking earlier, because, you know, you mentioned like she lived in New York City for 10 years, but then she'll also like pick up and couch surf.
00:18:09
Speaker
Yeah, a thing she just wants to experience. Yeah.
Kelly and Eddie's Tumultuous Relationship
00:18:14
Speaker
While living in Florida, Kelly met her boyfriend, Eddie Emerson. And I want to go ahead and say that Eddie is being looked at by police. Like it's not something that he doesn't know. Like he has been, you know, named a person of interest. He has also though, one of the people still searching for Kelly. So whether you think that is out of the goodness of his heart or
00:18:40
Speaker
Like him trying to kind of put up a face for police. He still is out there trying to find her and we'll talk about him. Um, cause he's obviously going to play a really big role in the events leading up to what happens to Kelly. Okay.
00:18:55
Speaker
So their relationship was tumultuous from early on, in some cases even described as toxic. And this rocky relationship can be followed sadly through police records. When asking interviews about it though, Eddie is honest about their relationship. He answers questions and like doesn't really try to hide the fact that maybe they weren't the best for each other. Well, that's positive at least. I mean, at least he's being honest.
00:19:24
Speaker
Yeah, so there is you know, some honesty there and I don't know to the degree to the degree in which He is honest, but he does talk about Like their relationship and then one particularly bad argument between the two This was in like December of 2019. He was arrested in Gainesville the day after Christmas because he hit Kelly in the face. Oh Okay, that's not good Yeah, so it's not just like
00:19:53
Speaker
they argue a lot or, you know, they cuss each other out. This is like, physical, abusive. Yeah, it's physical. Police photos from that night show Kelly's face, red and swollen and a friend of Kelly's would share a photo of her from a few days afterward where her eye was blue and black with bruises. Yeah.
00:20:16
Speaker
But it seemed like the two, though, Allison, were kind of ready to start over. They wanted to move away from the area and start fresh. It seems like we always think if we run away from our problems that they won't follow us. But just from, you know, this show alone, just from copying cases, we have learned that is definitely not the case. Like how many times did Cindy James move in episode 82? Oh my gosh. Literally, probably 82 times. Yeah, it was like four or five times.
00:20:46
Speaker
That yeah that she and her problems all over every single time every single time And I don't know that had this move been successful for Kelly and Eddie Like if they had successfully reached their destination, I don't know if the move would have left behind the issues that played their relationship Usually like you said the problem follows
00:21:14
Speaker
Exactly and regardless though, we're optimistic the two pack up their things You know each in their own car Eddie and his 1982 Toyota pickup and Kelly and her 1999 Toyota Camry and head up Interstate 75 toward Detroit, Michigan So they have guitars and tow Eddie's dog and eight chickens. Oh my goodness They were on their way to Michigan and
00:21:43
Speaker
to buy a house for $2,000 because they were going to remodel it. $2,000 in 2020. I'm pretty sure that's what my memory said or my memory serves me correctly. This had to be like, who knows what kind of condition it's in. Falling down probably. Oh my goodness. I see it. Maybe he's attached to his chickens, but I feel like
00:22:12
Speaker
I don't know. Maybe, maybe sell your chickens and get some new ones once you get there. Yeah. That's a, that's a, I mean, that's a haul. They're going from Florida. You're also going to have a lot of chicken poop on your truck. Yeah. A lot of poop. And if you have ever inadvertently stepped in chicken poop, you can poop barefoot. That is probably a very Kentucky thing that just came out of my mouth. It's a disgusting. Well, so my stepson and his wife, they have yard chickens.
00:22:42
Speaker
So they, you know, they come out in the morning and they go back into their coop at night. But the rest of the time they're in the yard and it honestly, I like the chickens. They're sweet, but it kind of freaks me out when they follow me. Yeah, I don't do chickens. And then you, yeah, there are times when you got to dodge, you got to watch for chicken poop. And I mean, that's just life, but the, yeah, there'd be a lot of chicken poop in that truck.
