TX TX - Brandi Wells, 23, Longview, 2 Aug 2006

['Ailina]

According to a comment on this article, Lavergne was on work release from prison in 2006, though I haven't tracked down the exact dates:

http://www.capitalpunishmentbook.com/?p=717

 

['Ailina]

Oh my. Lavergne worked as a service mechanic for the State of Louisiana from Feb 2000 to AUGUST 2006 -- while still incarcerated. So he was put on work release in August 2006???

He had access to vehicles. Would this also include patrol cars? Is that too far-fetched?

After working for the state, Lavergne took a job with Powerhouse Compression Services (Broussard, LA) from 2006-2008.

 

[AnonymousD]

Wishful thinking She's already been excluded. Wish they would put this in NAMUS. Would save a lot of time and trouble. I might email them to ask them to include her.

http://www.kltv.com/story/5687433/missing-longview-woman-excluded-as-burned-body

Thank you, jodierenee.

 

[jodierenee]

Someone actually listened to me and put her on the NAMUS exclusions list. Now if only they would get with LE and put the other 20 so exclusions they have together.


https://identifyus.org/cases/1405

 

[neverletgo]

:bump: for Brandi. lease:

 

[neverletgo]

:bump: for Brandi . . . someone out there knows something!

Snipped:

After Wells disappeared, there was some activity on her own cellular phone, which had disappeared with her. Three people found the phone and used it. All three individuals took a polygraph test; one of them, a man, failed it.

Brandi Ellen Wells​

 

[Kaiser661]

Does anybody know if there was still any gas in her car when it was found ?

I wonder just how many people LE checked out at that nightclub because for me if we are looking at this as possible foul play and the rouse was the offer off gas then to me this is the most likely place the perp came from. Though Its possible she stopped at a truck stop or something along those lines after she left the club.

 

[Simply Caustic]

Bumping for Brandi.

You deserve to come home, Brandi, and that's my prayer today.

I wish this thread was more active. But I get that there is just so little to go on...

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

 

[KellysGal]

Thanks for the bump, this case really gets to me, I wish someone could find out if the guy in the cowboy hat was questioned by LE. I wonder if he was one of the three people who had her cell phone, I really think he has something to do with it.

 

[anbeaudre]

Such little info in such a long time!

 

[bessie]

Thanks for the bump, this case really gets to me, I wish someone could find out if the guy in the cowboy hat was questioned by LE. I wonder if he was one of the three people who had her cell phone, I really think he has something to do with it.

The comments here mention the guy with the cowboy hat seen on the surveillance video. Look at the post from August 31, 2011 and the ones that follow. One person says she had a run in with a cowboy at the same club.

http://www.ncmissingpersons.org/brandi-ellen-wells/

 

[EdinburghLass]

Thanks for the bump, this case really gets to me, I wish someone could find out if the guy in the cowboy hat was questioned by LE. I wonder if he was one of the three people who had her cell phone, I really think he has something to do with it.

On the Disappeared episode, it said that everyone had to have their driver's license scanned to enter the venue. Surely the police could have tracked him down via a process of elimination?

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Re-opening Brandi Wells' case

Brandi Wells of Tyler went missing 7 years ago after leaving a Longview night club on August 3rd.

Because of the time and no evidence, the case went cold.

But, even now her family still wants answers.

And investigators think her disappearance might be linked to a growing problem here in East Texas--- sex trafficking.

http://www.ketknbc.com/news/re-opening-brandi-wells-case

 

[AngelaH]

Re-opening Brandi Wells' case

Brandi Wells of Tyler went missing 7 years ago after leaving a Longview night club on August 3rd.

Because of the time and no evidence, the case went cold.

But, even now her family still wants answers.

And investigators think her disappearance might be linked to a growing problem here in East Texas--- sex trafficking.

http://www.ketknbc.com/news/re-opening-brandi-wells-case

This is fantastic news. I hope Homeland Security is able to get some new leads and resolve what happened to Brandi.

 

[neesaki]

Re-opening Brandi Wells' case

Brandi Wells of Tyler went missing 7 years ago after leaving a Longview night club on August 3rd.

Because of the time and no evidence, the case went cold.

But, even now her family still wants answers.

And investigators think her disappearance might be linked to a growing problem here in East Texas--- sex trafficking.

http://www.ketknbc.com/news/re-opening-brandi-wells-case

What a tragic case, and close to home for me as it is within 45 or so miles of where I live. It's just so hard to believe someone can just disappear into thin air like that. Sadly, it seems that it happens every day.

I do wonder what she was doing 50-60 miles from home, with no money and no gas in her car, she was allegedly going to a pawn shop for money (?), and then go to a night club... with no money? Sorry, this all just makes me go Hmmmm.

So I wonder if she went there to meet someone. Surely they checked her cell phone records. Surely they did ....:scared:

So my question, why would she venture that far from home, alone, with no money, no means, etc. It just doesn't make any sense to me, unless she had purpose and reason to be meeting up with someone. So who was that someone? Maybe therein lies the answer.

