February 13, 2025 • 35 mins
On November 5, 2005 a jogger was out running beside a lake in Lake Charles, Louisiana, behind the Civic Center, when he saw something floating in the water. When he took a closer look, he realized it was the body of a woman.
Police identified the body as 32-year-old Brandy Renee Dyson, a mother of three who had recently been made homeless after Hurricane Katrina and then Hurricane Rita, which devastated the state.
It’s been almost 20 years, there’s been one arrest and a lot of controversy, but her case is still unsolved. There's a lot we don't know about Brandy's murder, but we do know that it was violent.
Her father Adley Dyson told a local news station, "We had to bury her in a turtleneck sweater because she was strangled and she was thrown in the lake."
If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
School of Humans. Helen Got Murder Line actively investigates cold
case murders in an effort to raise public awareness invite
witnesses to come forward and present evidence that could potentially
be further investigated by law enforcement. While we value insights
from family and community members, their statements should not be
considered evidence and point to the challenges of verifying facts
(01:10):
inherent in cold cases. We remind listeners that everyone has
presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Nothing in the podcast is intended to state or imply
that anyone who has not been convicted of a crime
is guilty of any wrongdoing. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
On November fifth, two thousand and five, a jogger was
out running beside a lake in Lake Charles, Louisiana, behind
the Civic Center, when they saw something floating in the water.
When the jogger took a closer look, they realized it
was the body of a woman. Police identified the victim
as thirty two year old Brandy Renee Dyson, a mother
(01:53):
of three who had recently been made homeless after Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita. Those hurricanes devastated the state of Louisiana.
It's been almost twenty years. There's been one arrest and
a lot of controversy, but Brandy's case is still unsolved.
There's a lot we don't know about Brandy's murder, but
(02:13):
we do know that it was violent. Her father, Adley
Dyson told a local news station, quote, we had to
bury her in a turtle necktwater because she was strangled
and she was thrown in the lake end quote.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
I'm Catherine Townsend.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Over the past five years of making my true crime podcast,
Healing Gone, I've learned that there is no such thing
as a small town where murder never happens. I've received
hundreds of messages from people all around the country asking
for help with an unsolved murder that's affected them, their families,
and their communities. If you have a case you'd like
(02:50):
me and my team to look into, you can reach
out to us at our Helen Gone Murder Line at
six seven eight seven four four six one four or five.
That's six seven eight seven four four six one four five.
This is Helen Gone Murder Line. A lot of time
(04:00):
periods in Brandy Dyson's life are still unaccounted for. We
and even the people closest to her didn't always know
what was going on. What we do know were piecing
together through her sister Miranda and her daughter Holly. Brandy
Dyson was born on November one, nineteen seventy three. Growing up,
(04:20):
her family was mostly based in Louisiana, and both her
daughter Holly and her sister Miranda told us that Brandy
had a tough life. She struggled with mental health issues
and addiction. Brandy had three children, a son who she
had when she was around seventeen years old and later
gave up for adoption, a daughter, Holly, and a second
(04:44):
son who she gave birth to a few months before
she died. Brandy was out of contact with a lot
of her family for several years before she was killed,
and finding information on where she lived during that time
period is challenging. American Press did a story on the case,
and there's a video on YouTube with comments under it.
One of the commenters said that they knew Brandy from
(05:06):
when Brandy was in Texas for a job corp job
at the age of sixteen. Later from her family, we
know that Brandy lived in New York City for several years.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
She didn't like small town life.
Speaker 5 (05:17):
We came from a small town.
Speaker 6 (05:19):
She didn't like that lifestyle.
Speaker 5 (05:20):
You know, like it was too slow for her. She
went to New York City. She stayed there for ten years.
Speaker 6 (05:27):
She liked that.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
We talked to Miranda. She talked about Brandy's trouble times
when she was a teenager. After living in different places
on and off, at some point, her family thinks about
a year before her death, Brandy came back to kinder. Now,
her daughter, Holly, who was just ten years old when
her mom was brutally murdered, has been reaching out to
(05:50):
true crime podcasters, media, and anyone else who she thinks
may help spread the word and hopefully get answers and justice.
Holly was raised by her aunt and uncle. She said
that while it was hard to grow up without her mother,
Brandy made what she believes was the most loving and
unselfish decision that she could have in those circumstances to
(06:12):
give her children up so that they could be raised
in more stable homes.
Speaker 6 (06:16):
You know, she had a baby very very young and
gave them up for adoption. I know she had some
issues within her own family. Two three times she had
to make that impossible decision to let somebody else take
care for baby and when I drop my son off
at daycare, I feel mom guilt and I can only
(06:38):
imagine what she went through with that. But she did
the right thing and I will always admire her for that.
She had her issues. She had schizo effective disorder, which
at the time she had a bipolar in schizophrenia, but
now what we call it is gizo effective disorder.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Both Miranda and Holly believed that Brandy, due to circumstances,
might have turned to sex work a few times in
her life. Now, I want to be clear, I do
not judge her for her lifestyle, but I do believe
it's important to mention here because if that is the case,
there could be a larger pool of suspects to consider.
(07:21):
From what we understand, it appears that Brandy was not
taking medication for her schizo effective disorder, but at times
she did self medicate with alcohol.
Speaker 6 (07:32):
She kind of just never felt at peace in this world,
and I think her demons kind of reared its head
through drinking. You know. I remember her writing these for
a couple of and I didn't know this at the time.
My nana has told me this when I had gotten older,
but she wrote me from rehabs that she was in
(07:55):
or like Jill's, you know.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Miranda said that her and Brandy's parents agreed with Brandy's
decision to give up her son at age seventeen because
even then Brandy was struggling with substance abuse.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
Even then, Brandy had some mantal illness.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
She drank young, so like.
Speaker 7 (08:15):
Sixteen seventeen, and that's when she would have her her
manic failed.
Speaker 6 (08:20):
When she would drink.
Speaker 7 (08:22):
As long as she was sober, they needn't have any.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
You know, she was good.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
There is still a lot of very basic information that
Holly doesn't know about her mother's life. There are a
lot of blank spaces and blank years.
Speaker 6 (08:38):
I don't know if she was working. I don't know
really what she did for work.
Speaker 8 (08:43):
It's not like she had like a trade or whatever.
Speaker 6 (08:46):
So yeah, I think she's pretty broke most of the time.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Holly said that when Brandy came back to kinder Louisiana,
she was pregnant.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
She was living with her uncle.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
She gave birth to her baby son in July two
thousand and five, and then she moved into her own apartment,
and for a while, Brandy appeared to be on a
more stable path.
Speaker 8 (09:08):
I remember talking to her after she had my little brother.
Speaker 6 (09:13):
And we were both so excited for him to come
into this world because I always wanted a baby brother.
