Brandon Lawson: Gone in the Dark

0:00 Speaker 1: The mysterious disappearance of Brandon Lawson, The midnight call that

0:04 Speaker 1: still has no answer. On the early morning of August ninth,

0:07 Speaker 1: twenty thirteen, a strange phone call would set off one

0:11 Speaker 1: of the most puzzling missing person cases in Texas history.

0:14 Speaker 1: At exactly twelve thirty a m. Kyle Lawson was asleep

0:18 Speaker 1: beside his wife inside their home in San Angelo, Texas,

0:22 Speaker 1: when his phone suddenly rang. Half awake, Kyle looked at

0:26 Speaker 1: the screen and saw the name of his younger brother,

0:29 Speaker 1: Brandon Lawson. Kyle answered, but before he could even say hello,

0:34 Speaker 1: Brandon immediately spoke, bro, I need your help. The urgency

0:38 Speaker 1: in his voice was obvious. Brandon told Kyle he was

0:41 Speaker 1: driving north along Highway two seventy seven, a lonely stretch

0:45 Speaker 1: of road surrounded by empty fields and open land. He

0:49 Speaker 1: claimed that three men were chasing him and that he

0:51 Speaker 1: was desperately trying to escape. According to Brandon, his truck

0:55 Speaker 1: was almost out of fuel. He needed Kyle to secretly

0:58 Speaker 1: come meet him with a gag and so he could

1:00 Speaker 1: keep driving and get away. The story sounded terrifying, but

1:05 Speaker 1: Kyle didn't believe it. Instead of thinking his brother was

1:08 Speaker 1: in danger, Kyle immediately suspected something else. He thought Brandon

1:13 Speaker 1: had relapsed. For years, Brandon had struggled with methamphetamine addiction.

1:18 Speaker 1: He had recently been doing better, staying clean for around

1:22 Speaker 1: six months, trying to rebuild his life, become a better

1:25 Speaker 1: partner to his fiancee, Ladessa, and be there for his

1:28 Speaker 1: four children. But just two days earlier, Brandon had called

1:32 Speaker 1: Kyle asking where he could find drugs. Kyle refused to

1:36 Speaker 1: help him. He tried to convince him not to throw

1:39 Speaker 1: away his progress, but deep down, Kyle feared Brandon had

1:43 Speaker 1: ignored his advice. Now, hearing this unbelievable story about three

1:47 Speaker 1: men chasing him through the darkness, Kyle believed his brother

1:51 Speaker 1: was experiencing a drug induced episode. He thought Brandon was hallucinating.

1:56 Speaker 1: Kyle knew trying to convince Brandon that nobody was chasing

1:59 Speaker 1: him pably wouldn't work, so instead, he tried to calm

2:02 Speaker 1: him down, but Brandon became more desperate. He kept repeating

2:07 Speaker 1: that the men were coming closer. He begged Kyle to hurry,

2:10 Speaker 1: They're gaining on me. You have to get here. Finally,

2:14 Speaker 1: Kyle asked the question. He already suspected Brandon did you

2:19 Speaker 1: use again? Brandon denied it. He insisted he was not high.

2:24 Speaker 1: He continued pleading for help, and even though Kyle was frustrated,

2:28 Speaker 1: even though he believed the entire situation was caused by

2:31 Speaker 1: Brandon's own choices, he still loved his brother, so he

2:35 Speaker 1: made a decision he would go find him. About forty

2:39 Speaker 1: five minutes later, Kyle drove north on Highway two seventy

2:43 Speaker 1: seven with his wife beside him and their four year

2:45 Speaker 1: old son in the back seat. His wife didn't want

2:48 Speaker 1: him going alone into the middle of nowhere at night,

2:51 Speaker 1: especially after hearing Brandon's strange story. The highway was almost

2:55 Speaker 1: completely empty. There were no buildings, no street lights, no traffic,

3:01 Speaker 1: just endless fields, small trees, and darkness stretching in every direction.

3:07 Speaker 1: Kyle carefully scanned the road looking for Brandon's truck. Nothing.

3:11 Speaker 1: He kept driving. Then in the distance, he finally saw

3:15 Speaker 1: a vehicle. It was sitting strangely, partly on the road

3:19 Speaker 1: and partly on the shoulder. The lights were off, the

3:22 Speaker 1: engine was not running. As Kyle got closer, he realized something.