Btw, is it just a mystery, or do we know what happened to lead them to re-open the case? Hopefully some kind of solid lead.

 

[Bullshark]

:truce:

The comments here mention the guy with the cowboy hat seen on the surveillance video. Look at the post from August 31, 2011 and the ones that follow. One person says she had a run in with a cowboy at the same club.

http://www.ncmissingpersons.org/brandi-ellen-wells/

I would like to hear more about her run in and the other girls' story

 

[Arkgirl]

What a tragic case, and close to home for me as it is within 45 or so miles of where I live. It's just so hard to believe someone can just disappear into thin air like that. Sadly, it seems that it happens every day.

I do wonder what she was doing 50-60 miles from home, with no money and no gas in her car, she was allegedly going to a pawn shop for money (?), and then go to a night club... with no money? Sorry, this all just makes me go Hmmmm.

So I wonder if she went there to meet someone. Surely they checked her cell phone records. Surely they did ....:scared:

So my question, why would she venture that far from home, alone, with no money, no means, etc. It just doesn't make any sense to me, unless she had purpose and reason to be meeting up with someone. So who was that someone? Maybe therein lies the answer.

Btw, is it just a mystery, or do we know what happened to lead them to re-open the case? Hopefully some kind of solid lead.

Rambling off some thoughts here...

The pawn shop thing is most likely a lie because all of the pawn shops in Longview close by 6 pm. There are plenty of pawn shops in the area she was from (Athens, Tyler). Graham's is not really located near any pawn shops either. So it's not like she went to a pawn shop and then decided to go to the club since it's close by. Her grandmother states in the interview that she was trying to get out and meet people in the Athens area since she was moving back. Longview and Athens really aren't close enough that you would meet new friends that you would get to see on a regular basis.

If I remember correctly, she went on ladies night, which is no cover charge, and if you know how to work it, you won't have to pay for drinks. So it's possible to not need any money to go on ladies night. However, the fact that she was almost out of gas is strange. Why drive to Longview, when Tyler is closer? I can only assume that she had gone to meet someone.

I will give a break down of Graham's on ladies night. After 9, its Packed so full that its hard to walk around or see. There are always obnoxious men in cowboy hats, that think they are Gods gift to women. There are always a couple fights that break out. There are police everywhere. By each bar, sitting among the tables, and on the dance floor. Everybody knows everybody, and she would have definitely been noticed, being a stranger by herself. The parking lot is about the size of a walmart parking lot and there is almost always security out there in golf carts. The club is right on edge of the seedy part of town.

One time, when I was 18, a friend and I pulled up, parked got out of our cars, and a car came flying up behind us with some crackhead behind the wheel demanding money. Security was on him. We didn't have to scream, or make hand signals or anything. They saw something strange going on, and took care of it.

Depending on which way they (her? Him?) pulled out of the club, they could have gone down McCann, which has lots if businesses with security cameras that could have tracked them for about 1/2 a mile. If they went the other direction, into the seedier part of town, they could have driven without a trace.

I have heard she was a drug user, and also heard she was mentally slow. I don't know if either of those are true. I know for a fact that LE is aware of the gentleman that walks out with her, and know his identity.

MOO! I believe law enforcement has suspects and knows what happened to her, they just don't have evidence to back it up. Or the suspect is somebody fairly important, and LE doesn't want a scandal. MOO!

 

[Dixie811]

Thanks for the local perspective, JessicaW!

It does seem strange to me that Brandi would go out, apparently alone and with no money or gas.

Since you mentioned how the parking lot of Graham's is usually full of security, I wonder if Brandi could have agreed to give someone a ride home? (therefore no confrontation or suspicious activity in the parking lot) Then upon arriving at that individual's place she could have been killed and disposed of. That individual then could have abandoned her car where it was found.

 

[alllads]

Just watched the Disappeared episode on Brandy. I completely agree that this seems like a solvable case - or at least was at the time of her disappearance.

* The cowboy hat should have been tracked down and questioned.
* If Brandy's car was abandoned on the side of a major highway, the perp would have had to get away in another car or on foot. Another motorist had to have seen something.
* Was the gas can ever tested for fingerprints? Or her steering wheel?
* Was the POI who was using her phone ever investigated further?

At this point, I doubt any of these leads would go anywhere, but it seems like more could have been done by LE immediately after her disappearance.

Totally in agreement with every word of this. I don't understand the mystery around the cowboy hat man, they should just come out and say "yes he was interviewed and excluded from our inquiries" if that's the case. LE always don't want people up in their business, but when people don't get in their business, cases like Brandi's (which I also agree either is, or at least definitely was at the time, solvable) end up closed.

 

[JWD]

Because more than one woman has reported to LE a run-in with Cowboy Hat, the most likely scenario is that LE is actively investigating the guy and gathering evidence to charge him with. Making that evidence public knowledge prematurely is not something LE will or should do.

We have 50-year-old unsolved cases on these forums. Relatively speaking, this crime happened yesterday. Way too soon to start suspecting LE of not doing their job.

:twocents: