TX TX - Brandon Lawson, 26, San Angelo, 8 Aug 2013 - #1

[nannymo]

Something that hasn't been covered. It has been reported the 911 call came into a nursing home in Robert Lee. But The Observer reports this from August 13th:

https://www.facebook.com/ObserverEnterprise?ref=br_tf

"Updated Information from The Observer/Enterprise
The original call from 911 came to Coke County Sheriff’s Office at 12:58 am Friday, August 9, 2013, reporting a stranded motorist. "

BBM

This is 8 minutes after Brandon called 911. So did the nursing home call the Sheriff's Dept? Or was this possibly the truck driver who called about the pickup being partially in the road? I would not have called BL's call a stranded motorist. I would have called it some sort of accident since the 911 operator says:"Oh-you ran into them".

 

[Psychic Sleuth]

I listened several times to the 29.5 sec part and at first didn't hear "detectives" but after listening over and over I caught it. I'm trying to be super careful not to hear what's not there and tried to see if I could possibly hear a different word but the best I could hear it is "detectives" got the first guy. Now this was totally inaudible in the original tape so quite amazing.

And of course it gives me pause. Was there some type of bust in the area that night?

Thinking....thinking....thinking....

 

[nannymo]

BBM

Exactly! I listen to a lot of hard to decipher audio files and I always say the same thing. Once you get it in your head that it says one thing it's hard to hear it another way.

This is great! Thanks!!

The only thing I thought possible where he says the...the woods (or that's what I think it says anyways) Is it possible that something was cut out there?

Like (just an example)

the Johnson house in the woods and "Johnson house in" was removed so it sounds like the...the woods. If something was removed you should be able to see a break in the file there in your audio program. Does it look funny around there?

Of course he does sound quite frantic and he could have just been getting a quick breath then repeated the (again) woods.

This is a great theory. With a little work I think we can figure this out. I still hear "in fact" instead of state trooper or scraper, but it might be that is what I want to hear.

The only problem I have with woods....being from Texas....we don't have woods in West Texas. The woods are in East Texas. We talk about pastures, fields, etc, but the woods are usually an expression of speech in this part of Texas. "taking to the woods" here means running for you life. That is what I am hearing him say....or something to that affect.

 

[Psychic Sleuth]

Something that hasn't been covered. It has been reported the 911 call came into a nursing home in Robert Lee. But The Observer reports this from August 13th:

https://www.facebook.com/ObserverEnterprise?ref=br_tf

"Updated Information from The Observer/Enterprise
The original call from 911 came to Coke County Sheriff’s Office at 12:58 am Friday, August 9, 2013, reporting a stranded motorist. "

BBM

This is 8 minutes after Brandon called 911. So did the nursing home call the Sheriff's Dept? Or was this possibly the truck driver who called about the pickup being partially in the road? I would not have called BL's call a stranded motorist. I would have called it some sort of accident since the 911 operator says:"Oh-you ran into them".

On Aug 13th I don't know if anyone was even aware of the Brandon 911 call. If I understand correctly, nobody even brought this up until Ladessa got Brandon's cell phone records and saw it and questioned LE about it. Did LE know about it? I don't know. It's possible that the nursing home just dropped the ball and never mentioned it.

My guess is the Observer is referencing the trucker that called in the stranded motorist. If this call went to Coke County Sheriff dispatch then I would assume the nursing home dispatcher was not aware of it.

What we need to know is how are calls from different locations routed to which, The nursing home vs. Coke County Sheriff through the 911 system? Surely someone can answer that pretty easily. That might give us a better idea of where Brandon was when he made the call.

 

[Psychic Sleuth]

This is a great theory. With a little work I think we can figure this out. I still hear "in fact" instead of state trooper or scraper, but it might be that is what I want to hear.

The only problem I have with woods....being from Texas....we don't have woods in West Texas. The woods are in East Texas. We talk about pastures, fields, etc, but the woods are usually an expression of speech in this part of Texas. "taking to the woods" here means running for you life. That is what I am hearing him say....or something to that affect.

It is wooded where the truck ran out of gas. Not heavily wooded but definitely trees all along the highway from the rest stop to about a 10 minute walk up the road where it appears to be more fields. If you take google map guy down to street level you can walk all along the road. (I have done this several times) And yes definitely there are trees on both sides of the roads.

 

[techpuppy]

Okay, I've listened again and fussed with the file a bit more.

