MISSING: Branson Perry

[00:00] This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. For some of us, summer means more juggling, which can lead to overwhelm and worry. BetterHelp makes it easy to get the support you need. Having served over 6 million people globally, BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform. They'll match you with a quality licensed therapist, so you can focus on your therapy goals. You don't have to say yes to everything this summer. Find support in therapy. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com slash crimejunkie. That's betterhelp.com slash crimejunkie. [00:29] Hi, Crime Junkies. It's Britt, and I have big news. One of my favorite seasonal shows, CounterClock, is back with a brand new season, and it is wild. Host Delia D'Ambra is digging into the 2008 Lane Bryant murders. I mean, this isn't just a recap. It is a reinvestigation. She's talking to law enforcement, people from the community, even sources who have never spoken publicly until now. And you know I love a show that asks all the questions. Listen to CounterClock [01:00] Hi, Crime Junkies. I'm your host, Ashley Flowers. And I'm Britt. And the story I have for you today is about a young man who vanished without a trace back in 2001 from one of America's most notorious small towns, a town whose residents share an unspoken vow of silence, one that has felt an unruly pressure to bury their deepest, darkest secrets. This is the story of Branson Perry. [01:30] Thank you.

[01:59] April 12th, 2001 is a windy Thursday afternoon in the rural town of Skidmore, Missouri. And Joanne Stinnett is on her way home from the grocery store when she decides to stop by her son Bob's house. I mean, it's on the way and she wants to check on her 20-year-old grandson Branson, who she hasn't heard from in a couple of days. You see, Branson lives with his dad and pretty much always has, though that wasn't always the plan. [02:28] condition that he had been diagnosed with at birth, he was ineligible. So instead, he worked as a roofer for a while and then kind of like bounced around doing some odd jobs like working with a traveling petting zoo. Oh, yeah, that is kind of an odd job. Right. Now, he was pretty much piecing together work while he looked for something more permanent. Anyway, Branson had been solo and holding down the fort at the house for the last like three or four days while Bob was in the [02:58] material on this case just talks about Bob having like several existing health conditions. But no one seems to be very like specific like further than that. [03:07] So anyway, according to an article by Sika Hasso for Rare U.S., Joanne wants to just like make sure Branson is good. Like she's not fully worried that something is wrong. Like they go a bit without talking sometimes. But this has been long enough to make Joanne decide to stop by the house and just see what's up. [03:25] Right, like concerned grandma style. Exactly. As Joanne turns on to West Oak Street where Branson and Bob live, she pulls up in front of the house and sees Branson's van parked in the driveway. And she can hear that the radio in the house is on, like loud on because she can hear it playing all the way from the street.

[03:45] Joanne notices that there doesn't seem to be anyone around outside, so she climbs out of her car and makes her way up the driveway to the front door, thinking that someone has to be inside. [03:55] The door's unlocked, so she opens it and calls for Branson as she makes her way through the home. When she reaches the back door in the kitchen, she notices that that, too, is unlocked. So is that pretty normal, right? [04:10] Like, where I grew up, my family hardly ever locked the doors. [04:15] For me, this wouldn't be that weird. Yeah, it actually is normal in Skidmore. [04:20] According to the mini docuseries called No One Saw a Thing, there's less than 300 people in this whole town. So, oh, wow. Yeah, this is tiny. Literally, everybody knows everybody. And heck, like leave your door wide open if you want. So unlocked doors alone didn't strike Joanna's weird or out of the ordinary. But that wasn't the only thing she noticed. [04:40] Joanne sees that most of the windows are open and the furnace is on and blasting. And Branson's wallet and keys are like right there. So altogether, it seems like someone would be home, like should be home. But the house is just straight up deserted. [04:59] Now, Joanne doesn't panic, though. Based on the state of the house, she just kind of figures that Branson had either left in a hurry or he's literally going to be back any minute. So she turns off the radio. She turns off all the lights. Like, again, full grandma. She turns off the furnace, locks the doors, except for the front door. And she starts to make her way back home.

