NC NC - Brandon McDonald, 35, truck found wrecked, Bladen Co, 25 Mar 2021 *arrests*

[Spartygirl]

Hey everyone,

Please Welcome shoppy82 to the discussion. They have been verified as a family member and we'll leave it to them if they wish to share detail of their relationship.

As a VI, shoppy82 is not required to provide links to what they state as fact in relation to their knowledge of the case. Please do not argue with a VI or challenge them in any way. It is up to individual members how much weight to assign to information provided by a VI.

Thank you to shoppy82 and all others who are here to discuss Brandon's case.

Thank you SB

 

[Spartygirl]

Welcome @shoppy82

I have pretty much asked myself the same questions that @ClaireNC was asking about Brandon and the truck.

We understand that you cannot share most info with us.

I guess one other thing that stood out to me is the NO SEARCHES.
Why hasn't LE set up any searches ??
At least around the area the truck was found-- if he was internally injured or head injury in the accident, perhaps he wandered off and was confused so he could be around that area??

Do you know why his truck was found in different area than the normal route??
Why would he go that way ??
IF it was even him driving it to that area..may not have been him who left truck there. JMO

IDK-- just trying to figure out different scenarios of what may have happened and where he might be at.

 

[shoppy82]

Welcome @shoppy82

I have pretty much asked myself the same questions that @ClaireNC was asking about Brandon and the truck.

We understand that you cannot share most info with us.

I guess one other thing that stood out to me is the NO SEARCHES.
Why hasn't LE set up any searches ??
At least around the area the truck was found-- if he was internally injured or head injury in the accident, perhaps he wandered off and was confused so he could be around that area??

Do you know why his truck was found in different area than the normal route??
Why would he go that way ??
IF it was even him driving it to that area..may not have been him who left truck there. JMO

IDK-- just trying to figure out different scenarios of what may have happened and where he might be at.

The area around the truck has been searched and we (as a family) have not searched because we do not know where to start searching. I do not know why his truck would be found in a different area than the normal route.

 

[AmandaSkis]

Based on other situations where a wrecked vehicle has been found but the driver is missing:

1) Can people search the area again where his truck was found? I ask this because I have read case after case after case where a year or so later, the missing person was found 500-1,000 yards from the vehicle yet no one saw them. So I encourage locals to search that area where the vehicle was found again (assuming it is publicly available land and not private property).

2) The reason for leaving the house at 3am: this certainly seems like it could be important. Hopefully, information has been uncovered to determine if he was going to meet someone.

 

[shoppy82]

Based on other situations where a wrecked vehicle has been found but the driver is missing:

1) Can people search the area again where his truck was found? I ask this because I have read case after case after case where a year or so later, the missing person was found 500-1,000 yards from the vehicle yet no one saw them. So I encourage locals to search that area where the vehicle was found again (assuming it is publicly available land and not private property).

2) The reason for leaving the house at 3am: this certainly seems like it could be important. Hopefully, information has been uncovered to determine if he was going to meet someone.

We, as a family, are hoping that we can find out the reason for leaving the house at the time that he did.

 

[KatzEye]

The phone ping in Laurinburg is what interests me the most. Did LE obtain the ping or did a family member have to do that via some sort of app ? Either way - was a general area where that ping happened pinpointed ?

If I were a family member and could pinpoint the location of that ping, I would want to have a look around that area, if possible. Of course, if it's an area considered dangerous, I wouldn't recommend that. There's no logic to it, but something keeps telling me that whatever happened, happened in Laurinburg.

I'm very sorry that LE is not disclosing much to your family. Do you know if they are treating this as some type of criminal investigation ? That would explain their not releasing much info, IMO. Please don't answer anything that you are not comfortable with.

This is a longshot, but if Brandon's phone account was in the name of someone else who is a relative, that person should be able to obtain records of calls/texts made. That might possibly give you info about where he was headed that morning.