3:26 Speaker 1: It was Brandon's truck. He had found him. Kyle pulled

3:30 Speaker 1: over and told his wife and son to stay inside

3:33 Speaker 1: the car. He walked toward the truck, expecting to find

3:36 Speaker 1: Brandon sitting there waiting, but when he reached it, nobody

3:40 Speaker 1: was inside. Brandon was gone. Kyle was confused. The truck

3:44 Speaker 1: was there, but his brother had disappeared. He looked around,

3:49 Speaker 1: He searched inside the vehicle, he checked underneath it, nothing.

3:54 Speaker 1: Then his phone rang. It was Brandon. Kyle answered immediately, Brandon,

4:00 Speaker 1: where are you? The response shocked him, bro I'm right here.

4:04 Speaker 1: Kyle looked around, No, you're not. Your truck is here,

4:08 Speaker 1: but you're not. Then suddenly Kal saw headlights approaching. A

4:13 Speaker 1: police vehicle was coming down the highway. As it got closer,

4:18 Speaker 1: Brandon said something that made the entire situation even stranger.

4:22 Speaker 1: Run from that cop. Kyle immediately realized Brandon had to

4:26 Speaker 1: be nearby. He could see the police car approaching. He

4:29 Speaker 1: knew what was happening, but where was Brandon. The area

4:33 Speaker 1: was completely open. There was nowhere obvious to hide, only fields,

4:38 Speaker 1: grass and scattered bushes. Kyle was furious. He believed Brandon

4:43 Speaker 1: was hiding because he knew he had an active warrant

4:46 Speaker 1: connected to a drug charge. Before Kyle could demand answers,

4:50 Speaker 1: Brandon hung up. The officer arrived and introduced himself as

4:54 Speaker 1: Deputy Neil from the Coke County Sheriff's Department. He explained

4:58 Speaker 1: that a truck driver had called NI about a stranded

5:01 Speaker 1: vehicle on the highway. He asked Kyle if this was

5:04 Speaker 1: his truck. Kyl said no, it belonged to his brother.

5:08 Speaker 1: Kyle didn't tell him the whole story. He didn't mention

5:11 Speaker 1: the drugs, he didn't mention the strange phone calls. He

5:15 Speaker 1: didn't mention that Brandon was possibly hiding nearby. Instead, he

5:19 Speaker 1: simply said Brandon had called him because he needed gas.

5:23 Speaker 1: Deputy Neil allowed Kyle to continue searching, so Kyle got

5:27 Speaker 1: back into his vehicle and drove farther down the highway,

5:30 Speaker 1: but Brandon never answered again. Kyle called repeatedly, no response. Eventually,

5:36 Speaker 1: his tired son began crying. It was nearly two am.

5:40 Speaker 1: His wife was exhausted. Kyle felt he had done everything

5:44 Speaker 1: he could. Brandon was an adult. If he wanted to hide,

5:48 Speaker 1: Kyle couldn't force him to come out. So Kyle turned

5:51 Speaker 1: around and drove home. As he passed Brandon's truck again,

5:54 Speaker 1: he saw it was still there and Deputy Neil was

5:57 Speaker 1: still waiting nearby. Later that night, Deputy Neil inspected Brandon's truck.

6:03 Speaker 1: Something felt strange. If someone ran out of gas and

6:07 Speaker 1: walked away to find help, they would usually take their phone,

6:10 Speaker 1: their wallet, their keys, something, but Brandon's belongings were still there.

6:16 Speaker 1: Neil turned on the hazard lights, locked the truck, and left.

6:21 Speaker 1: He assumed Brandon would return the next morning. However, Brandon's

6:25 Speaker 1: truck was still sitting there. No Brandon, no explanation. Deputy

6:30 Speaker 1: Neil began to worry. Maybe something had happened, maybe Brandon

6:35 Speaker 1: had been injured, maybe he had gotten lost. Then another

6:38 Speaker 1: piece of information changed everything. Brandon's fiancee, Ladessa, contacted authorities.