[05:19] Now, the way that the next few days unfolded is reported differently by different sources. But for consistency, I'm going to stick with the version of events that Branson's mom, Becky, wrote in a post on the Bring Branson Home website. And then basically she reiterated in an interview she did in 2007 with Todd Matthews, where she further elaborates on these events. [05:39] As Joanne sits at home on Thursday night, her concern continues to grow as the hours pass. And she still hasn't heard anything from Branson. But she decides, you know what, I'm going to give it just another day. It's only been 24 hours. Branson is a grown man. He can come and go as he pleases. But the next day passes with no word from him. And by Saturday morning, Joanne gets back in her car and drives by the Perry house once again. [06:09] completely untouched from when she had come by two days earlier on Thursday. [06:15] Again, she drives home, this time with a pit in her stomach, and she decides she's not going to wait around anymore. She needs to do something. So the next day, which is Sunday, Joanne decides to call Branson's dad, Bob, at the hospital. Bob tells her that Branson hasn't called him either or even come by the hospital to visit him since Tuesday, April 10th. So now, even more concerned, Joanne hangs up with Bob and she immediately dials Branson's mom, Becky. [06:45] Becky live in Skidmore too? No. So Becky and Bob had gotten divorced a year earlier in 2000. And Bob and Branson stayed in the family home while Branson's younger brother, Philip, who was 17 at the time, ended up moving with his mom to this tiny town called Oregon, which is like not far. It's only like 20 minutes away from Skidmore.

[07:04] So I'm guessing based on the fact that Joanne is calling Becky that she's [07:09] still pretty involved in Branson's life. Definitely. And Becky and Bob stayed friends too, actually. The entire family has always been close and it seems like this was still true even after the divorce. [07:21] So when she gets Becky on the phone, Becky tells Joanne that she hasn't heard a peep from Branson in several days. And that, that is it for Joanne. [07:32] Between Joanne and Becky, they start calling all of Branson's friends and acquaintances, anyone that might have talked to Branson or seen him. But everyone tells them the same thing, that they haven't seen or heard from him. Well, that is except Branson. [07:45] one person. [07:47] Who is it? [07:48] It's a really close friend of Branson's named Gina. [07:52] She says that the last time she saw Branson was Wednesday, April 11th, when she'd been at his house. Gina says that she had gotten a call from Branson on Wednesday morning asking if she could come over and help him get the house cleaned up before Bob came home from the hospital, which was supposed to happen on Friday the 13th. [08:09] So she agreed and got to Branson's place sometime before lunch that day. And I feel like I should mention that a lot of sources call Gina Jenna. However, Skidmore residents and statements made by the Perry family call her Gina. So I'm going to stick with that. OK, got it. [08:26] Anyway, Gina says that as soon as she arrived, they just got right to it. Branson turned the volume on the radio all the way up and the pair got to work like deep cleaning and vacuuming downstairs.

[08:37] Around 2 o'clock, Gina noticed Branson grab something out of one of the cabinets in the kitchen and walk out the back door into the backyard. When he came back inside just a couple of moments later, she asked him what he was doing, but Branson didn't really give her like a straight response. He kind of just brushed it off and acted like nothing even happened. Do we know what he grabbed? She says she didn't see... [08:59] what it was and she said that when she asked him he basically like i said he just brushed off he's like don't worry about it [09:05] I mean, telling her not to worry about it in like a sketchy way, or was he just like, oh, whatever, it's nothing? [09:11] I don't know, it just feels like a pretty specific thing for Gina to mention. Like it was stuck in her head for some reason. Well, I mean, it couldn't have been overly sketchy like in the moment because Gina just said that at the time she even shrugged it off and the two of them just went back to cleaning. And honestly, she said that she wouldn't have even thought twice about this. But it's actually something that happened later that made her wonder about this, because Gina says that shortly after this, she decided to take a shower. [09:40] Like she was going home to take a shower and then come back? [09:44] No, so she's actually taking a shower at Branson's place. So like I said earlier, Gina and Branson are like really close. And from what I gather, the Perry house has always been this kind of house that like the neighborhood kids in town hung out at and felt comfortable at. And this is like the vibe the Perry's wanted for their place. It's basically a second home for everyone. So Gina showering at the house didn't really strike Branson's family as abnormal. What does strike everyone as weird, though, is what happened after.