I slowed the audio down 30% without changing pitch. Then I removed the static burst and rather than two “the's” the word “into” becomes plainer to me. and “there's one car here” sounds correct to me now. I think the next part is “He got chased into the woods.” So:"There's one car here. He got chased into the woods." Is something cut out? It's possible. It's not obvious looking at the waveform, but there are ways of doctoring that as well. I'd really like to find a better quality audio file of the call. The noise level when there's no talking seems a little higher than normal. That could cover up a lot.

The next part still sounds like “We're not talkin' to 'em” to me. I'm only hearing one syllable prior to the “not talkin' to 'em.”

I agree about the “I totally ran into 'em.” Makes more sense than “fly show” too. He's talking fast and running words together.

And the “detective” part is still a bit baffling but it really sounds like that's what he says.

If this tape/file had been edited prior to release I think someone missed the “detective” word because of its extremely low volume and it sneaked passed them. I have no reason to suspect that, but it does make one wonder about it. I'm still hoping it's a person's name that is being said.

I think I may take a break from listening to it for a while and come back and see what I hear.

 

[nannymo]

It is my understanding that a 911 call from a cell phone can be routed to almost anywhere, especially when you are in a rural area. I am in Taylor county, but close to Jones county so I think a 911 call from my cell could be routed to Jones county 911.

The Observer posted this on August 13, 2013, but they do not tell who the call came from. I am thinking this could possibly be the truckers call.

I do think the 911 dispatcher sent two deputies out for Brandon's 911 call. Since he said "pulled over on both sides going toward Abilene" she (and the deputies) knew he pretty much had to be on Highway 277. That is why Chief Deputy Neal went South on 277 and Deputy Fox checked North 277. I would have thought the truck driver would have given a better location as to where the abandoned vehicle would have been.

 

[nannymo]

It is wooded where the truck ran out of gas. Not heavily wooded but definitely trees all along the highway from the rest stop to about a 10 minute walk up the road where it appears to be more fields. If you take google map guy down to street level you can walk all along the road. (I have done this several times) And yes definitely there are trees on both sides of the roads.

I agree this area has a lot of Cedar trees and mesquite, but we don't normally call this type of land woods in this part of Texas. This is a pasture. To me "taking to the woods" or "chasing me to the woods" is Brandon saying "I am running for my life" from these guys, or this guy. I really don't think there is any question Brandon is running scared so this is probably a moot point. KWIM?

I travel this road quite frequently from Abilene to San Angelo. Cell service is very sporadic. The next time I run down there, I will try to make a detailed account of how the service is in that area. I don't know what service Brandon was on, but I am on AT&T.

 

[Psychic Sleuth]

Okay, I've listened again and fussed with the file a bit more.

I slowed the audio down 30% without changing pitch. Then I removed the static burst and rather than two “the's” the word “into” becomes plainer to me. and “there's one car here” sounds correct to me now. I think the next part is “He got chased into the woods.” So:"There's one car here. He got chased into the woods." Is something cut out? It's possible. It's not obvious looking at the waveform, but there are ways of doctoring that as well. I'd really like to find a better quality audio file of the call. The noise level when there's no talking seems a little higher than normal. That could cover up a lot.

The next part still sounds like “We're not talkin' to 'em” to me. I'm only hearing one syllable prior to the “not talkin' to 'em.”

I agree about the “I totally ran into 'em.” Makes more sense than “fly show” too. He's talking fast and running words together.

And the “detective” part is still a bit baffling but it really sounds like that's what he says.

If this tape/file had been edited prior to release I think someone missed the “detective” word because of its extremely low volume and it sneaked passed them. I have no reason to suspect that, but it does make one wonder about it. I'm still hoping it's a person's name that is being said.

I think I may take a break from listening to it for a while and come back and see what I hear.

I notice when I upload audio files to places like sound cloud or you tube they lose some quality. The only way I can think of to get the original file is through Ladessa?

There's one car here, he got chased into the woods.

Who got chased into the woods I wonder? The first guy? The other guy? Are you sure he says HE and not I got chased into the woods?

Like I said, the area is wooded/treed near where he ran out of gas then just a bit up the road it clears out to more fields from what I can tell on google maps.

 

[nannymo]

Okay, I've listened again and fussed with the file a bit more.