6:45 Speaker 1: She explained that Brandon had never arrived at his parents'

6:49 Speaker 1: house the previous night. They had been arguing and Brandon

6:53 Speaker 1: was supposed to leave for a while to cool down,

6:56 Speaker 1: but he never showed up. He never returned, and nobody

6:59 Speaker 1: could reach him. Now police realized this was not simply

7:04 Speaker 1: a strange roadside incident. Brandon Lawson was missing. A massive

7:09 Speaker 1: search began. Authorities searched the area around Highway two seventy

7:13 Speaker 1: seven using helicopters. Search dogs, thermal cameras, volunteers, law enforcement teams.

7:21 Speaker 1: They searched fields, roads, nearby properties, everything, but Brandon was nowhere,

7:28 Speaker 1: no trace, no evidence, nothing except his abandoned truck. Investigators

7:34 Speaker 1: originally believed Brandon may have intentionally left. He had been

7:38 Speaker 1: fighting with his fiancee, he had an active warrant, he

7:42 Speaker 1: had a history of drug issues. Maybe he simply disappeared.

7:46 Speaker 1: But then for days after he went missing, Ladessa discovered

7:50 Speaker 1: something important. She had looked through Brandon's phone records and

7:54 Speaker 1: there it was a call nobody knew about. At twelve

7:58 Speaker 1: fifty am, Brandon had called nine one one. This shocked everyone.

8:03 Speaker 1: Brandon was afraid of police. He would avoid law enforcement

8:07 Speaker 1: whenever possible. So why would he call nine one one?

8:10 Speaker 1: Why would someone terrified if police ask them for help.

8:14 Speaker 1: Authorities contacted the emergency dispatch center and obtained the recording.

8:19 Speaker 1: When they listened, they heard something disturbing. Brandon sounded terrified.

8:24 Speaker 1: He said he was in a field. He talked about

8:27 Speaker 1: being chased. He said his truck ran out of gas.

8:30 Speaker 1: He asked for police, and then, shortly before the call ended,

8:35 Speaker 1: another voice could be heard in the background. Someone else

8:38 Speaker 1: was there. The case suddenly changed. This was no longer

8:42 Speaker 1: just a disappearance. Authorities now considered the possibility that Brandon

8:47 Speaker 1: had been attacked. For nearly a decade, investigators searched for answers,

8:52 Speaker 1: but Brandon Lawson remained missing. His family refused to give up.

8:57 Speaker 1: Private investigators were hired, more searches were conducted. Theories spread online.

9:04 Speaker 1: Some believed Brandon was hallucinating because of drugs. Others believed

9:08 Speaker 1: the three men he mentioned were real. Some thought he

9:12 Speaker 1: had disappeared voluntarily, but nobody knew the truth until January

9:17 Speaker 1: twenty twenty two. A group of volunteers returned to the

9:20 Speaker 1: same area near Highway two seventy seven, an area that

9:24 Speaker 1: had already been searched countless times. While walking through the field,

9:29 Speaker 1: they discovered something an old pair of shorts pieces of

9:33 Speaker 1: white shoes. They contacted authorities, Deputies arrived and searched the area.

9:38 Speaker 1: Then they found something else, a fragment of human skull.

9:42 Speaker 1: DNA testing confirmed it belonged to Brandon Lawson. After almost

9:46 Speaker 1: nine years, Brandon had finally been found, but instead of

9:50 Speaker 1: solving the mystery, created even more questions. The remains were

9:55 Speaker 1: discovered extremely close to where Brandon's truck had been found,

9:59 Speaker 1: an area urched by hundreds of people, an area checked

10:02 Speaker 1: with helicopters, dogs, and thermal cameras. How had nobody found him?

10:07 Speaker 1: Was he there the entire time or was he moved

10:10 Speaker 1: there later? Why did he call nine one one? Who

10:13 Speaker 1: was the voice heard in the background, who were the

10:16 Speaker 1: three men Brandon claimed were chasing him? And why did

10:20 Speaker 1: he disappear that night? Even after finding Brandon's remains, the

10:24 Speaker 1: mystery surrounding his final moments remains unsolved. The last known

10:29 Speaker 1: words of Brandon Lawson were a desperate call for help

10:31 Speaker 1: on a dark Texas highway, a call that still leaves

10:35 Speaker 1: behind more questions than answers.