[10:14] She got out of the shower. [10:18] For decades, some cold cases have been reduced to files in a cabinet, but not anymore. I'm Ashley Flowers, and me and my team on the deck have been traveling across the country to report on these forgotten cases. And in some instances, it's resulted in these cases being solved after decades. [10:37] Join me every Wednesday as we revive these stories one card at a time. Listen to The Deck now, wherever you get your podcasts. [10:48] Gina says that after she got out of the shower at Branson's house, she headed back down to the kitchen and was surprised to find a man looking through the kitchen cabinets. [11:00] Like a total stranger? [11:02] Well, it was someone that she had seen before that day at Branson's house, actually. You see, there were these two guys at the house that afternoon while she and Branson were cleaning. And they were actually outside replacing the alternator on Bob's car, which was parked in the driveway in front of the family's storage shed. And like just for reference, the storage shed is like right next to the house. And so it was one of these guys who was now inside looking through this cabinet. [11:32] Like, I don't know. [11:33] We don't know much about them at all. We don't know their names. I don't know who even asked them to come to the house to fix the car in the first place. But based on all the sources I found for this case, I'm pretty sure they weren't like family friends or anything like that. Like just local mechanics. Yeah.

[11:47] But again, knowing how teeny tiny this town is, I have to assume that maybe... [11:52] the Perry family knew of them or like as acquaintances or something. You know what I mean? Right. Like know someone who knew them, et cetera, et cetera. Yeah. Anyway, Gina says that she asked the guy what he was looking for and he got like noticeably flustered and was like, oh, oh, nothing. And pretty much like bolted back outside. [12:12] Is there any chance this was the same cabinet that Branson got something out of earlier? [12:16] So that I don't know. Nothing says for sure. But the fact that it was any cabinet is why that whole cabinet incident with Branson like stuck out in Gina's head to begin with. And it stuck out enough to mention it to Becky. [12:34] the cabinets, whether it's the same one or not. Right, right. So did she ask Branson about this guy? Like, I assume he's still like around and in the house with her at this point, right? Well, as far as I can tell, she doesn't ask him about it. [12:47] It seems kind of like at this point, Branson and Gina were like in their own separate areas of the house, maybe working on different things because the next time she even sees Branson is at about three o'clock. [12:58] She says that she was upstairs hanging out in Branson's room when she heard the screen door on the front porch like squeak open and then quickly slam shut. She said that she looked out the second story window towards the side yard and she saw Branson walking towards the storage shed. [13:15] She yelled out the window to ask where he was headed, and he yells back that he's taking some jumper cables out to the shed and then needs to run out real quick, but he's going to be right back.

[13:25] Back. [13:27] And then a few minutes after that, she actually hears the mechanics pack up their truck and leave as well. [13:32] Gina says that she waited a while for Branson to come back, even like taking a quick look around the yard for him. But when he doesn't return, she figured that he got tied up or whatever and she just headed home. [13:45] So all of this, even the fact that Gina was the last person to be around him, this all happened four days ago. And that is the last time that they can find anyone that laid eyes on Branson. [13:58] So when Joanne and Becky realize this, they begin to get really worried. This is not normal. This is not like Branson. [14:07] Becky tells Joanne that she's gonna come to Skidmore the very next morning because it's time for them to go to the police. Oh yeah, for sure. [14:15] So as soon as Branson's dad is discharged from the hospital on Monday morning, the 16th, this is actually three days later than expected. Becky meets him and Joanne at the local sheriff's station to officially report Branson missing. [14:29] And actually, this case is different from a lot of the missing person cases that we've covered, because as the police are taking this report, they are actually the ones that ask the family why it took them so long to report Branson missing. Oh, wow. I've literally never heard of that happening. Not in the cases we've covered. But Becky explains that Bob had been in the hospital. Joanne wasn't really sure anything was wrong. And Becky hadn't even known that Branson was missing until the day before they came in. [14:55] So it was...

[14:56] Bob's super worried up till this point? [14:59] I guess it seems like they were pretty close. [15:01] It would be weird that Branson wouldn't have been in closer contact with him when he was at the hospital. Maybe, but like, he wasn't at the time. Because up until now, he said that he kind of thought that there was a chance Branson just wanted to get away for a while to clear his head. Just because? Or was something up? Well... [15:22] Bob thinks that Branson might be trying to get away for a bit because of a pretty horrible experience that he had had the weekend before he went missing. This would have been on the evening of April 7th. Bob tells police that Branson had gone over to this, like, [15:37] 30-something-year-old neighbor's house, this guy named Jason, and he just went over there to hang out. And Bob tells police that shortly after Branson arrived at Jason's house that night, Branson said he started feeling lightheaded and dizzy and just like completely unbathetic. [15:53] out of it. [15:54] out of it enough to start undressing and, like, dancing around the house. And then he shaved off his own pubic hair before the two of them had sex. Whoa, what? You mean Branson had been drugged by this guy? The short answer is yes. Now, it's possible that Branson willingly took whatever Jason gave to him, but either he thought it was something else or he didn't react the way he expected. Or again, he had no idea that he took something. [16:24] But either way, the way Branson tells it to his dad, he was like super messed up. And once the drugs started to wear off, Branson kind of was like coming to. And he rushed home feeling what he said was ashamed and confused. And he locked himself in his room until the next morning. And that's when he told Bob what happened. OK, but Ashley, what you just described is clear sexual assault. No question about it.