00:23:07
Speaker
I just don't think I would be attached enough to eight. I mean, I love animals, but I think I would just, like you said, maybe leave my eight chickens behind to find, find a good friend. That's what I'm thinking. But they pack the chickens up. Well, there we go.
00:23:21
Speaker
And they are on their way to Michigan. They do not make it very far though, before they encounter what they believe to be just a small speed bump on the way. But these events would like catapult the rest of the story. So about 77 miles into their trip. So we're looking at an hour.
00:23:40
Speaker
Yes, because we're on the interstate. Eddie's truck broke down after the transmission overheated. And it left them stranded. Y'all know I can't do names. I'm going to guess this is Shawnee County. Or Suwanee? Suwanee County. Floridians, we don't know. Right. Something like that.
00:24:01
Speaker
Yes. But anyways, they get stranded in this county and Eddie told Dateline that they had a truck towed to a local car shop in nearby Live Oak, Florida. And the couple just decided to camp in the area for a few days while they waited for repairs. And Sleuthtowns, you all know that Allison and I do not camp. No.
00:24:23
Speaker
We don't nature. No, we do not. And how sad is it that probably what he was going to have to pay to get his transmission fixed is what they're going to pay for their house? That is true. There goes their money. But it seems like they're, you know, in good spirits otherwise, I guess. Yeah. And like,
00:24:47
Speaker
I find it hard just because I am me to imagine doing what this couple had to do. But Eddie and Kelly actually slept on the grass by the road that night. First of all, I'd be covered in bug bites, so I can't.
00:25:02
Speaker
Well, I would be covered in hives, so. Between your hives and my bug bites, we'd be a mess. Yeah. I'd be like, we're turning this thing around. We're going back 77 miles. But it wasn't until the next day, according to where's Kelly Brannon on a website called Story Maps, which if you have not checked out is just as cool, dare I say, if not cooler than crime door. Really? Yeah. Okay. I'm going to have to check it out.
00:25:33
Speaker
Um, that the couple had the car towed that they would go on to like find my favorite food for lunch, which was Mexican and eat at a Mexican bar and grill while they waited for the assessments on parts. So they spend the night, then they go to lunch. They're waiting to figure out like how much everything is going to cost.
00:25:54
Speaker
And from what I read, and this is weird too, but maybe I'm just not like well-versed in auto repair. But it appears that Kelly and Eddie actually had to find the transmission part for the truck. It's like, it wasn't something that you could order maybe because it was like an older model, I'm guessing. And the couple would actually go to Lake City, Florida in search of the part. Here they would stay the night at Cypress Inn. Following breakfast the next day, the couple would return to Live Oak
00:26:22
Speaker
where they actually purchased a tent and kept out behind the Mexican restaurant where they ate for lunch. And we're now to July 11th, 2020. Okay. So two things I noticed. Number one, they really liked this Mexican restaurant. A lot. And number two, so they stayed at a hotel and then they went back to camping. Yeah. I don't know if it's like a budget concern and I'm kind of leaning towards, yes, it's more of a budget concern than a preference.
00:26:50
Speaker
But then you'd think they would have slept on the grass in Lake City too. Maybe it was just like they could only, Kelly could only stand it or Eddie can only stand it for a few days and it's like a half to shower, which would be me. Yeah, that's fair point.
00:27:06
Speaker
Over the next several days, the couple travels to and fro trying to find a transmission for Eddie's truck. Thankfully on July 13th, they locate one and they leave it with the repairman to begin repairs the next morning. But when Eddie calls on the morning of July 14th, repairs have not started because Eddie has actually purchased the wrong transmission. Oh my goodness.
00:27:31
Speaker
I'd be so mad. I'd be like, wait a minute. We have been going back and forth for days and you got the wrong one. Right. Exactly. And that's exactly what happens. The two start arguing because I too, like you and Kelly would be like, okay, this is ridiculous. Like I've been in this little town for several days. Like you need to get your crap lined out or I'm going on my own to Michigan because this is taking forever. Well, they would have been in Michigan by now.
