Deceased/Not Found FL - Brandy Hall, 32, Palm Bay, 17 Aug 2006

[MomofBoys]

No no.........the threatening texts we're between Brandy and Randall's wife, the way I understood it. From what was reported on the show, it was no secret that Randall's wife had made a spectacle of herself ranting at Brandy in a very public place some months before her disappearance.

Here's what I don't get: The boyfriend/emotional affair participant said that Brandy told him she was going away. LE and Brandy's family don't believe that to be the case. Well, then, it has to be one or the other. If she didn't vanish of her own accord, then Randall is guilty of something, whether it's murder or accessory to murder. Maybe it was the editing, but no one involved seemed to say "Well, we don't believe she went missing on her own, so there's only one other alternative." You know? Randall's lying or he's not. Then they later address the fact that Randall's wife knew about the relationship and was angry. It doesn't take a weatherman to tell you which way the wind is blowing.

And another odd conclusion made is the fact that her small backpack was found 30 miles away in a canal. Unless I wasn't hearing it correctly, they were like "This shows us she didn't disappear on her own." ...why? They even said that there was nothing in it of importance. Maybe she had too much luggage and wanted to ditch her dayplanner. I was half-asleep, but didn't they say "Her medication wasn't in it, and she wouldn't have gone anywhere without that." Maybe the medication is with her?? I was so confused.

I believe she's likely dead. But that leaves only one suspect. Randall. Because if she isn't sipping a pina colada in Costa Rica or living with a changed identity in Detroit, or whatever, then Randall most likely lied. Why? Maybe I'm having failure of imagination here, but I was so frustrated by the way this particular episode was put together. I love Disappeared and it's probably my favorite series in ID, but sometimes I think they piece things together for effect and to keep the mystery rather than make it obvious who the POI should be or has been.

 

[liltexans]

I had never heard of this case until watching Disappeared, but I agree with the last few posts above.

MomofBoys, I was also confused by the show's editing and the comment about her medication. If her medication was not in her backpack, doesn't that point to her having it with her? I couldn't understand why the missing medication would support her being dead.

That said, I think she is deceased and I think Randall and/or his wife are most likely responsible. Randall was/is a fire chief, right? So he probably knows a lot about crime scenes, evidence, and how to cover up a crime.

 

[Baznme]

No, Randall is not a Chief. He's a paid firefighter for the City of Palm Bay, Fl. Nevertheless, being an EMT as well, he does know a lot about crime scenes, evidence. I dont know how well he knows how to cover up a crime. Hopefully, he doesn't and she will somehow be found at some point.

Her medication being missing from the backpack does not sway me either way as to whether or not she always had it with her or not. It was a pain killer and anyone that would do something like this would either take them for themselves or get rid of them trying to make it look as though she took them with her. There's no way she just walked away. She loved those kids toooo much. Yeah, she was angry with her husband but I really think she was trying to get things worked out for the sake of the family. There was a reward for anyone that could provide information on the case in the amount of $10K but I don't know......they didn't even mention that on the show last night.

 

[liltexans]

Yeah, I don't really think the medication is terribly relevant to the case either. It could have even fallen out of the backpack into the water. Who knows.

From what the show stated, it sounded extremely unlikely that she would have voluntarily left her children, especially for an extended period of time. It also sounded unlikely that she would have dumped her truck. To me, it's obvious that she met with some type of foul play, but the question remains, at whose hands? And where is she?

 

[Lanie]

I'm watching I.D. (Investigation Discovery) about Brandy Hall and finding out some things I did not know previously. Her last phone call that night was to a fellow firefighter at the PBFD. Someone she knew very well. She supposedly told him she was going to just disappear and that she was going to be waiting at the Sunoco station for someone to bring her money. Hmmmm......somehow doesn't ring true to me. Her husband is going to be sentenced and she's going to just disappear leaving the kids without either parent? Nope.....I don't think so. She asked her Fire Chief at the Malabar Fire Dept. to go to court for Jeff as a character witness the next day. Why would she do that if she planned to disappear. Firefighter Richmond is either fabricating what Brandy told him that last evening anyone ever saw her or Brandy's request to her Chief was part of her plan. The latter seems the least likely to me.

Now that Jeff has taken and passed the LDT and agreed to be interviewed by LE after his long break of being silent, I have my faith renewed that he did not do this. But, someone did and I believe it was someone she knew. Someone that knew she carried a gun in her truck. Someone that knew where she was going to go after leaving the fire station. The "threatening" text messages from the firefighter's wife, (the one Brandy had an affair with) now takes my thoughts in whole nother direction altogether. They say you need to be careful of what you write down. I would say in this case especially, that's very true. Did LE check the EMT vehicle that Randall was driving that night for trace evidence? Did anyone check his wife's vehicle?

