By David Lohr

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The Longview Police Department thoroughly checked Brandi's car for hair, fibers and blood, but were unable to find any evidence suggesting foul play.  However, according to Ellen, there was one clue that stood out.

"I am 5' 1" and my daughter is 4' 11"; she's shorter than I am," Ellen said in a telephone interview with Crime Library last night.  "When I got behind the wheel, I could barely reach the pedals.  My husband, her stepfather, is 6' 1," and when he climbed behind the wheel, he sat there very comfortably.  Other than that, there was no evidence that they told me about."

Following her disappearance, Brandi's family members asked the Laura Recovery Center for assistance.  Based in Friendswood, Texas, the non-profit organization for missing children was formed in honor of Laura Kate Smither, a twelve-year-old girl who was abducted near her home on April 3, 1997.  Her body was found 17 days later.  According to the mission statement on their website, the organization works to "address the immediate response necessary in the event of child abduction."

"When we first started searching for her, we went through the Laura Recovery Center.  During our first two searches, we covered from the point where they found her car to the club where she was last seen.  The club was north, and her car was found south, so we did a sweep through major roads and areas between those two points."

Brandi's mother said the three people questioned in regards to Brandi's cell phone were all given polygraph tests.  While the girl and her uncle both passed, Ellen said the young man's results were not so clear.

"All the police will tell us is that he failed his polygraph, and they have been after him and after him and they cannot make him change his story.  There is something about his story that is not true, but they won't tell me what it is.  They won't tell me where he found it (the cell phone) or how he found it.  I don't even know his name.  The polygraphs were voluntary, and they (the police) can't disclose anything.  All they could tell me was that he was being less than honest."

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Contact  David Lohr at           crimewriter74@hughes.net

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