00:28:00
Speaker
Exactly. But Eddie is actually able to persuade Kelly to stay one more night while he tries to sort things out. And this time they decide to stay at the Sunshine Inn for the night because it has the lowest rates in town. And that's why I thought that maybe the camping was like a budgetary thing. Okay.
00:28:19
Speaker
So the couple is arguing even when checking into the inn. And this time I can't put myself in Kelly's shoes because unlike most couples who may argue over the room cost or where to eat dinner, the couple is arguing over the chicken. Oh, the chickens again. See? He should have just left them.
00:28:41
Speaker
Okay. Well, remember that they also have the dog that they have with them and they have the chickens. Right. Right. So they're arguing over what's like, where are these chickens going? And in an interview with NBC news, Eddie said, I found a grassy spot in the shade for them, but Kelly wanted to bring them up into the room. Oh no. The chicken poo problem.
00:29:09
Speaker
But like if you're super attached to these chickens like I can maybe get it like you don't want them But they've saved in an end before so what they do with them that time. I don't know Yeah, I just don't like when we went on vacation my sister-in-law watched our animals and she almost overfed my fish and like he almost died and she was really upset about it and I'm like while I love him I
00:29:34
Speaker
he was like $15 fish from Peko and he's lived like six months, so that's pretty long for a fish. It's not like my dog, which I know is heartless.
00:29:47
Speaker
I don't know that I would, I don't know how worried I would be over my chickens. I say that and then I'd probably cry. I mean, who knows? Like they might have names for them. Like, you know, Margaret and Henrietta or something. That's true. And like, I think there's a lot of chickens. But Eddie explains, like, I already had my dog with us, he says in a quote, we didn't need chickens in the room too. We'd had a long couple of days and I was tired. So yeah, I got angry. I threw my head on the ground and yelled and we just kept arguing, end quote.
00:30:15
Speaker
Okay well now I can get where he's coming from too because I don't think it's the smartest idea to bring the chickens up to the hotel room. Like the animal lover in me would be worried about my chickens because you all know like do you love your animals? I worry over stuff. Yes I love animals but then like the Kwani sleep deprived part of me would just be like Eddie and just be fed up and just want to go to sleep. Right. He said Kelly then
00:30:45
Speaker
angrily left in her car while he set the chickens up outside to graze and then headed to the room to rest. And while in the room, he said their argument continued via text messages, but Kelly would eventually return to the room with pizza and wine and he says they made up. Well, we would probably have proof of purchase, right, of the pizza and wine, maybe? Yeah, we know that she purchased the pizza and the wine and we know that she made it
00:31:14
Speaker
back to the hotel room. We don't really know if they made up in the way that he thinks they did, but we know that she's in the hotel room for a brief while. Okay. So he says, quote, by the time she came back, we both pulled off. Eddie said in like one of his interviews, he goes on to say, when she saw the chickens were fine, I think she calmed down. I gave her a hug and everything seemed okay again. End quote.
00:31:42
Speaker
But this reconciliation did not last. As the sun was setting, they start to argue again. And it seems, from what I've read, that they are arguing over the chickens yet again because some were able to escape from Eddie's enclosure and Kelly was mad.
The Argument and Kelly's Disappearance
00:32:02
Speaker
Oh. See, this is where I think I would more empathize with Kelly. I think I would be fine if they were tied up outside. But if one got away, I think I would really be worried. Right.
00:32:11
Speaker
Um, and they do try in vain to catch the chickens, but they are unsuccessful. And Eddie tries to reassure Kelly that he sure they'll catch them in the morning. Like, I don't know. I guess the chickens stay around each other, but. And wherever they bed down, when it gets dark, they don't move from there. That's why I like my, um, stepson and daughter-in-law.
00:32:38
Speaker
they have the chicken coop and they leave the door open because as it gets dark, the chickens will go back home. But if they don't make it back to the chicken coop before it gets dark, they'll like bed down wherever they are. Yeah. Well, you all learned something today with me about chickens. Because it can be wildly creatures except at dark.