Speaker 8 (09:20):
And she thought that, you know, maybe that would help
her get her stuff together. But after she got displaced
from the hurricane, after she she took on those people
that were displaced by the hurricane, I think that kind
of knocked her back down a little bit, and I
think she started drinking again.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
What Holly's talking about is that when Hurricane Katrina hit
in two thousand and five, a lot of people evacuated
to Kinder, Louisiana. Brandy took in refugees in her apartment,
but that decision resulted in her being evicted, so she
left her newborn son with her uncle. I'm not actually
sure if she left her son with her uncle before
(10:03):
or after she was evicted, but in any case, her
son was not with her when she left and moved
in to the Late Charles Civic Center, about forty minutes
away from Kinder, where many people in Louisiana were sheltering
after having to evacuate their homes from the storm.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
And I want to back up a minute here.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
And go over some of the chaos that was happening
in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina made landfall in August twenty ninth,
two thousand and five. To help give some context for
Brandy's final days, this storm was absolutely devastating for the
state of Louisiana. After Katrina hit New Orleans, thirty thousand
evacuees built the New Orleans Supernome. They were trapped inside
(10:42):
there for days with no power and running out of supplies,
and then FEMA left the area for their own safety.
I remember seeing footage of this on television and it
was absolutely horrifying. There was a breakdown in law and order.
There were no working bathrooms, there were feces on walls,
fights breaking out over food and water, and multiple reports
(11:04):
of rape and sexual assault. Some of the more horrific rumors,
like bodies of children piling up in the basement, were
later disputed by law enforcement. A report on NPR pointed
out that while some of them were outrageous claims may
have been proven false, others, like sexual assaults, were almost
certainly underreported. According to the state Department of Health and Hospitals,
(11:27):
there were ten deaths in the Superdome, including two suspected murders,
and then, while the state was still reeling from the
horrific impacts both environmental and social, of Katrina, Hurricane Rita
hit just a few weeks later. Hurricane Rita made landfall
on September twenty fourth, two thousand and five.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
In Cameron Parish.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
It was a Category three storm with storm surges of
up to eighteen feet and sixteen inches of rain. Even
though it didn't get as much media attention at the time,
the devastating flooding caused by Rita literally white towns off
the map. Parishes in southwest Louisiana were overwhelmed, Levies and
New Orleans finally broke. There was a rise in crime
(12:14):
and a loss of police manpower. Rita, by the way,
has been called the forgotten storm because most people remember
Katrina and the images of people on top of their
cars begging for someone from the government to come help,
or the images of people at the Superdome.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
In New Orleans.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
The storm surge flooded downtown Lake Charles and damaged the
Civic Center, where the evacuees were seeking shelter and where
Brandy was living after being evicted from her apartment, and
it was here at the Civic Center where Brandy's life,
which had been on the road stability, started to spiral
out of control. After she was evicted from her apartment,
(13:00):
Brandy moved into the Lake Charles Civic Center, where a
lot of evacuees from the hurricanes were staying, and it
was around this time that Brandy started drinking again.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
She's staying at the Civic Center, she gets picked up
or disturbing the peace, so they kick her out of
the civic center, so she makes a makeshift shelter outside
of the city center.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
So drinking broke the civic center's rules. Brandy was kicked
out of the civic Center, but she stayed close to
the building. According to reports, she set up camp in
the area of the pier, which was just a few
feet away from the Civic Center. Polly said she was
unsure who her mom's friends were at the time of
the storm, or even if Brandy had a cell phone,
(13:47):
but there was someone hanging out with Brandy at her
shelter on November fourth. Police have said that this was
a man named Jeremiah Salazar, and according to Holly, they
had been hanging out prior to that. Miranda said detectives
told her how they figured out that JEREMIAHS and Brandy
had been hanging out.
Speaker 7 (14:08):
The only things that I know about him is what
the detective told me, Like, we didn't know him.
Speaker 9 (14:14):
We were all this place, we were all homeless.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
I was living in Alabama when she died, So this
is how they got to kid him. So when Brandy
was found, her fingerprints was in the system because she
had been arrested a few days before, so they were
able to identify her really fast because of it. But
when they ran her name or they might have found.
Speaker 9 (14:38):
This ticket because she was living off that pier m HM.
Speaker 7 (14:43):
Instead there was another ticket tied to that ticket for
her in sala'sorber going to Tacoma, Washington together. Well, her
body comes up, so they think that he's going to
change his course, but they have police waiting to see
if he's going to or not.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
After Brandy was murdered, Apparently, JEREMIAHS did follow through on
his plans to go to Tacoma, but detectives were able
to arrest him and extradied him back to Louisiana. He
denied having anything to do with Brandy's murder and what
happened the night of November fourth, leading into the early
morning hours of November fifth, is still a mystery. Miranda
(15:25):
and Holly were told by detectives that Brandy and Jeremiahs
went to a bar close to the civic Center called
Crystals on the night of November fourth. Now, reviews of
this bar online indicate that it was apparently a gay bar,
but it was also one of the only bars that
was openly after the hurricane hit.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
They believe something happened at that bar.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Now, one theory that Brandy's family told us detectives mentioned
to them was that Jeremias could have gotten annoyed when
he saw Brandy talking to or possibly flirting with another man,
and that Jeremiahs left that bar without Brandy. Holly talks
about this now, again, this is just speculation on her part.
She's describing what members of her family have heard from
(16:09):
the Lake Charles Police detectives over the years.
Speaker 6 (16:12):
I think that they were probably more just like drinking buddies,
or they might have had a relationship, but all of
that has been kind of kept in the dark from us.
Speaker 7 (16:22):
And.
Speaker 6 (16:24):
My family in Louisiana didn't know who who he was either.
They had never heard of.
Speaker 10 (16:30):
Him, but it wasn't unusual for her to kind of
keep it, yeah, cease communication for some weeks or.
Speaker 6 (16:41):
Some months, you know.
Speaker 9 (16:43):
And it just said they had a relationship, that didn't
say what typ.
Speaker 6 (16:48):
Yeah, I think that it was. I think it was
somewhat romantic, actually, but that's just me speculating.
Speaker 9 (16:56):
And she was seen going to the bar Crystals with
him from midnight to two am, and then he left,
she staved and drank, and then the theory is that
she became intimate with another man. He came back and
saw that he became upset.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
We don't know for sure what happened after Brandy went
to this bar. What we do know is that the
next morning, November fifth, that jogger found Brandy's body. We
also don't know much about the condition of Brandy's body.
