MO MO - Nancy Brannon, 34, Shrewsbury, 26 Nov 1986

[Pennysmom1]

Dec 19, 2023

Nieces determined to solve Shrewsbury's only cold case, the 1986 disappearance of Nancy Brannon

Family members say 34-year-old Nancy Brannon could have been pregnant with a married man's child when she seemingly vanished.

www.ksdk.com

Dec 11, 2023

Local family continues search for answers nearly 40 years after woman’s disappearance

Melissa Daus talked with First Alert 4 about her aunt’s disappearance, recalling the shock it brought to their lives.

www.firstalert4.com

1976DFMO - Nancy Leah Brannon

Date of Birth: September 29, 1952
Age: 34 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'3" - 5'4"
Weight: 120 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Wears contacts; freckles on shoulders

Identifiers​

Dentals: Not Available. chipped upper left front tooth
Fingerprints: Not Available
DNA: Available

Clothing & Personal Items​

Clothing: Sweatshirt, blue jeans, tan jacket
Jewelry: Gold necklace with cross or heart pendant
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Circumstances of Disappearance​

Nancy was last seen around midnight when she left the Half-Time Bar in south St. Louis. Her gold Dodge Charger was found in her apartment complex's parking spot at 7954 Watson Road. Her purse was located about 10 feet away with money, credit cards, and keys inside. There were no signs of a struggle and her apartment hadn't been ransacked or burglarized. Foul play is suspected.

 

[Pennysmom1]

Women Who Vanished In Greater St. Louis Area

Clipping found in St. Louis Post-Dispatch published in St. Louis, Missouri on 2/10/1991. Women Who Vanished In Greater St. Louis Area: Nancy Leah Brannon, 34 years old, November 25, 1986, Shrewsbury, from the Courtland Namor Apartments in Shrewsbury, Missouri.

www.newspapers.com

Nancy Leah Brannon - Missouri Missing Person Directory

Details and Pictures of Nancy Leah Brannon, Missing since November 1986

www.missingin.org

 

[mst]

The man's alibi was his wife? Ummm

 

[summergirl1]

The Dec 19th article which I hadn't read before doesn't make it clear if the couple are still together or not. It seemed to imply they were. Perhaps that points to the fact he had nothing to do with her death, because while women do, and his wife obviously did, for awhile anyway stick by men through affairs, covering up murder or potential murder (perhaps- for example- he told his wife he was with someone else that night or somewhere else even if he wasn't with her, and she wanted to believe him) is another story. Some women would, but it's not as common as women that stick by cheating husbands, and even then that certainly doesn't always happen. He could have paid someone to do it or someone else willingly did it for him. It's interesting he was building a house at the time. Her body could possibly have ended up there without his wife being any the wiser.

Judging from the man she was having an affair with's statement, he seems honest and sincere or up front anyway- not evasive or hiding. Some people are good liars, but still. Maybe it would be easier to lie if he really wasn't there that night, but hired someone who was. His wife may have been afraid of him ( still is, perhaps) which is why she helped him cover it up. There are a lot of possibilities in that direction, but it certainly could be that the only bad thing he did was having an affair with her and then he and his wife got caught up in this whole thing.

Her family believes he's a significant suspect, obviously, or at least that it was someone she knew. Was there anyone else she knew, even unlikely, who might have done it? But who was sympathetic and escaped suspicion, perhaps ? It could also have been someone who followed her home from the bar, which is the second most obvious thing after the married man. Or it could even have been a random attacker who was around the apartment complex that night. These things have happened before. This case reminds me a bit of the also unsolved, no body ever found, case of Jodi Huisentruit in the midwest in the 1990s.

 

[Betty P]

The Dec 19th article which I hadn't read before doesn't make it clear if the couple are still together or not. It seemed to imply they were. Perhaps that points to the fact he had nothing to do with her death, because while women do, and his wife obviously did, for awhile anyway stick by men through affairs, covering up murder or potential murder (perhaps- for example- he told his wife he was with someone else that night or somewhere else even if he wasn't with her, and she wanted to believe him) is another story. Some women would, but it's not as common as women that stick by cheating husbands, and even then that certainly doesn't always happen. He could have paid someone to do it or someone else willingly did it for him. It's interesting he was building a house at the time. Her body could possibly have ended up there without his wife being any the wiser.

Judging from the man she was having an affair with's statement, he seems honest and sincere or up front anyway- not evasive or hiding. Some people are good liars, but still. Maybe it would be easier to lie if he really wasn't there that night, but hired someone who was. His wife may have been afraid of him ( still is, perhaps) which is why she helped him cover it up. There are a lot of possibilities in that direction, but it certainly could be that the only bad thing he did was having an affair with her and then he and his wife got caught up in this whole thing.

Her family believes he's a significant suspect, obviously, or at least that it was someone she knew. Was there anyone else she knew, even unlikely, who might have done it? But who was sympathetic and escaped suspicion, perhaps ? It could also have been someone who followed her home from the bar, which is the second most obvious thing after the married man. Or it could even have been a random attacker who was around the apartment complex that night. These things have happened before. This case reminds me a bit of the also unsolved, no body ever found, case of Jodi Huisentruit in the midwest in the 1990s.

I've noted that her purse w/keys, etc. was found 10 feet from her car. I presume the car was locked. It seems to be a scenario where someone who was watching her accosted her as she walked from the car to her apartment building. The abductor didn't take the purse or any money.

It seems more like a sex offender - someone who wasn't interested in her money or car. Had it been the man with whom she was having an affair, he didn't need to violently attack her. He could have simply talked her into leaving with him in his car. Her purse wouldn't be left behind. Of course it would be different if he had become hostile or violent towards her prior to her disappearance.

That leaves either someone who followed her home from the bar or a platonic acquaintance who harbored resentment at being rejected. Or some guy like this:

Missouri Executes Man Who Raped, Killed Teen in 1989

A man convicted of kidnapping, raping and killing a 17-year-old girl in suburban St. Louis is executed, marking Missouri's fifth execution in as many months.

www.nbcnews.com