GA GA - Brian Wehrle, 39, Carrollton, 23 Sept 2009

[webrocket]

I don't think it's at all certain that his body would have been found by now. If he wandered in the wrong direction while confused, fell down an embankment while trying to reach help, or was struck and flipped by a car, the body could have fallen into a ditch, swampy patch, body of water, etc. If he was in an area people didn't expect him to be in, he'd be even less likely to be discovered. Water was at record high levels. He could have stumbled into a stream where it's usually dry and been washed quite a distance.

I'm thinking that if he did have something private, he might have told a bit of a white lie about the trip -- that not all the long trip was caused by the flooding, but it made a good excuse. And if he did find a topographical map to get a better route, that would shorten the trip.

I dont see a flood related incident here. Either Brian and the car would have been stuck in the water or the car would have gotten stuck in water and Brian would have been washed away. I don't think a flood damaged vehicle would have been drivable to Chattanooga.

 

[carbuff]

I dont see a flood related incident here. Either Brian and the car would have been stuck in the water or the car would have gotten stuck in water and Brian would have been washed away. I don't think a flood damaged vehicle would have been drivable to Chattanooga.

I was thinking more of things like the car got stuck in mud, he got out to push, gave himself a heart attack, and stumbled to the edge where he fell in, or he felt an attack coming on, stopped the car so he wouldn't crash, and in confusion got out in a bad spot and fell down a steep embankment. Or the plastic on the window came loose, he stopped to adjust it, was careless going around the car, and got hit and thrown into the ditch.

I imagine places like that have already been searched.

 

[dreamweaver]

http://www.walmart.com/ip/218586




Also, a Frommer's guide to the Carolinas and Georgia at Walmart, Carrollton, GA.


Some of maps found at Walmart in Carrollton, GA.

 

[dreamweaver]

Answer to questions asked about Brian by another poster:
quote directly from niece pm:
They had a close circle of friends that they had both known for many years.
-no to all other questions but no one seems to believe it anyway. This isn't a dime store mystery Brian did not have a second life somewhere. Fantasy seems to tie up loose ends easily but nothing even to the most objective people who knew him points to him wandering off because he was tired of life.
end quote.

 

[dreamweaver]

CORRECTED : OPEN 24 HRS A DAY
Store Details
Walmart Supercenter
1735 S. Hwy 27
Carrollton, GA 30117

Site to StoreSM Hours ONLY:
• Monday-Friday:
8:00 am - 10:00 pm
• Saturday:
8:00 am - 10:00 pm
• Sunday:
8:00 am - 10:00
Store Phone

(770) 834-3513

http://www.walmart.com/storeLocator/ca_storefinder_details_short.do?sfsearch_zip=&rx_dest=%2Findex.gsp&rx_title=com.wm.www.apps.storelocator.page.serviceLink.title.default&sfsearch_city=carrollton&edit_object_id=722&sfsearch_state=GA

>>>>SORRY. Per Brian's niece, Carrollton Walmart is open 24 hrs a day.
Correction.......................

 

[webrocket]

Store Details
Walmart Supercenter
1735 S. Hwy 27
Carrollton, GA 30117

Site to StoreSM Hours
• Monday-Friday:
8:00 am - 10:00 pm
• Saturday:
8:00 am - 10:00 pm
• Sunday:
8:00 am - 10:00
Store Phone

(770) 834-3513

http://www.walmart.com/storeLocator...rrollton&edit_object_id=722&sfsearch_state=GA

So, Carrollton Walmart does not open til 8am.
If Brian went to Walmart, the earliest would be 8am. No car seen at 8:30am at the house.

excellent sleuthing dreamweaver.

so we now know it was impossible for Brian to have gone to the WalMart at 2 a.m. I find it startling that for how many months now the family operated under the assumption he went shopping for a map at 2 a.m. without even bothering to verify the store hours. Any wonder LE did not ask WalMart for videos?

 

[dreamweaver]

excellent sleuthing dreamweaver.

so we now know it was impossible for Brian to have gone to the WalMart at 2 a.m. I find it startling that for how many months now the family operated under the assumption he went shopping for a map at 2 a.m. without even bothering to verify the store hours. Any wonder LE did not ask WalMart for videos?

webrocket:
I really should have checked with family.
Brian's niece says the Carrollton Walmart is open 24 hours a day.
The info I posted was for picking up your packages sent to store.

So sorry. Will edit my post.

Police have not asked Walmart for videos.

 

[dreamweaver]

From Brian W's FB page:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=298118207847&ref=ts
Let Carrollton Police Dept. know that there are lots of us who care about Brian's missing status.
=====

Please take a few moments to call or e-mail the Carrollton police Dept this week
and let them know that Brian is still on our minds and we will not accept his
case going cold call Detective Tony Johnson at the Carrollton Police Department
at 770-834-4451 or send a message to the city of Carrollton http://www.carrollton-ga.gov/online_services/forms/contact.php



Welcome to the City of Carrollton - Contact Us
www.carrollton-ga.gov

Maybe we can make a difference!?

 

[webrocket]

webrocket:
I really should have checked with family.
Brian's niece says the Carrollton Walmart is open 24 hours a day.
The info I posted was for picking up your packages sent to store.

So sorry. Will edit my post.

Police have not asked Walmart for videos.

then I stand corrected too.