We have sent boy a request for the case file,
but so far we've been denied due to this being
an open investigation. Polly has requested a copy of Brandy's
(17:42):
autopsy as a family member, but so far we have
not heard back.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
We will keep you posted.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
The Lake Charles Police Department was able to identify Brandy
through fingerprints. They told Brandy's family the murder had been violent,
and that they believed that Brandy had been strangled, exphyxiated,
and thrown into the lake. Police found a few clues
there was a Halloween mask near Brandy's body, but even
(18:09):
though according to Brandy's family, she had DNA inside her,
detectives apparently concluded there was no evidence of sexual assault.
Holly remembers the funeral and the shock of losing her
mother so suddenly, and of saying goodbye to her. Over
(18:31):
the years, Holly has reached out to her older brother,
the one who was given up for adoption when Brandy
was seventeen. Holly talked about the emotion of finding him
and telling him that he had a sister and that
his biological mother had been brutally murdered.
Speaker 6 (18:47):
He didn't know about my mom.
Speaker 5 (18:49):
We're not super super closed.
Speaker 6 (18:51):
I think I talked to him like last Christmas, but
I remember my mom telling me about him and I
had always loved him, and just telling him that, Hey, like,
I know this is a lot for you, but I
just want you to know that I have always thought
about you. I have always cared about you. Your mom
(19:13):
always loved you. She talked about you, and I think
he had a really good life. His adoptive mom did
a great job. He is happy.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
From what Holly has been told by detectives, the last
time that Brandy was seen alive was between midnight and
two am on November fifth, two thousand and five, at
the nightclub with a man. From witness descriptions, police were
able to draw sketch of a man whom Brandy was
seen hanging out with at the club. From that and
(19:49):
from other clues, they identified JEREMIAHS.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Salzark.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
At the time, he had long brown hair. He was
also six feet tall. We don't know much about JEREMIAHS.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
Either.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
We know that he's from Leveland, Texas, and that he
did have some prior arrests, but we can't find a
record of him being arrested for anything violent. There were
some drug charges, also some glittering and indecent exposure charges that,
based on his history, could possibly have come from him
camping out in populated areas. By the time detectives identified him,
(20:23):
JEREMIAHS had already left Louisiana.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
He was on his way to Tacoma, Washington, so they
drove back.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
He called.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
There was an s There was an evidence for an indictment, so.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
Late Charles police went to Washington.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
They went through the process of having JEREMIAHS arrested and
extradited back to Louisiana. Police said they believed JEREMIAHS and
Brandy knew each other. Sergeant Mark Krause with the Lake
Charles Police Department told a news station, quote, there was
some relationship, whether it be friends or something more substantial
between the two, and that's where we began our investigation
(21:00):
end quote. And three months after Brandy's body was found
in that lake behind the Civic Center, JEREMIAHS. Salazar was
charged with her murder. In January of two thousand and six,
four months after Brandy was brutally murdered in Lake Charles, JEREMIAHS.
(21:24):
Salazar was charged with Brandy's murder. Police got him extradited
from Washington State. He was brought back to Louisiana and
incarcerated in the Calcashu Jail. His bond was set at
a million dollars. But then there was a shocking turn
of events in this case. At first, the grand jury
returned true bill, meaning they believe there was enough evidence
(21:46):
to indict Jeremiahs. But then they met again this time,
they returned a no bill, which means they no longer
believed that there was enough evidence to charge him. I
want to put in a quick caveat here. There's a
lot we don't know about this DNA sample. We don't
know how much of a sample there was, how much
of it was degraded, or if there were issues with testing.
(22:08):
There's no evidence that that was the case, but I
just want to put it out there. I found an
interview with the district attorney in the case from back
in twenty eleven, six years after Brandy's murder on American Press.
In that interview, the DA says that DNA testing quote
excluded Jeremiahs. The district attorney said at that time the
(22:29):
grand jury felt that there was not sufficient probable cause
to go forward, but he added that if law enforcement
got any new evidence, they could reindict Jeremiahs or indict
another defendant. Miranda said she had regular contact with the
detectives on the case until Jeremias was taken in front
of the grand jury. She said the no bill decision
(22:51):
was devastating for their family. So now there were a
couple of questions outstanding. Some detectives apparently thought maybe Brandy
had sexual intercourse with someone else, someone other than JEREMIAHS,
and that JEREMIAHS had attacked her in a jealous rage,
But of course a very real other possibility is that
it was someone else. Entirely after Jeremiah was released, no
(23:19):
new suspects were ever arrested. In the same interview where
Brandy's father had mentioned that they had to bury her
in a turtleneck, he pointed out there had been a
police officer murdered and brought to justice within a few
days at around the same time Brandy was murdered. He said,
just because Brandy was homeless and had mental health issues
(23:39):
and addiction issues, that did not mean that her case
was any less important. The Lake Charles Police Department said
that they had tried to solve this case. They had
even gone so far as to go to another state
file charges extradite someone back, and they said they would
pursue any additional information that was given. However, the reality
(24:02):
is that in Louisiana, both during and after Katrina and
even today, law enforcement has a vast number of cases
they need to clear, and new ones are piling up
every day. Another thing that Holly has wondered over the years,
is if Brandy's case could have any connection to other cases,
(24:23):
including the eight women who were killed in Jefferson Davis
Parish that's right next to Calcashu Parish. They're known as
the jeff Davis a or the Jennings. A. Journalist Ethan
Brown wrote a book about these unsolved murders and corruption
in the parish. It's called Murder in the Bayou. The
first body was found on May twentieth, tive. A twenty
(24:45):
eight year old named Loretta Lynn Chase and Lewis was
found in a canal in Jennings in the Jefferson Davis Parish.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
Loretta was addicted to crack.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
A lot of these cases were linked to the drug
trade that went down Interstate ten. There's also By the Way,
an investigation discovery show based on Ethan's book, also called
Murder in the Bayeux. On June eighteenth, two thousand and five,
a thirty year old sex worker named Ernestine Marie Daniels
Patterson was also found in a canal south of Jennings.
(25:15):
Her throat had been slashed, her wrists were bound together.
This was a violent struggle to the death in Ernestine's case,
two men were arrested in charge with her murder, but
the charges were later dropped. On March eighteenth, two thousand
and seven, the nude body of twenty one year old
Kristin Lopez was found in a canal near Jennings. Kristin
(25:37):
was wearing only one sock on her left foot. Again,
two people were arrested in charge with Christian's murder, but
they were later released due to lack of evidence. Over
the next year and a half, four more victims were
found in that area. Twenty six year old Whitney Dubois,
twenty three year old Laconia Muggy Brown, twenty four year
(25:58):
old Crystal shab Bin Wazino, and seventeen year old Britney Gary.
All of these women were found in or around Jennings.
