May Cold Case--Kari Nunemaker
June Cold Case--Kristin Smart
The Case of Brooke Leigh Henson
By Staff Writer Tim Miller
Brooke Leigh Henson
This month's cold case will be the disappearance of twenty-year-old Brooke Leigh Henson. Brooke disappeared from her home in Travelers Rest, South Carolina, on the morning of July 4, 1999. She had gone out for a pack of cigarettes and has never been seen since.
According to the Travelers Rest Monitor, on the night of July 3, 1999, Brooke had some friends over for a party. After an argument with her boyfriend, she went outside, sat on the front porch and waited for her parents to return home. They finally arrived around 2:00 a.m. She explained to her parents that the fight was the reason she was sitting outside.
A short time later, as the Travelers Rest Monitor reports, her boyfriend's cousin and girlfriend left the residence. Brooke told her mother that she was going walk to Willis' store to get a pack of cigarettes. The store is only two blocks from Brooke's home, but no one at the store remembers seeing Brooke there that night.
On July 5th, Brooke's mother filed a police report with the Travelers Rest Police Department at 9:25 a.m. According to the report, Brooke approached her mother and stated, "I'm getting out of here." Her mother told her that "It was too late to be out." But Brooke told her "I'm not going anywhere. I'm just seeing what he'll do--I'm messing with (boyfriend)."
When Brooke had left the residence, she and her boyfriend were involved in a verbal dispute. She left in an unknown direction according to the report. Her boyfriend slept in her room the entire night, according to Brooke's mother. He remained there until he received a phone call and left at 9:25 a.m. on July 4.
On Brooke's bed her mother found a note that said, "I'm walking. Follow me if you care." Her mother also told police that Brooke did not seem upset when she left. The reporting officer, Lt. Hendricks of the Travelers Rest Police, ended the report by saying, "At the time of this report, complainant (mother) did not present any facts that would result in a cautionary or suspicious missing person." After completing the report, Lt. Hendricks issued a BOLO (Be On The Lookout) for Brooke, but it yielded no results.
Brooke's family began a website www.stoneys-place.com/brookehenson.html, with updates and information on the case. According to their website, the police treated the case as a runaway, and did not begin a thorough search until three weeks after she'd been reported missing.
According to the Travelers Rest Monitor, the Travelers Rest Police Chief was Harold Perry at the time. He did lead several extensive searches for Brooke, and stated at one time he had a suspect in mind but never publicly announced a name. At the end of 1999, Perry resigned as chief. The search for Brooke had basically come to an end with his resignation.
Tim Christy was hired as the new chief and to this date, has not released any new information on Brooke's case, or shown that he is actually searching for her. Brooke's family and friends, however, have not given up on finding her. Their website is filled with poems and dedications to Brooke, hoping to finally get closure.
Anyone with information on Brooke Leigh Henson can contact Detective Grant at the Travelers Rest Police Dept. 1-(864) 834-9029, Investigator Ed Hanek at the Greenville County Sheriff's Office, 1-(864) 232-7463 or 1-(864) 467-5240, or Agent J. Darrell Betsill of the S.C. Law Enforcement Division at 1-(803) 896-7010 or 1-800-322-4453 (Nationwide).
Have a suggestion for a future cold case investigation? Email Tim at:
ColdCases@aol.com
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Cold Case Investigations