00:33:04
Speaker
So being as upset as she was, Kelly insisted that the remaining chickens come into the hotel room with him. And like I said, I'm there for that, Kelly, because now I would be worried about the rest of my chickens. I don't think I would have been able to leave them outside. But according to a timeline posted on that Facebook group that I mentioned, there were several interesting people staying at the hotel that night that Eddie and Kelly argued
00:33:30
Speaker
And we believe that possibly there could be connections there. Oh, now this timeline did list of these people along with their room numbers, but I did not include that in the episode for you guys. Um, if you're interested in that, it is in that Facebook group that I mentioned earlier because I didn't see.
00:33:58
Speaker
Like the connection. Maybe I missed something in the research, but I didn't want to just like put out all these people's names, being able to connect them back in her case, you know? So remember we're now on July 14th and Kelly and Eddie have argued on and off all day and all night.
00:34:18
Speaker
They're like basically tired of looking at each other. And according to Eddie, he finally gets angry enough that he leaves Kelly because I picture them arguing at this chicken coop resting temporary chicken coop. Yes. And he goes to the room to rest. And again, the two exchange text messages back and forth. And these aren't your typical like.
00:34:42
Speaker
couple arguing text messages or even like a happy couple kind of arguing or a love arguing. There's a lot of name calling a lot of blaming mentions of other women mentions of sexually transmitted diseases and infections and a lot of anger. So this is like you know what last straw I'm going to pull out I'm going to pull all the punches low blow after low blow it sounds like.
00:35:10
Speaker
Yeah, so I think the chickens escaping from this temporary housing area was like the straw that broke this relationship's back. So a lot of the text messages, and again, you can read them in their entirety, or what is provided on that Facebook page, but a lot of them, and you all know, we try really hard not to say
00:35:37
Speaker
curse words on the show. So a lot of them had a lot of cursing in them. So I had to kind of pick and choose ones that I put, but if you want to read them, they are located on that Facebook group. Um, at one point Kelly actually writes to Eddie, quote, clearly you don't want to be together. Probably your family influenced that. So just be effing honest for once. End quote. And the thing she liked
00:36:02
Speaker
has from what I could tell and not so great relationship with his family. And another message to Eddie, she writes, quote, I could give you the world and it still wouldn't be enough for you. Nothing will ever be and I'm sick of trying. I did nothing wrong. End quote. So I feel like from these messages, there's a lot of anger that goes beyond chickens escaping from the chest.
00:36:27
Speaker
It has more with feeling like you're not a team, like you don't feel respected. That's what I'm getting.
00:36:40
Speaker
Yeah, I'm from the messages that I read between the two. It seemed like to me Kelly is expressing like her need for comfort at times or like how unappreciated she feels and Eddie and the messages I read never offered the slightest apology and said he just asks like she brings food for the chickens out of the car or the dog's water bowl or the dog's food. It's never like
00:37:07
Speaker
I'm really sorry, please forgive me. It's just like, okay. Or like the dog's angry, bring his food up.
00:37:16
Speaker
So around 10 30 pm, the man named JR, he is staying in room 69, which is beside Kelly and Eddie there in room 70, where Eddie is, Kelly is not in the room. Let's Eddie know that Kelly is outside crying, upset and angry. So at least at 10 30, this JR guy sees Kelly and she's upset, but she's there.
00:37:44
Speaker
Yeah, just kind of like walking around the property, but she is there and Eddie is able to find her. So he leaves to check on her. And according to unsolved Florida, Kelly Brennan's case details. There's a quote that says, quote, she was crying. Emerson, meaning Eddie said she was miserable. She was drunk. I didn't comfort her. I just took her keys off her wrist and said, you can't drive right now. All right. End quote.