All of them reportedly had ties to sex work. Almost
all of the killings, according to police, were believed to
be caused by strangling or asphyxia. Only one Ernestine's involved
a stabbing. In August of two thousand and nine, twenty
(26:21):
six year old Nicole Gilliery was found. This was in
a neighboring parish, Acadia Parish, but also near the iten.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
So a task.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Force was formed between local law enforcement and federal and
state authorities, but progress was slow and they seemed to
have a lot of different theories about who was killing
these women. It's interesting because the sheriff and Jefferson Davis
Parish Sheriff Edwards said he believed the killings could be
the work of a common offender, which a lot of
people took to mean one serial killer work in the area.
(26:54):
But after reviewing a lot of public information and reading
Ethan Brown's excellent book, I agree with him. I think
the evidence does not point to one single serial killer.
What we do see are a lot of allegations of
police corruption and certain members of local law enforcement possibly
being involved in drug deals, and of law enforcement looking
(27:17):
the other way when certain types of crimes occurred. In fact,
one of the most shocking statistics I saw in Ethan
Brown's book was one about homicide clearance rates. He said,
in Calcashu Parish, where Brandy was murdered, the homicide clearance
rate is seven percent. I couldn't believe I read that right.
(27:38):
I had to read that a couple times. That means, presumably,
if that's correct, in that pair, you have a ninety
three percent chance of getting away with murder, which I
find shocking. Holly hasn't been sure what to think. There
seemed to be no evidence that jeremiahs had actually harm Brandy,
But could he, as detectives apparently wondered, have hurt her
(27:59):
mother because she had consensual sex with someone else? Or
could someone else, maybe the person whose DNA is inside Brandy,
have assaulted and murdered her. Holly hasn't been sure what
to think. There seemed to be no evidence that Jeremiah
harm Brandy, But could he, as detectives apparently wondered, have
(28:22):
hurt her mother because Brandy had consensual sex with someone else?
Or could someone else, maybe the person whose DNA is
inside Brandy, have assaulted and murdered her. Her mother's death
wasn't Holly's last brush with tragedy. In two thousand and four,
her father, Daniel Cercy, was murdered tenty sixteen. A man
(28:45):
named Sean Pinson, who is twenty eight years old at
the time of the murder, was sentenced to seventy years
in prison for Daniel's murder. Daniel's body was bound at
the hands and feet with zip tized speaker wire and
an electrical cord. According to an arrest report, there were
cleaning supplies and a scented candle and a fan being
directed through the chimney to mass the odor. The arrest
(29:10):
report stated that Sean had given a friend money to
buy supplies, including bleach and an air freshener from Walmart.
A former employee and friend of Shawn's testified that Shawn
told him he wasn't going to lie anymore and that
Sean had led him to see Daniel's body. Holly said
to this day she questions whether there may have been
(29:33):
other people involved in her father's death, people who have
never been brought to justice.
Speaker 6 (29:38):
I do believe that there are others walking free Almongos
that were involved did my dad's death. But one thing
that I have had to realize, and it took me
a long time to realize, is that I'm not going
to know everything. I'm not going to know everything about
my mom, I'm not going to know everything about my
(30:00):
dad's case, and I just have to kind of make
my own closure. And this is like a form of
me doing that, you know, with the Justice for Brandy
Dyson and reaching out to the podcast I'm just trying
to make some foremost closure because really, my son had
(30:28):
both of his grandparents taken away from him. They will
never know him, and that makes me so sad for
all of them. So yeah, I've had to like make closure.
I've had to become at peace with not knowing every again.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Police had denied our foy requests. Holly, since she's next
of Ken, is trying to get access to Brandy's autopsy.
If we had the autopsy, we could possibly find out
if there was water in Brandy's lungs, possibly what other
tests were done, and if there is any other evidence
that police may have overlooked. Plus we would know what
(31:13):
types of samples they took. In the meantime, she's had
frustrating encounters with the Lake Charles Police Department, especially when
it comes to asking about the Jeff Davis A.
Speaker 6 (31:25):
There are eight unsolved cases thirty five miles away from
where my mom was murdered, and I think that all
of those people deserve kind their cases looked at. And
I think this is not only I think it's is
like not only a department full issue of Louisiana. It's
(31:50):
a systematic issue because those women were also of a
high risk lifestyle. Let me tell you exactly what they said.
The case has not been reassigned. We have four violent
crime detectives. We are investigating a homicide that occurred on twelve,
twenty nine, and we're investigating another that occurred on twenty
(32:12):
one before the weather of it here in els, to
my knowledge, our agency has never been the lead investigating
to since e on a case, only to pass it
off to another inner agency. And I contacted crime stoppers
(32:32):
in the parish and they informed me that LCPD needs
to request to feature their case on Facebook. Would you
be able to reach out to them on her behalf.
I know how underfunded and understaffed police departments are, but
that that does not give me peace, but does not
(32:55):
giving me justice. And I would like somebody to care
from the LCPD. It's just so that to me, I'm so,
I'm a recovering addict. I have five years sober, and
you know a lot of my addiction has dealt with
the traumas of losing my parents, and like people like me,
(33:20):
people like my parents don't deserve to be thrown away,
you know.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
Meanwhile, Brandy's family needs someone to come forward, Someone who
may have seen Brandy at that night club or who
may have been in the area on November fourth or
November fifth, two thousand and five. There are pieces of evidence,
like the Halloween masks? What kind was it? Could it
be traced? Was their DNA taken off the mask? Also,
(33:49):
we have not received any part of the case file,
so we don't know if it was something her killer wore,
or if she was wearing it for some reason, or
if it was just randomly there trash that someone chucked
in the water from Halloween which had been four days earlier.
There's a killer on the loose, one who got away
with it in two thousand and five, and you very
(34:11):
well could still be out there.
Speaker 6 (34:14):
Yeah, absolutely, Like what like, we've just let this person
be on the streets and other people could be going
through the same thing that I was, and they had them.
I try to stay.
Speaker 8 (34:29):
Out of the what is uh? Yeah, there could be Oh.
Speaker 6 (34:33):
There's so many what if you know? And with no
information or hardly any information, it's just it's hard.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Next week, we're gonna dig deeper into Brandy's murder. We're
going to try to retrace her steps on the night
she was killed and explore the possibility of DNA testing
and find out what the next steps could be. We're
gonna try to do a deeper dive into these parts
of Louisiana and find out why apparently in some corners
of that state, people have a greater than ninety percent
(35:09):
chance of getting away with murder. We want to understand
why are so many disadvantaged women being killed and dumped here.