I watched this late last night, and I agree there was a lot of stuff left unsaid.

When the pickup was found, were the windows up or down, doors closed or open? IMO, that makes a difference of whether or not she SHOULD have been found in the pickup. I was also confused on the order of the calls after she left the station. It sounded to me like her H called and she didn't answer, then she called the Richmond guy. Is that right?

I don't understand under what circumstances she was fired from her job, and was Richmond the one who fired her? What was the time frame of the affair between Brandy and this guy? I don't even get what the husband's motive would be to bump her off the night before his trial, and it's unclear how he would even know she left work early, unless he was stalking her. On the other hand, if H is so worried about her and missing her so much, why would filing an appeal on his 3-year sentence keep him from discussing her disappearance with LE? What a prize...

If someone was REALLY willing to give her enough money to take off, why wouldn't they have been willing to help her get through this rough time and get on her feet, where they would have had a better chance, IMO, of being paid back? If she's so broke and in debt and needing to get money from someone else to be able to disappear, why ditch her truck in a pond? She could have sold it or something and been long gone before anyone really even missed her, IMO. Why would there be such a need for her to make her running away look like foul play? It's not like the law was after her for anything. She could have said she was so stressed out over her husband's trial she needed a few days to herself, and then never came back.

IMO, this whole case reeks.

 

[Baznme]

I watched this late last night, and I agree there was a lot of stuff left unsaid.

When the pickup was found, were the windows up or down, doors closed or open? IMO, that makes a difference of whether or not she SHOULD have been found in the pickup. I was also confused on the order of the calls after she left the station. It sounded to me like her H called and she didn't answer, then she called the Richmond guy. Is that right?

Lanie, I would just like to clarify a few things about this case. To my knowledge, the windows were partially up. It filled with water and when LE pulled it out of the water, they opened the doors and all the water came out. Unfortunately, so did a lot of the volume of blood. The order of the phone calls was, her husband called her while she was still at the station, they said prayers together and closed off. After she left the station, there was an 11 minute phone call between her and the Richmond guy.

I don't understand under what circumstances she was fired from her job, and was Richmond the one who fired her? What was the time frame of the affair between Brandy and this guy? I don't even get what the husband's motive would be to bump her off the night before his trial, and it's unclear how he would even know she left work early, unless he was stalking her. On the other hand, if H is so worried about her and missing her so much, why would filing an appeal on his 3-year sentence keep him from discussing her disappearance with LE? What a prize...

She was fired because her name was on the deed to the property the grow operation was on. Even though she didn't know what was going on out at that property (as that is about 20 miles from where they actually lived), they found her responsible as well because of the property records. The charges against her were dropped. Her husband testified that she did not know about the grow operation on the property owned by both of them. The charges against the husband were not nor did he expect them to be. Richmond was not the one that fired her. He's a fellow firefighter and was supposed to be a family friend. That's all. Her husband had no motive. He was in enough hot water already. He didn't know she left work early. He did not receive a 3 year sentence. He got 18 months and it has now been served. He was advised by his attorney to wait on the discussions with LE until he realized on his own he needed to speak with the authorities and get the LDT taken and over with.


If someone was REALLY willing to give her enough money to take off, why wouldn't they have been willing to help her get through this rough time and get on her feet, where they would have had a better chance, IMO, of being paid back? If she's so broke and in debt and needing to get money from someone else to be able to disappear, why ditch her truck in a pond? She could have sold it or something and been long gone before anyone really even missed her, IMO. Why would there be such a need for her to make her running away look like foul play? It's not like the law was after her for anything. She could have said she was so stressed out over her husband's trial she needed a few days to herself, and then never came back.

IMO, you are totally correct on that point.

IMO, this whole case reeks.

And again, you are correct, this whole case reeks. If there were witnesses that saw Mr. Richmond in the vicinity of where the truck was found several times that night, why haven't they been able to interview on that very question alone?

 

[Lanie]

And again, you are correct, this whole case reeks. If there were witnesses that saw Mr. Richmond in the vicinity of where the truck was found several times that night, why haven't they been able to interview on that very question alone?

Baznme, my understanding from the program is Brandy and her husband were on the phone about 9:30pm doing prayers with the kids. Then the husband was notified his trial time was changed, and he attempted to call Brandy to let her know, as she was supposed to testify as a character witness for him, and that call was not answered. This call was around 11pm??? and then ? Brandy called Richmond around 11:10pm. I'm not sure if I'm correct on those times or not, because the program seemed to skip around. IMO, it sounded like the last known phone call was the one from her husband around 11pm, then later on they threw in the call to Richmond, so I'm not sure if I got the sequence correct. I also thought Richmond was referred to as Brandy's ex-boss on that show. I was watching this while I was trying to go to sleep, so maybe I misunderstood what was being said.