00:38:09
Speaker
And he actually admitted to locking Kelly outside of the motel room. But I don't know that that sounds as bad as, or it is as bad as what it sounds. I think, because I'm playing devil's advocate for Eddie, but like, I'm assuming that her key to the hotel was attached to the keys that were on her wrist. And when he took that, he took that key too. Oh, like maybe he didn't realize that he
00:38:40
Speaker
Took that key also he just thought he was taking the car key
00:38:45
Speaker
I think at first it is that, because he says, quote, I just went back in the room, stupidly, I just went back in the room, end quote. And that's the last time he would see her is around like 1045. So I think at first there's that, but then I think kind of later on he realizes, but it's just so angry. I don't know that it matters. Oh no. So at 1051, Eddie gets the following message. Thanks for ignoring me and locking me out con man.
00:39:14
Speaker
I hope you're sending lots of hearts to all your old hookups. See, I think there's like maybe a very brief time that he doesn't realize it, but he knows it by like almost 11 p.m. Right. Yeah. And you'd think at that point, if he did, you're right, it has to be like pent up anger. Maybe at that point, if he didn't immediately go unlock the door. Yeah.
00:39:37
Speaker
And like if Anthony and I were arguing, which obviously we don't have a relationship like this, but like if I was just like storming about an unknown area and like sending Anthony all these angry messages, he would just like literally pick me up and carry me. Right. Into the hotel room. Yeah. And I'd be super upset even the fact that he said he admitted that he didn't comfort her.
00:40:03
Speaker
Yeah, and I think that's one of his big regrets in this case. At 1054, he receives the following message. I know how you are. And maybe it was my mistake to get involved with a millennial who's addicted to their phone. Oh, there's a low blow.
00:40:21
Speaker
Yes. I know when I read that, I was like, Ooh, look at her though. She says, sure. You and Nat, which means Natalie because she's mentioned in some of the other text messages. And I'm assuming like Natalie is an old fling of his, have more in common than you think. I'm sure you can still get back together and you treat her well. You should be with someone you want to be nice to. And that's not me. Obviously would be cool. If you give me some gas money, I spent driving to get your transmission.
00:40:50
Speaker
Oh, she's like, yeah, it sounds like she's like, you know, these are the comments. Well, I mean, they've, I guess they've said bad angry things to each other before this, but it sounds like, yeah, she's maybe ready to end a relationship. Yeah.
00:41:09
Speaker
And according to one of the timelines on the Kelly Brandon Facebook page, at around 1230, she begins sending text messages like this, quote, I'll leave with nothing once again, one text says. Oh, so this has happened similarly before then. Yeah. Um, when Eddie gets a text message reading, quote, congrats, you won. Tell your fam at 1235, he asks her to come to bed to which she responds. Are you ready for this? Yeah, I'm ready.
00:41:37
Speaker
Quote, nah, I'd rather starve to death or jump off a bridge or be eaten by vultures than share a room with someone like you. End quote. Oh yeah. So she's literally like disgusted by this man. Yeah. Which makes me wonder like what else is going on that day that we don't know about. Yeah. But you know, and some part of me feels like she's either done or she's so hurt.
00:42:08
Speaker
You know that she's like talking in these extremes, but like in her heart of hearts, she doesn't mean it. Or I'm wondering if it, and again, I don't know, this is purely speculation, but I'm wondering if it's like.
00:42:22
Speaker
We've talked about before, like how abusers and abuse ease kind of respond to each other. Like if she, that this has happened before and she's kept going back and she's now just like realize it's this cycle that she's fallen into. She's almost had enough of it. Yeah. Like she even tells him that she's going to report her car stolen, like that he stole her car and these messages go back and forth like until close to 1 AM. So.
00:42:52
Speaker
This has been going on now for what, since before 11. I feel like years, but yeah, it's been several long hours. Okay. A voicemail stamped at 12 59 am is left from Kelly's phone to Eddie's pray. And Alison, I am going to play you the majority of that message now. Okay.