I'm Katherine Townsend. This is Helen Gone Murder Line. Helen
Gone Murder Line is a production of School of Humans
and iHeart Podcasts. It's written and narrated by me Catherine
(35:31):
Townsend and produced by Gabby Watts. Special thanks to Amy
Tubbs for her research assistance. Noah Kamer mixed and scored
this episode. Our theme song is by Ben Salek. Executive
producers are Virginia Presco, Brandon Barr, and LC Crowley. Listen
to Helen Gone ad free by subscribing to the iHeart
True Crime Plus.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
Channel on Apple Podcasts.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
If you were interested in seeing documents and materials from
the case, you can follow the show on Instagram at
Helen gonpod. If you have a case you'd like me
and my team to look into, you can reach out
to us at our Helen Gone Murder Line at six
seven eight seven four four six one four five. That's
six seven eight seven four four six one four or five.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
School of Humans
School of Humans. Helen Got Murder Line actively investigates cold
case murders in an effort to raise public awareness invite
witnesses to come forward and present evidence that could potentially
be further investigated by law enforcement. While we value insights
from family and community members, their statements should not be
considered evidence and point to the challenges of verifying facts
(01:10):
inherent in cold cases. We remind listeners that everyone has
presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Nothing in the podcast is intended to state or imply
that anyone who has not been convicted of a crime
is guilty of any wrongdoing. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
On November fifth, two thousand and five, a jogger was
out running beside a lake in Lake Charles, Louisiana, behind
the Civic Center, when they saw something floating in the water.
When the jogger took a closer look, they realized it
was the body of a woman. Police identified the victim
as thirty two year old Brandy Renee Dyson, a mother
(01:53):
of three who had recently been made homeless after Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita. Those hurricanes devastated the state of Louisiana.
It's been almost twenty years. There's been one arrest and
a lot of controversy, but Brandy's case is still unsolved.
There's a lot we don't know about Brandy's murder, but
(02:13):
we do know that it was violent. Her father, Adley
Dyson told a local news station, quote, we had to
bury her in a turtle necktwater because she was strangled
and she was thrown in the lake end quote.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
I'm Catherine Townsend.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Over the past five years of making my true crime podcast,
Healing Gone, I've learned that there is no such thing
as a small town where murder never happens. I've received
hundreds of messages from people all around the country asking
for help with an unsolved murder that's affected them, their families,
and their communities. If you have a case you'd like
(02:50):
me and my team to look into, you can reach
out to us at our Helen Gone Murder Line at
six seven eight seven four four six one four or five.
That's six seven eight seven four four six one four five.
This is Helen Gone Murder Line. A lot of time
(04:00):
periods in Brandy Dyson's life are still unaccounted for. We
and even the people closest to her didn't always know
what was going on. What we do know were piecing
together through her sister Miranda and her daughter Holly. Brandy
Dyson was born on November one, nineteen seventy three. Growing up,
(04:20):
her family was mostly based in Louisiana, and both her
daughter Holly and her sister Miranda told us that Brandy
had a tough life. She struggled with mental health issues
and addiction. Brandy had three children, a son who she
had when she was around seventeen years old and later
gave up for adoption, a daughter, Holly, and a second
(04:44):
son who she gave birth to a few months before
she died. Brandy was out of contact with a lot
of her family for several years before she was killed,
and finding information on where she lived during that time
period is challenging. American Press did a story on the case,
and there's a video on YouTube with comments under it.
One of the commenters said that they knew Brandy from
(05:06):
when Brandy was in Texas for a job corp job
at the age of sixteen. Later from her family, we
know that Brandy lived in New York City for several years.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
She didn't like small town life.
Speaker 5 (05:17):
We came from a small town.
Speaker 6 (05:19):
She didn't like that lifestyle.
Speaker 5 (05:20):
You know, like it was too slow for her. She
went to New York City. She stayed there for ten years.
Speaker 6 (05:27):
She liked that.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
We talked to Miranda. She talked about Brandy's trouble times
when she was a teenager. After living in different places
on and off, at some point, her family thinks about
a year before her death, Brandy came back to kinder. Now,
her daughter, Holly, who was just ten years old when
her mom was brutally murdered, has been reaching out to
(05:50):
true crime podcasters, media, and anyone else who she thinks
may help spread the word and hopefully get answers and justice.
Holly was raised by her aunt and uncle. She said
that while it was hard to grow up without her mother,
Brandy made what she believes was the most loving and
unselfish decision that she could have in those circumstances to
(06:12):
give her children up so that they could be raised
in more stable homes.
Speaker 6 (06:16):
You know, she had a baby very very young and
gave them up for adoption. I know she had some
issues within her own family. Two three times she had
to make that impossible decision to let somebody else take
care for baby and when I drop my son off
at daycare, I feel mom guilt and I can only
(06:38):
imagine what she went through with that. But she did
the right thing and I will always admire her for that.
She had her issues. She had schizo effective disorder, which
at the time she had a bipolar in schizophrenia, but
now what we call it is gizo effective disorder.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Both Miranda and Holly believed that Brandy, due to circumstances,
might have turned to sex work a few times in
her life. Now, I want to be clear, I do
not judge her for her lifestyle, but I do believe
it's important to mention here because if that is the case,
there could be a larger pool of suspects to consider.
(07:21):
From what we understand, it appears that Brandy was not
taking medication for her schizo effective disorder, but at times
she did self medicate with alcohol.
Speaker 6 (07:32):
She kind of just never felt at peace in this world,
and I think her demons kind of reared its head
through drinking. You know. I remember her writing these for
a couple of and I didn't know this at the time.
My nana has told me this when I had gotten older,
but she wrote me from rehabs that she was in
(07:55):
or like Jill's, you know.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Miranda said that her and Brandy's parents agreed with Brandy's
decision to give up her son at age seventeen because
even then Brandy was struggling with substance abuse.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
Even then, Brandy had some mantal illness.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
She drank young, so like.
Speaker 7 (08:15):
Sixteen seventeen, and that's when she would have her her
manic failed.
Speaker 6 (08:20):
When she would drink.
Speaker 7 (08:22):
As long as she was sober, they needn't have any.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
You know, she was good.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
There is still a lot of very basic information that
Holly doesn't know about her mother's life. There are a
lot of blank spaces and blank years.
Speaker 6 (08:38):
I don't know if she was working. I don't know
really what she did for work.
Speaker 8 (08:43):
It's not like she had like a trade or whatever.
Speaker 6 (08:46):
So yeah, I think she's pretty broke most of the time.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Holly said that when Brandy came back to kinder Louisiana,
she was pregnant.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
She was living with her uncle.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
She gave birth to her baby son in July two
thousand and five, and then she moved into her own apartment,
and for a while, Brandy appeared to be on a
more stable path.
Speaker 8 (09:08):
I remember talking to her after she had my little brother.
Speaker 6 (09:13):
And we were both so excited for him to come
into this world because I always wanted a baby brother.