[16:54] to consent to any kind of sexual encounter. Well, that's exactly what Bob tells Branson, that what happened to him at Jason's was rape, and that Branson had nothing to be ashamed about. So did they report this to the police at the time, or... [17:10] Or is this the first time law enforcement is hearing of it now that he's been reporting missing? [17:14] Yeah, it was not reported to police until now. And based on statements made by Bob, it seems like Branson didn't want to report it right away. So Branson. [17:24] Up until now, Bob had been thinking that, you know, the reason Branson hasn't been back by the hospital, the reason that he hadn't been calling him was that Branson was handling the trauma in his own way by just getting out of town for a bit. But now that it's been five days since anyone has seen or heard from him... [17:42] Even Bob, who initially wasn't worried, is now starting to wonder if his son might have met with foul play. [17:49] From the first day of the investigation, police already have kind of a different theory about what happened. [17:56] That's not related to this incident with Branson's neighbor at all. [18:00] In the early 2000s, the methamphetamine seen in Skidmore had just exploded. A lot of people in Skidmore and the neighboring towns were not just using meth, but making and selling it. [18:13] And this was no secret either. Everybody in town knew what was going on, including police. In fact, the meth scene in Skidmore got so big, so fast that a special law enforcement task force was created with the sole purpose of busting these meth rings. And police were thinking that Branson's disappearance is probably drug related.

[18:33] Did Branson have a history of this kind of thing? Well, apparently a few months earlier, Branson had had a run in with an officer from this special meth busting task force, but he wasn't arrested or charged with anything like that. So I guess the officer just questioned him a little bit and like that was that. But it was enough to put Branson on police's radar like they knew he was involved in the drug scene somehow. They just weren't 100 percent sure on exactly what it was. [19:03] said, this is a tiny town and a drug scene that's exploding. Like, of course, you probably know someone involved. Right. And listen, different people say different things about whether or not Branson actually used drugs. Like some people say there's no way he wasn't using meth. Others say he did sometimes. But what police suspect is that likely Branson is one of the people like collecting supplies for the people who are actually making the meth. So knowing all of this, the sheriff Ben [19:33] Branson's case from the start, suspects foul play immediately. And he puts together a team and starts an extensive search of the Perry's property. And what stands out isn't what police found. It's what they didn't find. So remember how Gina said that the last time she saw Branson, he was carrying those jumper cables back to the shed? [19:55] Yeah. [19:56] Well, police don't find those jumper cables anywhere. Not in the shed, not in the house, not in the yard. [20:03] So they're just...

[20:04] Gone? Yes! That's kind of... [20:08] suspicious. Right? So are they thinking he didn't even make it to the shed at all? Or, like, wherever Branson went, he took them along with them? I don't know. I honestly... [20:20] I have no idea. But I agree with you. Like, whatever the case is, it's super strange and it stands out to us. And I think it stood out to police as well. So is there any reason to believe that Gina maybe is just misremembering this fact or or maybe even hiding something? [20:34] So that's an interesting question. In Becky's post that I mentioned earlier, she does say, quote, The events of the day are fairly sketchy to me and often make no sense. I don't have a timeline of when they occurred. [20:50] only sporadic comments that were made, [20:53] End quote. [20:54] I mean, but obviously she has nothing else to go on. Gina's account of that Wednesday was all Becky and authorities had. Okay, so they don't find these jumper cables. But what else stuck out to the police during the search? [21:05] The only other thing was that law enforcement notices that all of Branson's belongings were still at the house. So remember, like when Joanne went in, like his wallet, his van, his keys, like. It looked like he had just run out for a quick like trip to the convenience store or something. Yeah, all of that's still there. And it really did look like he had just stepped out for a minute and is intending to come right back. And the house was, like I said, completely undisturbed. So it really didn't provide police with any leads or information at all.