I got the part about the pot and Brandy being arrested, but the charges were dropped, and that just seems like an odd thing to be fired over. It's not like this all took place in her backyard where she couldn't help but see it when she looked out a window or something. I was just wondering if the phone call to Richmond (especially with me thinking he was her ex-boss) was more along the lines of Brandy telling him she had no choice but to file wrongful termination, and he was worried about the affair coming up in that, and that would be motive.

The blood in the truck is another thing that makes me wonder. It seems to me if they were able to ascertain Brandy's blood was in the truck after they pulled it from the pond, the truck was probably pretty sealed up, and it's implausible her body was washed out or even floated out of the truck after it was in the water, if it was in the cab. I bet whoever put that truck in the pond was pretty freaked out it was found so soon.

I don't believe Brandy ran off somewhere. IMO, this 'set-up' is pure bogus. I don't think whoever dumped the truck in the pond expected evidence of blood to be found in it, and to me, that right there is enough to say this isn't a voluntary vanishing. Yeah, she could have planted her blood there, but who would do that and then dump the vehicle in a body of water?

I just hope they are looking at this Richmond guy more than was implied in the program.

 

[Baznme]

Baznme, my understanding from the program is Brandy and her husband were on the phone about 9:30pm doing prayers with the kids. Then the husband was notified his trial time was changed, and he attempted to call Brandy to let her know, as she was supposed to testify as a character witness for him, and that call was not answered. This call was around 11pm??? and then ? Brandy called Richmond around 11:10pm. I'm not sure if I'm correct on those times or not, because the program seemed to skip around. IMO, it sounded like the last known phone call was the one from her husband around 11pm, then later on they threw in the call to Richmond, so I'm not sure if I got the sequence correct. I also thought Richmond was referred to as Brandy's ex-boss on that show. I was watching this while I was trying to go to sleep, so maybe I misunderstood what was being said.

I got the part about the pot and Brandy being arrested, but the charges were dropped, and that just seems like an odd thing to be fired over. It's not like this all took place in her backyard where she couldn't help but see it when she looked out a window or something. I was just wondering if the phone call to Richmond (especially with me thinking he was her ex-boss) was more along the lines of Brandy telling him she had no choice but to file wrongful termination, and he was worried about the affair coming up in that, and that would be motive.

The blood in the truck is another thing that makes me wonder. It seems to me if they were able to ascertain Brandy's blood was in the truck after they pulled it from the pond, the truck was probably pretty sealed up, and it's implausible her body was washed out or even floated out of the truck after it was in the water, if it was in the cab. I bet whoever put that truck in the pond was pretty freaked out it was found so soon.

I don't believe Brandy ran off somewhere. IMO, this 'set-up' is pure bogus. I don't think whoever dumped the truck in the pond expected evidence of blood to be found in it, and to me, that right there is enough to say this isn't a voluntary vanishing. Yeah, she could have planted her blood there, but who would do that and then dump the vehicle in a body of water?

I just hope they are looking at this Richmond guy more than was implied in the program.

I know it get confusing especially when you take into consideration that there were two different fire departments incorporated into Brandy's story. The Palm Bay fire department is the one she was fired from. The Malabar fire dept. is the one she volunteered at to keep up her certifications until she could get back to the Palm Bay job. Mr. Richmond was also employed by the Palm Bay fire dept. and still is! As far as why she didn't answer her husband's call around 11pm. Who knows. Maybe she was pumping gas in her truck in preparation for the next morning and was not aware that she had a message. I wish I had all the answers but I sure don't.

As far as any possibility of her body being in that pond. No....that was checked several times and the pond is actually very small. It was drained in the beginning.......so, no she was not there.

Richmond was not her boss. He was a co-worker. IMO, he called her to meet up with her somewhere. No one has seen her since.

From what I can see on the schedule for Discovery channel, it will be aired again on Sunday, 3/27 at 9pm. Maybe this time we can pick up on a few things that would make more sense by watching it again.

 

[OldSteve]

Saw this on Disappeared and it was most interesting.... Please clear this up for me, is the name of the last person she spoke to Richmond or Randall? I see both names here...

Lanie - I agree about her being fired over her husbands pot farm simply because her name was on the land deed didn't make sense - especially considering the glowing terms everyone spoke of her in, it seemed more odd that she was punished for her husband's wrondoing. The IRS has an innocent spouse rule when a wife signs a return... something like that should have applied to Brandy.

 

[Baznme]

Saw this on Disappeared and it was most interesting.... Please clear this up for me, is the name of the last person she spoke to Richmond or Randall? I see both names here...