Speaker 8 (09:20):
And she thought that, you know, maybe that would help
her get her stuff together. But after she got displaced
from the hurricane, after she she took on those people
that were displaced by the hurricane, I think that kind
of knocked her back down a little bit, and I
think she started drinking again.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
What Holly's talking about is that when Hurricane Katrina hit
in two thousand and five, a lot of people evacuated
to Kinder, Louisiana. Brandy took in refugees in her apartment,
but that decision resulted in her being evicted, so she
left her newborn son with her uncle. I'm not actually
sure if she left her son with her uncle before
(10:03):
or after she was evicted, but in any case, her
son was not with her when she left and moved
in to the Late Charles Civic Center, about forty minutes
away from Kinder, where many people in Louisiana were sheltering
after having to evacuate their homes from the storm.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
And I want to back up a minute here.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
And go over some of the chaos that was happening
in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina made landfall in August twenty ninth,
two thousand and five. To help give some context for
Brandy's final days, this storm was absolutely devastating for the
state of Louisiana. After Katrina hit New Orleans, thirty thousand
evacuees built the New Orleans Supernome. They were trapped inside
(10:42):
there for days with no power and running out of supplies,
and then FEMA left the area for their own safety.
I remember seeing footage of this on television and it
was absolutely horrifying. There was a breakdown in law and order.
There were no working bathrooms, there were feces on walls,
fights breaking out over food and water, and multiple reports
(11:04):
of rape and sexual assault. Some of the more horrific rumors,
like bodies of children piling up in the basement, were
later disputed by law enforcement. A report on NPR pointed
out that while some of them were outrageous claims may
have been proven false, others, like sexual assaults, were almost
certainly underreported. According to the state Department of Health and Hospitals,
(11:27):
there were ten deaths in the Superdome, including two suspected murders,
and then, while the state was still reeling from the
horrific impacts both environmental and social, of Katrina, Hurricane Rita
hit just a few weeks later. Hurricane Rita made landfall
on September twenty fourth, two thousand and five.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
In Cameron Parish.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
It was a Category three storm with storm surges of
up to eighteen feet and sixteen inches of rain. Even
though it didn't get as much media attention at the time,
the devastating flooding caused by Rita literally white towns off
the map. Parishes in southwest Louisiana were overwhelmed, Levies and
New Orleans finally broke. There was a rise in crime
(12:14):
and a loss of police manpower. Rita, by the way,
has been called the forgotten storm because most people remember
Katrina and the images of people on top of their
cars begging for someone from the government to come help,
or the images of people at the Superdome.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
In New Orleans.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
The storm surge flooded downtown Lake Charles and damaged the
Civic Center, where the evacuees were seeking shelter and where
Brandy was living after being evicted from her apartment, and
it was here at the Civic Center where Brandy's life,
which had been on the road stability, started to spiral
out of control. After she was evicted from her apartment,
(13:00):
Brandy moved into the Lake Charles Civic Center, where a
lot of evacuees from the hurricanes were staying, and it
was around this time that Brandy started drinking again.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
She's staying at the Civic Center, she gets picked up
or disturbing the peace, so they kick her out of
the civic center, so she makes a makeshift shelter outside
of the city center.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
So drinking broke the civic center's rules. Brandy was kicked
out of the civic Center, but she stayed close to
the building. According to reports, she set up camp in
the area of the pier, which was just a few
feet away from the Civic Center. Polly said she was
unsure who her mom's friends were at the time of
the storm, or even if Brandy had a cell phone,
(13:47):
but there was someone hanging out with Brandy at her
shelter on November fourth. Police have said that this was
a man named Jeremiah Salazar, and according to Holly, they
had been hanging out prior to that. Miranda said detectives
told her how they figured out that JEREMIAHS and Brandy
had been hanging out.
Speaker 7 (14:08):
The only things that I know about him is what
the detective told me, Like, we didn't know him.
Speaker 9 (14:14):
We were all this place, we were all homeless.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
I was living in Alabama when she died, So this
is how they got to kid him. So when Brandy
was found, her fingerprints was in the system because she
had been arrested a few days before, so they were
able to identify her really fast because of it. But
when they ran her name or they might have found.
Speaker 9 (14:38):
This ticket because she was living off that pier m HM.
Speaker 7 (14:43):
Instead there was another ticket tied to that ticket for
her in sala'sorber going to Tacoma, Washington together. Well, her
body comes up, so they think that he's going to
change his course, but they have police waiting to see
if he's going to or not.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
After Brandy was murdered, Apparently, JEREMIAHS did follow through on
his plans to go to Tacoma, but detectives were able
to arrest him and extradied him back to Louisiana. He
denied having anything to do with Brandy's murder and what
happened the night of November fourth, leading into the early
morning hours of November fifth, is still a mystery. Miranda
(15:25):
and Holly were told by detectives that Brandy and Jeremiahs
went to a bar close to the civic Center called
Crystals on the night of November fourth. Now, reviews of
this bar online indicate that it was apparently a gay bar,
but it was also one of the only bars that
was openly after the hurricane hit.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
They believe something happened at that bar.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Now, one theory that Brandy's family told us detectives mentioned
to them was that Jeremias could have gotten annoyed when
he saw Brandy talking to or possibly flirting with another man,
and that Jeremiahs left that bar without Brandy. Holly talks
about this now, again, this is just speculation on her part.
She's describing what members of her family have heard from
(16:09):
the Lake Charles Police detectives over the years.
Speaker 6 (16:12):
I think that they were probably more just like drinking buddies,
or they might have had a relationship, but all of
that has been kind of kept in the dark from us.
Speaker 7 (16:22):
And.
Speaker 6 (16:24):
My family in Louisiana didn't know who who he was either.
They had never heard of.
Speaker 10 (16:30):
Him, but it wasn't unusual for her to kind of
keep it, yeah, cease communication for some weeks or.
Speaker 6 (16:41):
Some months, you know.
Speaker 9 (16:43):
And it just said they had a relationship, that didn't
say what typ.
Speaker 6 (16:48):
Yeah, I think that it was. I think it was
somewhat romantic, actually, but that's just me speculating.
Speaker 9 (16:56):
And she was seen going to the bar Crystals with
him from midnight to two am, and then he left,
she staved and drank, and then the theory is that
she became intimate with another man. He came back and
saw that he became upset.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
We don't know for sure what happened after Brandy went
to this bar. What we do know is that the
next morning, November fifth, that jogger found Brandy's body. We
also don't know much about the condition of Brandy's body.
We have sent boy a request for the case file,
but so far we've been denied due to this being
an open investigation. Polly has requested a copy of Brandy's
(17:42):
autopsy as a family member, but so far we have
not heard back.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
We will keep you posted.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
The Lake Charles Police Department was able to identify Brandy
through fingerprints. They told Brandy's family the murder had been violent,
and that they believed that Brandy had been strangled, exphyxiated,
and thrown into the lake. Police found a few clues
there was a Halloween mask near Brandy's body, but even
(18:09):
though according to Brandy's family, she had DNA inside her,
detectives apparently concluded there was no evidence of sexual assault.