00:43:16
Speaker
Oh, great. You're sleeping. I'm so glad I got the message from you before telling me how you're sorry and you love me and how you want me so much and all that bullshit just to get my car. Well, anyways, I've worked in my own room at the Sunshine Inn and I've reported my car stolen and told them who stole it. So expect cops knocked at your door and I will be right next
00:43:39
Speaker
store at my own motel room because I'm not allowed to stay with you because I want to see you pay and you'll get the benefit because you only look out for you. It's your money. It's just for you. But my money is for both of us, essentially, which is bullshit. And I should obviously definitely do the Detroit thing on my own or go to Iceland. Like you are not a partner. You're not a partner. You turn on me. Just a second.
00:44:09
Speaker
You turn me out of nowhere, and I deserve way better. I did nothing to be called a stupid idiot, and I did nothing to be called a... So, you know, I'm sick of your abuse, so go find... Oh, I'm gonna get a car right now. Alright, bye.
00:44:25
Speaker
Oh, did she say she was going to go to Iceland? Yeah. So at one point in the voicemail, she says like, maybe I should just go to Iceland. Like I should, you're not a partner with me. Um, your money is for you, but my money is for both of us. Yeah. I heard that part. And then obviously the sarcasm when she was like, so glad I got a text message about how sorry you are.
00:44:50
Speaker
Yeah, like I literally could like because I can be a pretty petty person sometimes and so like I could hear myself and it's like in that when she said that like so glad you got the take like I could hear myself in her language there. Did you catch though what she says at the very end? She's like oh hopping in a car by and hung up. Yeah, which is weird because she just said she was at a different hotel.
00:45:16
Speaker
No, she said she got a room at that hotel. So she got her own room at the Sunshine Inn. It's what she says, but that has not been verified. And that, yeah, so if she got another room, why would she be hopping in a car? Well, we do know she's really drunk. Yes. Yeah. Well, the wine, right? With the pizza.
00:45:38
Speaker
Yeah. So I don't know if she was just like saying things that were kind of popping into her head, you know, like I am going to get, like she's thinking I'm just going to get my own room, but then like, she doesn't follow through with that would be, I guess. So like the fact that she says though, like I'm getting in a car is probably like,
00:46:04
Speaker
the least surprising thing in that voicemail because she's literally hitchhiked her way across the country. So I don't think that hopping into a stranger's car is really out of the ordinary for her. Yeah, I agree. Kind of what is, though, out of the ordinary is when Eddie wakes up the next morning, he's alone. So she isn't there, which obviously, how could she be in the room? Right, right. She didn't have a key.
00:46:34
Speaker
So did he say that? Did he say he was like worried when he woke up and she wasn't there? Yeah, so in some of the research I read, he says like he wakes up and he's worried, but then is like, oh, duh, like she couldn't have gotten to the room. So he calls her like around 8am and she does not pick up. So at this point, he's probably just thinking she's still angry with me or whatever.
00:46:58
Speaker
Yeah, and Kelly did not file that police report that she had threatened about the stolen car. But we know from video surveillance footage that her car was parked in that same position overnight. So it's not like she got in her car drove away and came back. It's been in that same position since she got back, like with the pizza. So since there's video surveillance,
00:47:25
Speaker
Did they see then if she actually did hop into a car when she said she was going to? Well, there are reports, and I'll talk about it later on, that she was seen getting into a gray four-door sedan, like a silverish gray, of an unknown make and model. But I never saw that verified, even on that Facebook group where they've done such a great job about like, you know,
00:47:54
Speaker
like fine tooth combing, every piece of evidence. They have not been able to find any information about that beyond allegedly she was seen getting into this type of vehicle. Okay. We don't know with who or if that actually happened. But her car, which is, it runs perfectly fine. And that's the weird thing. Like why wouldn't she have driven her own car someplace? Right.
00:48:20
Speaker
We have no idea, but we do know at 9am Eddie is seen on that video surveillance moving things around inside Kelly's car. But police when they check it really know nothing of interest. And at first I was kind of like, that's really weird. Yeah. Won't you be in her car?
00:48:36
Speaker
But then you have to think about they were living together. They packed up all their belongings into two vehicles. I read his wallet was in her car because they have an M1 vehicle. Right, after his transmission. Yeah. Right. And so he was getting his wallet out and things like that. So I don't think it was him trying to cover up something in her car. Right. Right.