Lanie - I agree about her being fired over her husbands pot farm simply because her name was on the land deed didn't make sense - especially considering the glowing terms everyone spoke of her in, it seemed more odd that she was punished for her husband's wrondoing. The IRS has an innocent spouse rule when a wife signs a return... something like that should have applied to Brandy.

Can't name full names here but if you take the latter name you mentioned and put in front of the first one you named. That's the person.

She was charged along with the husband because her name was on the deed but, later when the authorities were convinced she really didn't know anything about the grow operation, the charges were dropped against her. I thought I had explained that in an earlier post, but perhaps not. Yes, the charges were dropped against her and she was waiting for reinstatement to her former position as a paid firefighter.

 

[OldSteve]

sniped:

She was charged along with the husband because her name was on the deed but, later when the authorities were convinced she really didn't know anything about the grow operation, the charges were dropped against her. I thought I had explained that in an earlier post, but perhaps not. Yes, the charges were dropped against her and she was waiting for reinstatement to her former position as a paid firefighter.

Thanks for clearing this up for me. In the show, I wasn't sure if her reinstatement was a sure thing...

 

[Baznme]

sniped:

Thanks for clearing this up for me. In the show, I wasn't sure if her reinstatement was a sure thing...

Well, if the charges were dropped, I don't know what would have been standing in the way of that. As to whether or not it was a sure thing. I can't say that either except that her very close friend "Cher" stated on the show that "things were going so good, that she was about to get her job back".....etc., etc., etc. I would imagine that is something your BFF would know.

 

[joe]

I also found it weird that they didn't seem to interview Randall enough initially, given he was the last person to talk with her.

 

[Baznme]

Good news in the Brandy Hall case.

New developments in missing Palm Bay firefighter Brandy Hall Released today:

http://www.cfnews13.com/article/new...s-in-missing-Palm-Bay-firefighter-Brandy-Hall

There's something NOT being said here but, I haven't figured it out yet. Any thoughts.

 

[Kat]

Baz it looks to me that they might have their man. LE named him in Media. R. Richmond. That's what I make of it because in a lot of the cold case followup articles LE will come right out and name someone they are considering a POI or suspect without attaching that label to them KWIM?

 

[Baznme]

Baz it looks to me that they might have their man. LE named him in Media. R. Richmond. That's what I make of it because in a lot of the cold case followup articles LE will come right out and name someone they are considering a POI or suspect without attaching that label to them KWIM?

First, I'd like to say, in the beginning, I thought it was her husband but, as time went on, I came to know it wasn't. He and the family have been through he!! the past five years. This guy RR and his wife are named in the article. In my mind, one is just as capable as the other because of events that took place after Brandy disappeared but the case seemed to come to a standstill. RR's wife (Ann) verbally attacked Brandy at a public event a while before Brandy disappeared. Lots of witnesses and some pretty strong threats were spoken on the part of Ann. I do know that the morning Brandy was supposed to meet her husband in the neighboring county, Richmond called the husband to say he couldn't make it to court as he was supposedly a close friend of both he and Brandy and had planned on going with the husband and Brandy that morning. He was crying on the phone to the husband that he couldn't make it. He never said a word about Brandy saying "she was leaving town" to her husband. Then he (RR) was seen in several places driving around in town that morning, then up I-95, back south toward the next town, (not far from where they found her bag in the canal) all the while in the fire dept. ambulance/rescue truck and he was not even on duty. Strange behavior. I've always suspected he knew what happened and where she ended up. She did not just call him. She met him somewhere and she most certainly did not tell him she was leaving town. She adored her children too much and was trying to get her life back together. That's why I didn't know what to make of the article.

 

[OldSteve]

Do you think the R's wife did it and then R helped in the cover up?

 

[Kat]

The way it was worded I don't doubt that they suspect that someone close to RR or associated with RR might have info (or be involved in one way or another). JMHO.

 

[Baznme]

Do you think the R's wife did it and then R helped in the cover up?

That's the way I'm leaning at the moment. Another article that came out with more verbage from RR gets my hinky meter going. He makes a comment about where he thinks she may be. Something about maybe she's living "in the woods" somewhere. To me it almost sounds like a "half-truth".....he may know she's in the woods? Does that sound too far fetched?

 

[OldSteve]

That's the way I'm leaning at the moment. Another article that came out with more verbage from RR gets my hinky meter going. He makes a comment about where he thinks she may be. Something about maybe she's living "in the woods" somewhere. To me it almost sounds like a "half-truth".....he may know she's in the woods? Does that sound too far fetched?

BBM - how could he say something like with a straight face - that's really
bizarre!