Brooke's case really rocked Vermont, and as Mountaingazer said, there are quite a few similarities in terms of family dynamics and excons. Her case is the reason that my hinky meter has been going off since pretty much Day One of AJ's case. "Uncle Mike" was a violent RSO, his victims had been adults not children and this was known to family members...he married Brooke's aunt, who had young girls from a previous relationship (you know where that's going without me giving details
![Frown :( :(](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
).
"Uncle Mike" planted evidence (clothing) and made changes/additions to Brooke's social media to make it look like she was supposed to be meeting a boy she met online. Brooke's stepfather (no kidding!
![Eek! :eek: :eek:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
) also was involved in the efforts to divert the investigation into her disappearance. It turned out he had joined "Uncle Mike" in sexually molesting one of the other young girls in the family. You just can't make this stuff up! :tantrum: In fact, during the investigation, "Uncle Mike" was originally arrested a few days after Brooke's disappearance for sexually assaulting another minor (the girl referenced in Dexter's post who he had been molesting for several years and had groomed to help him lure Brooke). Fortunately, the other victim told investigators everything they needed to know, and both men were quickly arrested and not soon after, Brooke's body was found. It took 6 years for "Uncle Mike" to go through the legal system, last summer he pled guilty to avoid the death penalty and was given life in prison.
Brooke's case is so complicated, she has her own sub-forum, just like AJ. Again, a lot of similarities to AJ. Anyone who is interested, here's a link:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?163-Brooke-Bennett
All that said, what brought me to WS was serial killer Israel Keyes. It freaked me out because he killed a couple (Bill and Lorraine Currier) in Vermont and also a teen (Samantha Koenig) in Alaska (we had recently visited Anchorage and actually went to the same shopping center where she worked
![Eek! :eek: :eek:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
). When he was arrested for killing Samantha, investigators discovered he had killed the Curriers and many other unidentified victims across the country -- Keyes committed suicide in prison before providing enough information for investigators to identify other victims.