00:49:01
Speaker
So Roundtree is the lead investigator on this case. And he says that several people at the motel reported seeing Kelly around like that 12, 31 a.m. timeframe, just kind of walking like toward downtown with her guitar slung over her shoulder. So she's like in transit. Again, why not take your car? Especially if you're mad.
00:49:29
Speaker
I think this was just kind of her way of clearing her head. Like she needed to walk, you know? That makes sense. Because she lays behind her purse, her ID and her credit cards. So I don't think that she intended this to be like a long, like kind of runaway. Like I think it literally was just like, I need to clear my head. Okay. Roundtree said there were
00:49:53
Speaker
Unverified reports that her cell phone last synced with Google about an hour after that voicemail was left in an area called Dowling Avenue and that was about a mile away from Sunshine Inn. But there's been no activity since then and that voicemail that you guys heard with those haunting words at the end are the very last we have heard from Kelly.
00:50:16
Speaker
Gosh several reports say that eddie would go on to drive around in kelly's car looking for her now I both find this comforting and confusing Like I feel like her car should have immediately been turned over to police right search for evidence or anything exactly But I also understand that like in that moment He had no other way to look for her. So again, like I don't think that points
00:50:43
Speaker
makes him guilty that he's driving her car i think that's just the only thing he can do at that time right so in the part two of that unsolved florida article um roundtree said that because of their relationship in the history of violence eddie is being looked at like obviously right right but he's also been cooperative with the investigation like he's undergone about 13 hours of interviews with police and he is responsible for posting most of the missing flyers around that town
00:51:13
Speaker
Okay. So he's again, like he's either putting up a good front or he really truly is concerned and maybe even gets why he's being looked at because he admitted to the violence. Raunchy said there are several other people under suspicion. I did not really find where they talked about any other people. There were a couple from the hotel, but like,
00:51:42
Speaker
Like I said, not something I would really want to mention if we weren't 100% sure that their involvement.
00:51:49
Speaker
So there's actually been a team of investigators working on this. So they've done 15 ground searches for her. They've used cadaver dogs. They use drones. Kelly's friends have hired former law enforcement officers to turn private investigators and they like kind of have a headquarters in Gainesville and they say and this is according to that investigator with that group called
00:52:15
Speaker
Michael Thompson quote somebody in Live Oak knows what happens what happened to Kelly end quote well again like you were saying a bunch of people saw her around like one o'clock so
00:52:28
Speaker
And he actually, so this investigator said that his team has looked into Addie's past. He's retraced the couple steps leading up to her disappearance and even went as far as to track down several alleged sightings of Kelly in South Georgia, which turned out to be like not her, but they believe what happened lies in those details of what the couple did in the days leading up to July 15th.
00:52:54
Speaker
Cause like you said, like if you think about it in those few short days in Florida, what was that like four, five days? She's introduced to a lot of people and she is a very trusting person. So we know for sure. Right. That she met people at whatever Mexican restaurant they ate. Where they went to twice out back of.
00:53:18
Speaker
Yes, we know she could have met people at the car shop where they dropped the truck off and have been to multiple times or any of the places they went to looking for parts around the area. Yeah, they've stayed at two different hotels. They had their pictures drawn together at a place called the frame shop and gallery. So I mean, there's been several places and not to mention like
00:53:44
Speaker
From what I gather, the Sunshine Inn is a pretty happening place. And for me, the one dude going into Eddie's room to say, hey, your chick's outside crying. He doesn't know you. That's a good point. How they're talking have you done? You've been there a day. Yeah, most people wouldn't get involved with something like that. Yeah, because first off, most of the time you are going to have no idea who's in the room next to you in a motel.
00:54:14
Speaker
Right. Right. And the fact he knows their names and knows that if he sees Kelly crying that her boyfriend is staying in room 70, that's a lot of information. That is, when you put it that way, that is a little bizarre. And well, I want to say I do think for the most part in the beginning stages, things go quickly in Kelly's case. So she's considered missing by the 16th. She goes missing on the 15th.