I slowed the audio down 30% without changing pitch. Then I removed the static burst and rather than two “the's” the word “into” becomes plainer to me. and “there's one car here” sounds correct to me now. I think the next part is “He got chased into the woods.” So:"There's one car here. He got chased into the woods." Is something cut out? It's possible. It's not obvious looking at the waveform, but there are ways of doctoring that as well. I'd really like to find a better quality audio file of the call. The noise level when there's no talking seems a little higher than normal. That could cover up a lot.

The next part still sounds like “We're not talkin' to 'em” to me. I'm only hearing one syllable prior to the “not talkin' to 'em.”

I agree about the “I totally ran into 'em.” Makes more sense than “fly show” too. He's talking fast and running words together.

And the “detective” part is still a bit baffling but it really sounds like that's what he says.

If this tape/file had been edited prior to release I think someone missed the “detective” word because of its extremely low volume and it sneaked passed them. I have no reason to suspect that, but it does make one wonder about it. I'm still hoping it's a person's name that is being said.

I think I may take a break from listening to it for a while and come back and see what I hear.

techpuppy, I pm'd you. I would love a copy of your file. Maybe I can help with the dialect since I am from this area.

I have been looking for a better copy of the 911 tape. I read somewhere that this tape is not complete and has been messed with, but that was on FB and could be rumor.

As for the noise level when there is no talking being higher than normal...could wind cause that problem. We have some pretty high winds here. Just a thought.

I am going to have to listen some more. Haven't picked up on detectives yet!

 

[Psychic Sleuth]

It is my understanding that a 911 call from a cell phone can be routed to almost anywhere, especially when you are in a rural area. I am in Taylor county, but close to Jones county so I think a 911 call from my cell could be routed to Jones county 911.

The Observer posted this on August 13, 2013, but they do not tell who the call came from. I am thinking this could possibly be the truckers call.

I do think the 911 dispatcher sent two deputies out for Brandon's 911 call. Since he said "pulled over on both sides going toward Abilene" she (and the deputies) knew he pretty much had to be on Highway 277. That is why Chief Deputy Neal went South on 277 and Deputy Fox checked North 277. I would have thought the truck driver would have given a better location as to where the abandoned vehicle would have been.

So you think the reason for 2 deputies on the call was Brandon's 911 call? Brandon never gave his location so the nursing home dispatch would have had to have had gps tracking capabilities. I don't know if they do or not.

I'm sure which dispatch a call is routed to depends on the location of the caller wouldn't it? I wonder where Coke County Sheriff dispatch is located?

 

[Canadianmom2three]

Thanks for the audio!

So here is what I hear:

"Yes, I'm in the middle of the field.
A Cyper? just purched? some guys over.
Right here going towards Abilene on both sides.
My truck ran out of gas
There's one car here, the guy chased em' into the woods
Please hurry
And when I talked to him, he cried someone ran into em'
Detectives got the first guy
Yeah, no I need the cops"

I can see there being some type of wild animal on both side of the road, and some other person ran in after them?

But I can also take it that another guy/person was chased into the woods? And I hear detectives too, but can that be?

 

[Psychic Sleuth]

Thanks for the audio!

So here is what I hear:

"Yes, I'm in the middle of the field.
A Cyper? just purched? some guys over.
Right here going towards Abilene on both sides.
My truck ran out of gas
There's one car here, the guy chased em' into the woods
Please hurry
And when I talked to him, he cried someone ran into em'
Detectives got the first guy
Yeah, no I need the cops"

I can see there being some type of wild animal on both side of the road, and some other person ran in after them?

But I can also take it that another guy/person was chased into the woods? And I hear detectives too, but can that be?

I hear the first part identical to you
A cyper/cypher/siper/sypher just purched some guys over (I think purched is just a slurred pushed but I could be wrong) Would perched or purched some guys over make any sense?

So you hear the detectives got the first guy too? Very interesting.

 

[nannymo]

So you think the reason for 2 deputies on the call was Brandon's 911 call? Brandon never gave his location so the nursing home dispatch would have had to have had gps tracking capabilities. I don't know if they do or not.

I'm sure which dispatch a call is routed to depends on the location of the caller wouldn't it? I wonder where Coke County Sheriff dispatch is located?

I know he didn't give his location, but if you drive this area you would see that if he says going toward Abilene on both sides of the road tells the 911 operator he is on 277. There is not another logical highway to be on in that area to get to Abilene.

Coke County Sheriff's office is in Robert Lee.