 

[Spartygirl]

We, as a family, are hoping that we can find out the reason for leaving the house at the time that he did.

@shoppy82
Other than sharing flyers locally and on SM, is there anything else you can think of that we can assist you and your family with ??
There are some awesome sleuthers and "map-maker/trackers" here on WS so if you think of anything that maybe we can help out with, please ask.

I know it is frustrating that LE will not share info with you as it makes it difficult to know where to even begin, but if someone has access to his phone or on his account, hopefully that family member can pull up statements/ call/text logs -- at least maybe give you someplace to start.

 

[ClaireNC]

Is it the Bladen County sheriff's office that is handling the case? If your father is willing and able, it might be a good idea for him to contact the sheriff's office and ask for an update. LE often do give status reports to the family in these cases. Have you talked to the people at CUE? CUE – Community United Effort – Serving Missing Persons Nationwide They can help with spreading the word and give you advice on things you can do.

 

[YaYa_521]

This is Brandon's sister. It has been 3 months today since my brother, Brandon, has gone missing. We do not know anything more today than we did when he first went missing. I will not give up on finding my brother and finding what happened to him. Please continue to share Brandon's case with people, especially in the Southeastern North Carolina area. Someone knows where Brandon is and what happened to him. Think about if this was your family or friend, you would want to find them and get answers to the questions that you would have.

Welcome to WS, @shoppy82. My thoughts and prayers are with you, Brandon and all of his loved ones. I'm so sorry you all are having to go through this.

I noticed on Brandon's FB that he has two FB friends (initials R. L. & T. B.) whose FB pages show they are from/live in Hope Mills, N.C. He also has two other FB friends (initials T. L. & C. B.) who live in Laurinburg, N.C. Has LE contacted these friends to see if they've had any interactions with Brandon around the time he went missing or since? I wonder too if they would know of others from those areas with whom Brandon may have been in contact.

 

[stattlich1]

Welcome to WS, @shoppy82. My thoughts and prayers are with you, Brandon and all of his loved ones. I'm so sorry you all are having to go through this.

I noticed on Brandon's FB that he has two FB friends (initials R. Loxxxxxx. & T. Bexx.) whose FB pages show they are from/live in Hope Mills, N.C. He also has two other FB friends (initials T. Loxxxxxx. & C. Buxxxxx.) who live in Laurinburg, N.C. Has LE contacted these friends to see if they've had any interactions with Brandon around the time he went missing or since? I wonder too if they would know of others from those areas with whom Brandon may have been in contact.

This was one of my first thoughts. Was he going to Laurinburg to see someone? If so, who? Did he have a girlfriend?

If not going to see someone at that hour, then what else could the purpose of a trip there be? At that hour?

My second thought was, maybe it's not him who wrecked the truck. Maybe an incident occurred before the crash, and someone else drove to Hope Mills, and ditched the truck. In fact, it sounds to me more like somebody ditched the truck, and ran, than someone crashing it. (Just speculation on my part.)

Anyway, welcome to WS. I, for one, will be watching this thread.

 

[shoppy82]

The phone ping in Laurinburg is what interests me the most. Did LE obtain the ping or did a family member have to do that via some sort of app ? Either way - was a general area where that ping happened pinpointed ?

If I were a family member and could pinpoint the location of that ping, I would want to have a look around that area, if possible. Of course, if it's an area considered dangerous, I wouldn't recommend that. There's no logic to it, but something keeps telling me that whatever happened, happened in Laurinburg.

I'm very sorry that LE is not disclosing much to your family. Do you know if they are treating this as some type of criminal investigation ? That would explain their not releasing much info, IMO. Please don't answer anything that you are not comfortable with.

This is a longshot, but if Brandon's phone account was in the name of someone else who is a relative, that person should be able to obtain records of calls/texts made. That might possibly give you info about where he was headed that morning.