I think I posted a bit back how the family of another missing person brought his photo to a store and asked management to review the cameras. In that case (Robert Hall, Sr. of NJ) mgt did and told them that he was seen on one day but not another.

did the family think to ask WalMart to do that or did they just accept that LE was not going to do it?

 

[dreamweaver]

did the family think to ask WalMart to do that or did they just accept that LE was not going to do it?
from post by webrocket:
snipped respectfully.

This is a good question. I will find out.

 

[webrocket]

did the family think to ask WalMart to do that or did they just accept that LE was not going to do it?
from post by webrocket:
snipped respectfully.

This is a good question. I will find out.

any word?

 

[dreamweaver]

any word?

Per FB pm rec'd"

Walmart did check to see if any sku (from topographical maps)
was purchased and they did not find any being bought.

 

[webrocket]

Per FB pm rec'd"

Walmart did check to see if any sku (from topographical maps)
was purchased and they did not find any being bought.

so we now know Brian did not buy a topographical map that night/morning. So he either never went to WalMart or did not make it in the store.

I was very wary of the theory that he went out shopping at 2 a.m. It was not like he was leaving first thing in the morning to go back to Atlanta and he could easily have purchased it after the family meeting.

So we are now left with a voluntary departure or a huge mystery. It is difficult, but not impossible, to run into trouble on a 5 minute drive from the house to whatever stores were open at that hour.

 

[cluciano63]

this is one of the most baffling cases i have seen yet...i am so sorry and sad for his loved ones, as i do feel something has happend to brian...but this is just so strange...

was there ever any mention of how many miles were added to his vehicle from the time he last had it until located? if he was a surveyor, maybe he was used to keeping track of his mileage? just a thought, as to where his car may have been between the day he last had it and when it turned up...

excuse me if this was answered but i do not think i saw it...

i truly hope he left on his own for his own reasons...but it does not seem likely by now. i am sure he would not put his family thru this, sounds as though he is much-loved and vice versa...

 

[webrocket]

was there ever any mention of how many miles were added to his vehicle from the time he last had it until located? if he was a surveyor, maybe he was used to keeping track of his mileage? just a thought, as to where his car may have been between the day he last had it and when it turned up...

excuse me if this was answered but i do not think i saw it...QUOTE]

Hi cluciano. Excellent question although Brian had not worked in like 6 years, he might have had the oil changed and they frequently put those little stickers on the inside of the windshield as reminders.

Even if that were not the case, the car was like 18 years old. He must have had some mechanical work done to it in the past year. However, if he was shuffling back and forth from Atlanta to Carrollton regularly, who knows how many miles he was racking up from the last time the mileage was recorded.

 

[webrocket]

any feedback from the family if they had any mileage records? If Brian got his oil changed, they usually put a clingy reminder inside with the mileage on it with a date.

 

[cluciano63]

This case really touches me especially, maybe in part as i also suffer from arthritis and chronic pain and have had years of trying to find a way to control it and also because IMO LE did not take his disappearance seriously enough in the early days, perhaps taking it as a lover's feud or something family-related. Men in general do not get as much coverage when they go missing, as I suppose they are seen as less vulnerable but anyone is at risk if they meet up with wrong person or have a medical incident when alone. I think he would have been found if that (medical) had been the case, however.
I hope that LE is still doing whatever possible on this case, even if they have to return to the beginning and start over, that is how most cold cases are solved, and usually by a different set of detectives without any preconceived notions, if this was the case.
Am thinking of Brian and family and loved ones.

 

[webrocket]

I read on one of the news items that Brian's partner Jeff returned to work to keep himself busy with Brian's disappearance and all. I was wondering when Jeff retired?

I know the family seems to dismiss this, but I think, and I could be totally wrong, that Brian just felt overwhelmed by family obligations while being disabled enough to preclude him from holding down full time employment.

I mean he basically cared for his father until his death, was caring for his mother up until he disappeared, Jeff's mother moved in with them in Atlanta, and if Jeff had retired recently, then it all might have been too much for him to cope with.

I'm sure he loved his many nieces and nephews but we all need some positive interaction with other adults that provide some enjoyment in life. Seems like he was facing one burden after another. I say that only from the standpoint of someone not emotionally involved with the situation.

In sum since we have pretty much concluded:

1. he was not a victim of the flood,
2. he probably did not have a medical emergency while out on a 5 minute shopping trip in the wee hours of the morning,
3. he did not actually buy the topographical map at WalMart so he probably did not step foot in the store,
4. the odds of him being carjacked in Carrollton at that hour of the day/night/morning were slim at best; and
5. he left his cellphone behind so no one could reach him.

Doesn't leave us with much other than he took off.

 

[carbuff]

I still think it was a medical emergency that led him to collapse in a place where he couldn't be easily seen. If we knew where the guy that parked the car in Chatanooga took it from, I think we'd have a big clue about what happened.

 

[webrocket]

I still think it was a medical emergency that led him to collapse in a place where he couldn't be easily seen. If we knew where the guy that parked the car in Chatanooga took it from, I think we'd have a big clue about what happened.

As per the family, if Brian went out between 2 am and 8 am it would have been a 5 minute trip to either a store or an eatery. He was in Carrollton so if he was on his 5 minute trek and had an emergency, he would have been less than 5 mins from home.

I'm sure his body would have been found by daylight at the latest if he had a medical emergency in Carrollton.