One of the most difficult aspects of my job is when I have to handle missing person cases. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of them. Generally, writers enjoy having a variety of cases to write about; however, when it comes to a missing person, the job can be very difficult. I am, in essence, determining the cases that will get media exposure and which ones won't. I wish I could highlight all of them, but I simply do not have the time or space to do so.
Mainstream media outlets will never admit this, but most, if not all, have conditions that must be met before they will write a story about a missing person. They prefer cases that involve attractive, white, middle-class females. They also want cases to have an interesting storyline that will draw in readers, such as Lisa Stebic, Stacy Peterson, Natalie Holloway, etc. During my years covering these types of events, I have covered those and similar cases; however, I also like to bring attention to cases that do not fall into this category. When people are missing, their gender, social status, and looks should have nothing to do with how likely it is that their stories are told. With that same token, the age of the case should have no bearing on whether it receives coverage.
Thankfully, here at Investigation Discovery, I am not limited in the cases I can cover and the producers are very open-minded. We place no higher value on one case over any other. Because of this, I would like to take this opportunity to bring some attention to some cases that have either received little media coverage or have simply slipped from the radar of other media outlets. What follows is a brief description of some cases that readers have brought to my attention in recent weeks. Read over each case carefully, and if you think you may have any information, no matter how minute, please contact me or follow the links within the stories and let us know.
Charleston, South Carolina: Brandy Hanna:
The first case I want to touch on is Brandy Hanna, a 32-year-old woman who has been missing since May 23, 2005. On the day of her disappearance, Brandy went to work at a local restaurant, completed her shift without incident and then left to return home. Unfortunately, she has not been seen since.
"I spoke with her several times that evening," wrote Brandy’s mother, Donna Parent, in an e-mail last week. Donna described how Brandy was her only daughter and that she intuitively knew that something was wrong when Donna didn’t call her back after a weekend of repeated messages. She continued: "I called to report my daughter missing [but] the police would not take a report due to the fact that Brandy was 32."
Later that week, Donna contacted a police officer she knew and asked if he could help her. The officer put her in touch with a detective; however, according to Donna, he did little to help.
"The Detective who got Brandy's case did not really think anything was wrong and all he did was a walk thru [of] her apartment," Donna wrote.
As a result of the police department’s reluctance to be involved, Donna and her family began to investigate on their own. They conducted multiple searches and poster hundreds of flyers with her photo and information, in hopes of finding out what happened to Brandy. Unfortunately, they have yet to find any answers.
"It has been almost three years since she disappeared and the police have no clues, no leads and nothing to go on. Only the fact Brandy disappeared on May 20, 2005 about 9 p.m., leaving behind a Family who loved her dearly and everything she owned -- clothes, furniture, makeup, money etc," Donna wrote.
Please take a moment to visit Brandy's Web site, and if you have any information, contact the North Charleston Police Department at 843-745-1015.
Belle, West Virginia: Melanie Metheny
Our next case involves Melanie Metheny, a 21-year-old woman, who was last seen on Wednesday, July 19, 2006.
"Melanie had dropped her children off at day care at around 8 a.m. that morning and was never seen or heard from again," Melanie's mother, Debi Metheny, wrote in a recent e-mail. "Her van was found that following Sunday wiped completely clean of finger prints (Melanie had 3 kids going in and out of that van several times a day; finger prints should have been everywhere). We know nothing more to this day than we did in July 2006."
According to Debi, a friend of Melanie's may hold the key to unlocking the mystery of Melanie's disappearance.
"Melanie's friend was seen a week after Melanie's disappearance with bruises to her upper arms (looked like finger marks). She was also referring to Melanie in the past tense. Coincidentally, she moved to Indiana within a month of Melanie's disappearance. Another friend of Melanie's ended up in the hospital with suspicious arm injuries during the same period of time. This seems too coincidental to me. We feel that they could have possibly been threatened."
Another incident, just a few months before Melanie's disappearance, also has her family concerned.
"Her van was stolen, but was later recovered. The vehicle suffered substantial damage and several items were found to be missing. The young man that stole her van and his family threatened my daughter on a regular basis and he was seen at the gas station beside her apartment the night before she disappeared. For months after Melanie's disappearance he refused to cooperate and would not take a lie detector test."
Debi says the man finally agreed to take the test in June 2007. According to Debi, the test results show he was being deceptive. Regardless, police have made no arrests and the case remains unsolved.
"It breaks my heart to think of her 3 lovely children growing up and not knowing how hard she worked to raise and keep them together," Debi wrote.
As with Donna's family, Melanie's family has created a Web site devoted to finding their daughter. Take a look at the photos and details on the site, and if you have any relevant information, contact the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department at 304-357-0169.
Greensboro, North Carolina: Steve Broadaway
The last case I have time to touch upon in this post is the disappearance of Steve Broadaway, a 45-year-old man, who was last seen on February 15, 2006.
"His wife dropped him off at the hospital to visit a friend. He later left the hospital walking home, and stopped at Becky's Bar, a little roadside tavern on North Church Street, which is about a mile or so from his home," a close friend of Steve's, who does not wish to be identified, wrote in an e-mail, adding, "He has never been seen or heard from since."
According to Steve's friend, the case received little mention in the media and the family has had to rely on classified ads and missing-person flyers, which they have posted throughout the area.
"I am worried about Steve and feel certain that there is foul play involved," his friend said.
Steve was last seen wearing a green flannel shirt, jeans, a light-colored cap and work boots. There is no Web site devoted to his case yet; however, a photo of him can be found here. Anyone with information about Steve's disappearance should contact the Greensboro Police Department at 336-373-2255.
Final Thought: Keep The Faith
To the families of these missing persons, I hope you receive the answers you seek in the near future. To the countless others who have contacted me, don't give up hope. Time and space has limited the number of cases I can cover here, but I have your messages saved and will do my best to get them up soon.
To everyone else, if you are a family member of a missing loved one and have a case you would like covered here, contact me via e-mail.
And finally, to you, my readers, be sure to check back next week for another edition of The Missing. In the meantime, be sure to continue visiting the site for your daily dose of true crime.