Golden Backbone : What Happened to Brandon Lawson?

Brandon Lawson has been missing since the early hours of 8 August 2013.

The 26 year-old father of three left his home in San Angelo, Texas at approximately midnight after having an argument with his long-term girlfriend, Ladessa. Brandon had planned to drive to his father’s house to cool off from the row.

On highway 277, near Bronte, Texas, Brandon’s car ran out of petrol. He phoned his brother Kyle for help. After calling Ladessa, Kyle and his girlfriend Audrey set off to find Brandon, stopping to collect an empty petrol from Brandon’s front porch. Kyle had no money in his bank account to pay for the petrol, so he intended to pick Brandon up and drive him to the petrol station then drive him back to his truck.

When Kyle and Audrey arrived at Brandon’s truck at approximately 1.10am it was empty, with the front bumper slightly pointing out onto the carriageway. There was no damage to the truck, and Brandon, his keys and mobile phone were missing. A Deputy Sheriff’s truck arrived at the same time as Kyle and Audrey.

It seems that Kyle and Brandon spoke a further two times that night; once when Brandon told his brother that he was ten minutes up the road and bleeding, and a second time where he said he was ‘in a field’.

Audrey also texted Brandon at 1.18 to tell him, ‘a cop is at your truck.’ Earlier that week, Brandon had learned of a two-year-old outstanding warrant for possession of controlled substances and this is possibly why Audrey had texted him to the presence of the officer at his truck.

At around one am, Brandon called 911. Kyle, and the deputy who arrived at his empty truck, were unaware of this call. The call is garbled, and difficult to understand; Brandon sounds out of breath and his words run into each other.

You can listen to it here:

Below I have transcribed what I think I hear, the text in brackets is only what I think is said.

Dispatcher: 911 emergency.

Brandon: Yes, I’m in the middle of a field [a stooper /staper] ****‘stooper’ is a blend of ‘State Trooper’ and is commonly used in parts of Texas*** just pulled some guys over going towards Abilene on [both/ Bronte] sides [unintelligible] my truck ran out of gas. [There’s one car here. got chased into the woods.] Please hurry. **Stooper**

D: Ok, now, run that [by me]

B: [I don’t want to talk to them, I ran into them]

D: Ah, ok, you ran into him, ok

B: Yes, [the first guy]

D: Do you need an ambulance?

[voice in background says. ‘yeah’]

B: No, I need the cops

D: DOk, is anybody hurt?

B……… (sounds of traffic / wind)

D: Hello?

B………

D: Hello?

B……..

D: Hello?

At the time of Brandon’s disappearance, 911 calls were routed not to a call centre manned by trained call handlers, but to a local nursing home. The dispatcher does not ask Brandon his name, or where he is. This has since changed, and dispatchers are given training.

The Local Newspaper, The Sheriff and His Wife

The local newspaper, The Observer Enterprise, is owned by the sheriff (who was away the night Brandon went missing) and his wife.

From the ‘Missing Brandon Lawson’ blog:

From all media reports written by The Observer Enterprise, owned by the Sheriff and his wife, that the 911 call was only reported as " a stranded motorist who ran out of gas." No mention of the urgency nor any mention of "I ran into them"( as understood by the dispatcher) The Deputy put emergency flashers on , locked the truck and proceeded to "leave the scene" and arranged for a tow in the morning. According to reports the Deputy drove up and down the roadway to see if he could spot Brandon walking. Kyle and his girlfriend left the empty gas can in the bed of the truck thinking if Brandon came back he would have the can and could retrieve gas. They began to go look for him. When morning came, and still no sign of Brandon, Kyle's money was available in his account and he went back to the truck and filled the can and returned it to the truck. At this point he was now starting to become concerned and felt that Brandon may not have been hiding and may be in trouble. In talking with Investigators he now gave them the full account of Brandon being on the phone at the time the Deputy was at the truck.

Brandon’s family would later tell the Brainscratch YouTube channel that their requests for the police to involve the press in Brandon’s case were blocked and that Ladessa was told, ‘we’re not going to have a three-ring circus in this town,’

The family claim that the only news source given any police information was the one owned by the Sheriff and his wife.

Privately Owned Land Not Searched

This Buzzfeed map shows just how large Texas is:

The area Brandon vanished in was vast, and very remote. It’s dry, scrubby land, with little or no trees, just miles and miles of highway and desert punctuated by buildings and bridges. When I first heard the 911 call, I imagined Brandon running off the road and into a densely wooded area. If he had been trying to hide, he would have failed miserably; there wasn’t anywhere for him to conceal himself out there.

Large areas of the land are apparently privately owned, and requests by Brandon’s family to search the land have been refused. Allegedly, land owners have said they will allow searches if the sheriff issues a warrant. The sheriff has yet to issue any search warrants.

Theories

1) Brandon encountered illegal activity – possibly perpetrated by State Troopers, with the local sheriff’s knowledge. Bronte is 736 miles (a 12 hour car drive) from the Mexican border, but Texas is a common people trafficking route. Did Brandon see ‘coyotes’ trafficking people into the USA? Or had he stumbled across a drug deal?

2) Did the sheriff know about these activities, and did he cover them up because he was taking a cut?

3) Was Brandon shot trespassing on private land? It seems unlikely – though Brandon was a large, physically fit man, he was also unarmed, and by his own account, bleeding. It would be usual for a landowner defending their property to issue a warning for Brandon to leave before shooting to defend their property. The ‘stand your ground’(Castle Doctrine) law does not apply if someone is trespassing on land. The owner of the land may use reasonable – but not deadly – force t remove somebody from their land.

4) Brandon was attacked by wild boars – again unlikely. Boars will generally not deliberately attack humans, though it may be that they were used to help ‘dispose’ of human remains.

What do you think happened to Brandon?

Photos and links