Holly remembers the funeral and the shock of losing her
mother so suddenly, and of saying goodbye to her. Over
(18:31):
the years, Holly has reached out to her older brother,
the one who was given up for adoption when Brandy
was seventeen. Holly talked about the emotion of finding him
and telling him that he had a sister and that
his biological mother had been brutally murdered.
Speaker 6 (18:47):
He didn't know about my mom.
Speaker 5 (18:49):
We're not super super closed.
Speaker 6 (18:51):
I think I talked to him like last Christmas, but
I remember my mom telling me about him and I
had always loved him, and just telling him that, Hey, like,
I know this is a lot for you, but I
just want you to know that I have always thought
about you. I have always cared about you. Your mom
(19:13):
always loved you. She talked about you, and I think
he had a really good life. His adoptive mom did
a great job. He is happy.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
From what Holly has been told by detectives, the last
time that Brandy was seen alive was between midnight and
two am on November fifth, two thousand and five, at
the nightclub with a man. From witness descriptions, police were
able to draw sketch of a man whom Brandy was
seen hanging out with at the club. From that and
(19:49):
from other clues, they identified JEREMIAHS.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Salzark.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
At the time, he had long brown hair. He was
also six feet tall. We don't know much about JEREMIAHS.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
Either.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
We know that he's from Leveland, Texas, and that he
did have some prior arrests, but we can't find a
record of him being arrested for anything violent. There were
some drug charges, also some glittering and indecent exposure charges that,
based on his history, could possibly have come from him
camping out in populated areas. By the time detectives identified him,
(20:23):
JEREMIAHS had already left Louisiana.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
He was on his way to Tacoma, Washington, so they
drove back.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
He called.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
There was an s There was an evidence for an indictment, so.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
Late Charles police went to Washington.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
They went through the process of having JEREMIAHS arrested and
extradited back to Louisiana. Police said they believed JEREMIAHS and
Brandy knew each other. Sergeant Mark Krause with the Lake
Charles Police Department told a news station, quote, there was
some relationship, whether it be friends or something more substantial
between the two, and that's where we began our investigation
(21:00):
end quote. And three months after Brandy's body was found
in that lake behind the Civic Center, JEREMIAHS. Salazar was
charged with her murder. In January of two thousand and six,
four months after Brandy was brutally murdered in Lake Charles, JEREMIAHS.
(21:24):
Salazar was charged with Brandy's murder. Police got him extradited
from Washington State. He was brought back to Louisiana and
incarcerated in the Calcashu Jail. His bond was set at
a million dollars. But then there was a shocking turn
of events in this case. At first, the grand jury
returned true bill, meaning they believe there was enough evidence
(21:46):
to indict Jeremiahs. But then they met again this time,
they returned a no bill, which means they no longer
believed that there was enough evidence to charge him. I
want to put in a quick caveat here. There's a
lot we don't know about this DNA sample. We don't
know how much of a sample there was, how much
of it was degraded, or if there were issues with testing.
(22:08):
There's no evidence that that was the case, but I
just want to put it out there. I found an
interview with the district attorney in the case from back
in twenty eleven, six years after Brandy's murder on American Press.
In that interview, the DA says that DNA testing quote
excluded Jeremiahs. The district attorney said at that time the
(22:29):
grand jury felt that there was not sufficient probable cause
to go forward, but he added that if law enforcement
got any new evidence, they could reindict Jeremiahs or indict
another defendant. Miranda said she had regular contact with the
detectives on the case until Jeremias was taken in front
of the grand jury. She said the no bill decision
(22:51):
was devastating for their family. So now there were a
couple of questions outstanding. Some detectives apparently thought maybe Brandy
had sexual intercourse with someone else, someone other than JEREMIAHS,
and that JEREMIAHS had attacked her in a jealous rage,
But of course a very real other possibility is that
it was someone else. Entirely after Jeremiah was released, no
(23:19):
new suspects were ever arrested. In the same interview where
Brandy's father had mentioned that they had to bury her
in a turtleneck, he pointed out there had been a
police officer murdered and brought to justice within a few
days at around the same time Brandy was murdered. He said,
just because Brandy was homeless and had mental health issues
(23:39):
and addiction issues, that did not mean that her case
was any less important. The Lake Charles Police Department said
that they had tried to solve this case. They had
even gone so far as to go to another state
file charges extradite someone back, and they said they would
pursue any additional information that was given. However, the reality
(24:02):
is that in Louisiana, both during and after Katrina and
even today, law enforcement has a vast number of cases
they need to clear, and new ones are piling up
every day. Another thing that Holly has wondered over the years,
is if Brandy's case could have any connection to other cases,
(24:23):
including the eight women who were killed in Jefferson Davis
Parish that's right next to Calcashu Parish. They're known as
the jeff Davis a or the Jennings. A. Journalist Ethan
Brown wrote a book about these unsolved murders and corruption
in the parish. It's called Murder in the Bayou. The
first body was found on May twentieth, tive. A twenty
(24:45):
eight year old named Loretta Lynn Chase and Lewis was
found in a canal in Jennings in the Jefferson Davis Parish.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
Loretta was addicted to crack.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
A lot of these cases were linked to the drug
trade that went down Interstate ten. There's also By the Way,
an investigation discovery show based on Ethan's book, also called
Murder in the Bayeux. On June eighteenth, two thousand and five,
a thirty year old sex worker named Ernestine Marie Daniels
Patterson was also found in a canal south of Jennings.
(25:15):
Her throat had been slashed, her wrists were bound together.
This was a violent struggle to the death in Ernestine's case,
two men were arrested in charge with her murder, but
the charges were later dropped. On March eighteenth, two thousand
and seven, the nude body of twenty one year old
Kristin Lopez was found in a canal near Jennings. Kristin
(25:37):
was wearing only one sock on her left foot. Again,
two people were arrested in charge with Christian's murder, but
they were later released due to lack of evidence. Over
the next year and a half, four more victims were
found in that area. Twenty six year old Whitney Dubois,
twenty three year old Laconia Muggy Brown, twenty four year
(25:58):
old Crystal shab Bin Wazino, and seventeen year old Britney Gary.
All of these women were found in or around Jennings.
All of them reportedly had ties to sex work. Almost
all of the killings, according to police, were believed to
be caused by strangling or asphyxia. Only one Ernestine's involved
a stabbing. In August of two thousand and nine, twenty
(26:21):
six year old Nicole Gilliery was found. This was in
a neighboring parish, Acadia Parish, but also near the iten.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
So a task.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Force was formed between local law enforcement and federal and
state authorities, but progress was slow and they seemed to
have a lot of different theories about who was killing
these women. It's interesting because the sheriff and Jefferson Davis
Parish Sheriff Edwards said he believed the killings could be
the work of a common offender, which a lot of
people took to mean one serial killer work in the area.