13 East 7th Street
Robert Lee, TX 76945

About cell phones and calling 911:
http://firstaid.about.com/od/callingforhelp/bb/cell911.htm

When you make a 911 call on a cell phone, you are sending signals through the air. The tower that picks up your phone's signal may be near, but it isn't enough to tell the dispatcher where to find you. It's like playing "Marco Polo" in the pool - blindfolded with just sound to guide you.

 

[Canadianmom2three]

I hear the first part identical to you
A cyper/cypher/siper/sypher just purched some guys over (I think purched is just a slurred pushed but I could be wrong) Would perched or purched some guys over make any sense?

So you hear the detectives got the first guy too? Very interesting.

I was thinking Purched was 'pushed' in a heavy accent, but I'm not sure. I don't know know if it makes sense to 'purch' someone over, unless it's slang I'm not aware of.

And yes, I do hear detectives got the first guy. I am trying to figure out what else he could be saying.

 

[Psychic Sleuth]

I know he didn't give his location, but if you drive this area you would see that if he says going toward Abilene on both sides of the road tells the 911 operator he is on 277. There is not another logical highway to be on in that area to get to Abilene.

Coke County Sheriff's office is in Robert Lee.

13 East 7th Street
Robert Lee, TX 76945

About cell phones and calling 911:
http://firstaid.about.com/od/callingforhelp/bb/cell911.htm

When you make a 911 call on a cell phone, you are sending signals through the air. The tower that picks up your phone's signal may be near, but it isn't enough to tell the dispatcher where to find you. It's like playing "Marco Polo" in the pool - blindfolded with just sound to guide you.

Or do all calls go to the dispatch at the nursing home first then get re-routed to the Sheriff's dept or the proper agency? ie ambulance, fire etc

I think the call referred to in the Observer was the trucker calling in the stranded motorist/truck in the road. Of course there would be no logical reason for 2 deputies to respond to that. Unless Dep Neal called Dep Fox after arriving at the truck and asked him to drive up and down 277 north of the truck to see if Brandon was walking while he (Neal) checked to the south.

I still don't think anyone knew about the 911 call from Brandon until Ladessa found it on the phone records. The dispatcher may have just thought it was a rambling drunk and ignored it. Wrong of course, but could be.

 

[Canadianmom2three]

Or do all calls go to the dispatch at the nursing home first then get re-routed to the Sheriff's dept or the proper agency? ie ambulance, fire etc

I think the call referred to in the Observer was the trucker calling in the stranded motorist/truck in the road. Of course there would be no logical reason for 2 deputies to respond to that. Unless Dep Neal called Dep Fox after arriving at the truck and asked him to drive up and down 277 north of the truck to see if Brandon was walking while he (Neal) checked to the south.

I still don't think anyone knew about the 911 call from Brandon until Ladessa found it on the phone records. The dispatcher may have just thought it was a rambling drunk and ignored it. Wrong of course, but could be.

I agree about no one putting it together that the caller was Brandon until later. Maybe if they could not track his call, they couldn't do anything because the call got disconnected.

Do we know if the 911 call came in before the police could have gotten out there??

 

[poppygirl]

The term 'stranded motorist' bugs me a little...doesn't that imply that someone actually saw a motorist? Wouldn't otherwise be an 'abandoned vehicle'?

Maybe it's all the same and doesn't matter...

Excellent job to you guys working on the audio!

 

[poppygirl]

http://www.missingbrandonlawson.com

 

[nannymo]

Or do all calls go to the dispatch at the nursing home first then get re-routed to the Sheriff's dept or the proper agency? ie ambulance, fire etc

I think the call referred to in the Observer was the trucker calling in the stranded motorist/truck in the road. Of course there would be no logical reason for 2 deputies to respond to that. Unless Dep Neal called Dep Fox after arriving at the truck and asked him to drive up and down 277 north of the truck to see if Brandon was walking while he (Neal) checked to the south.

I still don't think anyone knew about the 911 call from Brandon until Ladessa found it on the phone records. The dispatcher may have just thought it was a rambling drunk and ignored it. Wrong of course, but could be.

This is what I am thinking. The nursing home dispatcher gets the calls and sends them to the appropriate agency. Could she have called the Sheriff and said he called and I'm not sure where he is on 277, so one went north and the other south? Makes sense to me. Could have come from either call, Brandon or the trucker.