As a family, we suspect foul play. My brother would not have gone this long without letting our Dad or someone know where he is. As far as Brandon's phone account, no one in the family has access to that account.

 

[Spartygirl]

Speaking of his phone--- has it been found ??
Was it in the truck when his truck was found ???
I went back and read a few articles and did not see anything regarding this so just thought I would ask,
If phone not in truck.. it makes me wonder where phone is at ?

 

[OnTheCase27]

As a family, we suspect foul play. My brother would not have gone this long without letting our Dad or someone know where he is. As far as Brandon's phone account, no one in the family has access to that account.

I am terribly sorry for what you and your family are going through. Has anyone tried or been able to get into his Google account/s? I’m not sure what kind of phone he had but I have an iPhone and even my Google account is a treasure trove of location information since I have signed into it on my phone. If you guys haven’t already explored that path I would recommend trying to get in it.

 

[borndem]

The area around the truck has been searched and we (as a family) have not searched because we do not know where to start searching. I do not know why his truck would be found in a different area than the normal route.

Welcome to Websleuths,
shoppy82 !!​

I grew up in Lumberton, NC, had friends in Laurinburg, cousins in Red Springs and Fayetteville, and a grandmother in Lumber Bridge, so I know your area pretty well. I live in Raleigh, NC, now, and have since I came to Raleigh for college.

From the beginning of this, I had the feeling that someone else was driving the truck when it got damaged -- the driver, I'm thinking, got scared due to the damage of the truck, and fled the scene. Just my opinion.
Your brother sounds like a truly good guy, and certainly a good brother and son. Hoping you will get good news soon.

We here at Websleuths have good guidelines for our posts, and our Mods help us when need help and they keep WS honest and very much above some "blogs" that are all over the place with language, unsupportable statements, etc., etc. Those types of things are not allowed here, and that's one reason many of us have been here for years. Websleuths is a good, safe place for you and your posts.
Let's hope for good news soon for your brother, you, your family, and we here at WS.
Prayers for you, your brother and everyone who knows and loves him.

 

[shoppy82]

Is it the Bladen County sheriff's office that is handling the case? If your father is willing and able, it might be a good idea for him to contact the sheriff's office and ask for an update. LE often do give status reports to the family in these cases. Have you talked to the people at CUE? CUE – Community United Effort – Serving Missing Persons Nationwide They can help with spreading the word and give you advice on things you can do.

We have reached out to the CUE Center about Brandon's case. We are not being told anything about the case from all avenues, hope that this answers your questions.

 

[shoppy82]

Speaking of his phone--- has it been found ??
Was it in the truck when his truck was found ???
I went back and read a few articles and did not see anything regarding this so just thought I would ask,
If phone not in truck.. it makes me wonder where phone is at ?

As far as I know, the phone was with Brandon.

 

[shoppy82]

I am terribly sorry for what you and your family are going through. Has anyone tried or been able to get into his Google account/s? I’m not sure what kind of phone he had but I have an iPhone and even my Google account is a treasure trove of location information since I have signed into it on my phone. If you guys haven’t already explored that path I would recommend trying to get in it.

I do not have access to his account information, even tried getting access to his email account, but have not had any luck with that.

 

[Shamrock1]

I know he is believed to have his phone, and I know nothing about clouds and things like that. Does he have a computer that has his passwords saved? Maybe not his email but apple account? On the iPhone, there is a way to see the phone’s location history:

Settings > privacy > Location services > system services > significant locations

 

[Cagle]

This may have been mentioned already, but I assume law enforcement would have gotten his phone records by now and have some idea of who he was last in contact with. I hope they're making some headway even if they aren't sharing with the family.

 

[mlhenn]

This may have been mentioned already, but I assume law enforcement would have gotten his phone records by now and have some idea of who he was last in contact with. I hope they're making some headway even if they aren't sharing with the family.

I would assume so. I haven’t read anything about phone records beyond the last ping.