(26:54):
But after reviewing a lot of public information and reading
Ethan Brown's excellent book, I agree with him. I think
the evidence does not point to one single serial killer.
What we do see are a lot of allegations of
police corruption and certain members of local law enforcement possibly
being involved in drug deals, and of law enforcement looking
(27:17):
the other way when certain types of crimes occurred. In fact,
one of the most shocking statistics I saw in Ethan
Brown's book was one about homicide clearance rates. He said,
in Calcashu Parish, where Brandy was murdered, the homicide clearance
rate is seven percent. I couldn't believe I read that right.
(27:38):
I had to read that a couple times. That means, presumably,
if that's correct, in that pair, you have a ninety
three percent chance of getting away with murder, which I
find shocking. Holly hasn't been sure what to think. There
seemed to be no evidence that jeremiahs had actually harm Brandy,
But could he, as detectives apparently wondered, have hurt her
(27:59):
mother because she had consensual sex with someone else? Or
could someone else, maybe the person whose DNA is inside Brandy,
have assaulted and murdered her. Holly hasn't been sure what
to think. There seemed to be no evidence that Jeremiah
harm Brandy, But could he, as detectives apparently wondered, have
(28:22):
hurt her mother because Brandy had consensual sex with someone else?
Or could someone else, maybe the person whose DNA is
inside Brandy, have assaulted and murdered her. Her mother's death
wasn't Holly's last brush with tragedy. In two thousand and four,
her father, Daniel Cercy, was murdered tenty sixteen. A man
(28:45):
named Sean Pinson, who is twenty eight years old at
the time of the murder, was sentenced to seventy years
in prison for Daniel's murder. Daniel's body was bound at
the hands and feet with zip tized speaker wire and
an electrical cord. According to an arrest report, there were
cleaning supplies and a scented candle and a fan being
directed through the chimney to mass the odor. The arrest
(29:10):
report stated that Sean had given a friend money to
buy supplies, including bleach and an air freshener from Walmart.
A former employee and friend of Shawn's testified that Shawn
told him he wasn't going to lie anymore and that
Sean had led him to see Daniel's body. Holly said
to this day she questions whether there may have been
(29:33):
other people involved in her father's death, people who have
never been brought to justice.
Speaker 6 (29:38):
I do believe that there are others walking free Almongos
that were involved did my dad's death. But one thing
that I have had to realize, and it took me
a long time to realize, is that I'm not going
to know everything. I'm not going to know everything about
my mom, I'm not going to know everything about my
(30:00):
dad's case, and I just have to kind of make
my own closure. And this is like a form of
me doing that, you know, with the Justice for Brandy
Dyson and reaching out to the podcast I'm just trying
to make some foremost closure because really, my son had
(30:28):
both of his grandparents taken away from him. They will
never know him, and that makes me so sad for
all of them. So yeah, I've had to like make closure.
I've had to become at peace with not knowing every again.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Police had denied our foy requests. Holly, since she's next
of Ken, is trying to get access to Brandy's autopsy.
If we had the autopsy, we could possibly find out
if there was water in Brandy's lungs, possibly what other
tests were done, and if there is any other evidence
that police may have overlooked. Plus we would know what
(31:13):
types of samples they took. In the meantime, she's had
frustrating encounters with the Lake Charles Police Department, especially when
it comes to asking about the Jeff Davis A.
Speaker 6 (31:25):
There are eight unsolved cases thirty five miles away from
where my mom was murdered, and I think that all
of those people deserve kind their cases looked at. And
I think this is not only I think it's is
like not only a department full issue of Louisiana. It's
(31:50):
a systematic issue because those women were also of a
high risk lifestyle. Let me tell you exactly what they said.
The case has not been reassigned. We have four violent
crime detectives. We are investigating a homicide that occurred on twelve,
twenty nine, and we're investigating another that occurred on twenty
(32:12):
one before the weather of it here in els, to
my knowledge, our agency has never been the lead investigating
to since e on a case, only to pass it
off to another inner agency. And I contacted crime stoppers
(32:32):
in the parish and they informed me that LCPD needs
to request to feature their case on Facebook. Would you
be able to reach out to them on her behalf.
I know how underfunded and understaffed police departments are, but
that that does not give me peace, but does not
(32:55):
giving me justice. And I would like somebody to care
from the LCPD. It's just so that to me, I'm so,
I'm a recovering addict. I have five years sober, and
you know a lot of my addiction has dealt with
the traumas of losing my parents, and like people like me,
(33:20):
people like my parents don't deserve to be thrown away,
you know.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
Meanwhile, Brandy's family needs someone to come forward, Someone who
may have seen Brandy at that night club or who
may have been in the area on November fourth or
November fifth, two thousand and five. There are pieces of evidence,
like the Halloween masks? What kind was it? Could it
be traced? Was their DNA taken off the mask? Also,
(33:49):
we have not received any part of the case file,
so we don't know if it was something her killer wore,
or if she was wearing it for some reason, or
if it was just randomly there trash that someone chucked
in the water from Halloween which had been four days earlier.
There's a killer on the loose, one who got away
with it in two thousand and five, and you very
(34:11):
well could still be out there.
Speaker 6 (34:14):
Yeah, absolutely, Like what like, we've just let this person
be on the streets and other people could be going
through the same thing that I was, and they had them.
I try to stay.
Speaker 8 (34:29):
Out of the what is uh? Yeah, there could be Oh.
Speaker 6 (34:33):
There's so many what if you know? And with no
information or hardly any information, it's just it's hard.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Next week, we're gonna dig deeper into Brandy's murder. We're
going to try to retrace her steps on the night
she was killed and explore the possibility of DNA testing
and find out what the next steps could be. We're
gonna try to do a deeper dive into these parts
of Louisiana and find out why apparently in some corners
of that state, people have a greater than ninety percent
(35:09):
chance of getting away with murder. We want to understand
why are so many disadvantaged women being killed and dumped here.
I'm Katherine Townsend. This is Helen Gone Murder Line. Helen
Gone Murder Line is a production of School of Humans
and iHeart Podcasts. It's written and narrated by me Catherine
(35:31):
Townsend and produced by Gabby Watts. Special thanks to Amy
Tubbs for her research assistance. Noah Kamer mixed and scored
this episode. Our theme song is by Ben Salek. Executive
producers are Virginia Presco, Brandon Barr, and LC Crowley. Listen
to Helen Gone ad free by subscribing to the iHeart
True Crime Plus.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
Channel on Apple Podcasts.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
If you were interested in seeing documents and materials from
the case, you can follow the show on Instagram at
Helen gonpod. If you have a case you'd like me
and my team to look into, you can reach out
to us at our Helen Gone Murder Line at six
seven eight seven four four six one four five. That's
six seven eight seven four four six one four or five.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
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