00:54:43
Speaker
Her car is inventoried on 17th. Eddie, however, rolls out of Live Oak on the 18th, leaving behind his truck and taking Kelly's car. They let him take her car? Yup. Another thing that I think says a lot for this case,
00:55:01
Speaker
with few words is that on August 13th, the Live Oak Police Department searched rooms 70, so the room that Kelly and Eddie were supposed to be in, and room 69. Oh, where the guy was who had all the insider info. Right, because why would you search his room? Unless there's some reason that there might be information in there.
00:55:29
Speaker
Yeah, and I haven't seen where I've read that really anything groundbreaking was discovered unless it's just something police are not telling the public at this time would know that they do.
00:55:42
Speaker
So there's been a nearby farm in the area that has been searched. From what I read, nothing was found. According to WTXL News, Kelly may have left the hotel, like I said, in that unknown silver sedan, but I did not see that verified anywhere. I saw it mentioned in a literally, this is how I heard that, in a comment on a post in that Facebook group.
00:56:08
Speaker
There are reports again in a comment on that pose that Kelly's phone pinged at like 2 10 a.m. And 453 in the days that followed her to parents her disappearance But like I could not find that verified on other timelines, okay?
Theories and Public Appeal
00:56:28
Speaker
So Allison I do feel like you are so good at developing theories about cases What would your theory be about what happened to Kelly that night?
00:56:38
Speaker
So I'm actually, and obviously I can be completely wrong, but I'm not getting the feeling that Eddie was involved. Instead, I'm getting the feeling like this is one of those situations where perhaps Kelly was
00:57:06
Speaker
trusting as she always had been without a negative reaction, but now that's happening. If she was upset and she had been drinking, maybe her reactions were slowed or whatever, but the fact that she said she was getting into a vehicle, I believe her.
00:57:29
Speaker
Mm hmm. Because her own vehicle was there and she had access. Well, no, he took her keys. So she couldn't get in her own car. Right. To go anywhere. So if she went somewhere, she would have to get into
00:57:44
Speaker
a vehicle since we have no proof that she did actually rent a room. Maybe, you know, because she had hitchhiked before, she was like, well, you know what, I'm just going to go find a bar and play in it. Or, you know, if people saw her with her guitar, or she was like, I'm going to go
00:58:06
Speaker
Camp out maybe back at the Mexican restaurant, or you know it could be anywhere But I do believe that she got into a vehicle. That's my gut telling me that and someone took advantage of You know of Kelly in that situation and so I think that detective is right I think somebody knows something, but it's gonna take
00:58:34
Speaker
really pushing people in that Live Oak area to come forward.
00:58:41
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. And I don't know if it is Eddie or if it is the guy from Room 69, like something also in my gut feeling says that it may not be. Like, I think like you, she's just such a trusting person that she may have trusted the wrong person. And we know she's got into strangers' cars before. So maybe that's what's happened this time, which I think will make her case even more difficult to solve. Yeah.
00:59:10
Speaker
Kelly was described as free-spirited. She's been a good majority of her life traveling around the country in a stranger's car or couch surfing on a stranger's couch.
00:59:19
Speaker
At first, many thought that maybe Kelly needed a break from life and she disappeared for a bit, living that free lifestyle she loved so much. But everyone who knows her agrees that she would be home by now, and she isn't. Something messy went wrong. Slootown's Kelly's case is so new and so fresh that we have the power to make a big difference. We have a chance to make a difference.
00:59:40
Speaker
With every case, we urge you to come forward if you know the smallest detail because the littlest details can make the biggest difference. And the same is true for Kelly's case. Kelly Brannon is now 37 years old. She was 36 at the time of her disappearance.
00:59:56
Speaker
She's a white female with brown eyes and black hair with gray streaks. She's approximately five foot four inches tall and 130 pounds. There's a $1,000 reward being offered by Crime Stoppers. Anyone with information can call 386-208-TIPS.
01:00:17
Speaker
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01:00:39
Speaker
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