[21:34] So what about those mechanics that had been at the house that day? Like they had to have seen something. Well, in separate interviews, both men tell the officers that they hadn't seen anything, which, if true, means that they must have been distracted working on the car because. [21:50] Just to like put it in perspective, like the car that they were working on would have been like right outside the house and the shed. So if they hadn't seen anything, they literally have to be like heads down or under the car because they would have at least seen Branson come out of the house, even if they didn't see any details about what happened with the jumper cables. [22:05] So the police continued to bring other people in for interviews, talking to anyone and everyone that was close to Branson. But no one has any information. [22:15] So I know you said the police are pretty set on their theory that this is drug-related. But I keep coming back to that Jason guy. Like, avoiding going to jail for sexual assault seems like a pretty good motive to make someone disappear. Well, according to the piece written by Sika Hasso that I mentioned earlier... [22:33] Police tried to talk to Jason, but he's totally MIA. What? Yeah. It's not until two weeks after Branson's disappearance that Jason finally shows up again in Skidmore. The Columbia, Missouri and Daily reported that police did question him, but ultimately it's said that he was ruled out very quickly, though no source provides details as to how or why.

[23:03] have gone by with no credible leads, and the police are desperate for answers. So they decide to do another search of the Perry property. What were they looking for the second time around? [23:17] Honestly, nothing specific like [23:20] Truly, they just didn't know what else to do. And so they even expand the search this time to a 15-mile radius around the home. I mean, they're searching fields and farms and wells, ponds, ditches, everything. Oh, wow. [23:32] When they didn't find anything new in the house, officers make their way to the shed. [23:37] And as soon as they opened the door... [23:40] they notice something. [23:42] The jumper cables. Like the jumper cables that Branson had been. Yes. The ones that he had been taking out to the shed the last time Gina saw him. They were crazy. [23:53] Right there, like hanging right inside the door of the shed, literally hanging front and center on the wall. [24:00] I mean, how did this get missed the first time around? I have no idea. [24:05] So, I mean, someone would have had to have put them there after the first search, right? Maybe. But, like, no one can seem to explain, like, who or how or when or why. Why? [24:15] But here's the thing. The Skidmore locals, they see these jumper cables as a sign, as proof that whoever was responsible for Branson's disappearance lived right there among them, right there in Skidmore. [24:29] I mean, [24:30] I agree. There's no way that the police missed those hanging on the wall during their first search.

[24:35] But I guess my biggest question is, why even bother returning them? I don't know. I was thinking about that, like... [24:41] It has to be if you're worried that the police are going to start going door to door again. 300 people town. They could do that. And if the thing that they're looking for are these jumper cables, maybe you do it to cover your tracks. [24:52] Okay, but... [24:53] Why not throw them in a dumpster or a fire pit or something? Returning them seems... [24:58] even riskier. True. So did they like test the jumper cables for DNA or fingerprints or anything? Well, Becky says that she pushed police to do fingerprint testing on the cables, but apparently they told her that [25:12] because of the material that the cables were made out of and because they had been handled by so many people, again, I don't know who those people are, that they probably wouldn't be able to get anything useful from them. So as far as I can tell, they never did any testing on the cables. And in fact, from every source I found on this case, there was never testing. [25:31] any DNA or fingerprint analysis done, like, on anything in this case, in the shed, in the house, anywhere, or if it was done, like, they've never said a word about it to the press or to the public. According to Andrew Goggs reporting for News Press Now, by the end of May 2001, police had interviewed over 100 people in Skidmore, literally a third of the town. And tips were still coming in,

[26:01] meth scene. So over the next several months, police were rounding up all of Branson's known, quote, drug acquaintances, as the sheriff calls them, questioning everyone and even polygraphing them. [26:14] There were some failed polygraphs in the mix, according to the Bring Branson Home website, but police are just never able to quite get any traction. [26:22] the case kind of stalls and [26:24] They're stuck. And they stay stuck until almost exactly two years after Branson went missing. That's when, on April 13, 2003, federal agents in Fulton, Missouri, which is about 250 miles away, [26:40] Make an arrest. [26:44] For decades, some cold cases have been reduced to files in a cabinet, but not anymore. I'm Ashley Flowers, and me and my team on the deck have been traveling across the country to report on these forgotten cases. And in some instances, it's resulted in these cases being solved after decades. [27:04] Join me every Wednesday as we revive these stories one card at a time. Listen to The Deck now, wherever you get your podcasts. [27:15] The guy who's arrested is named Jack Wayne Rogers, and he's actually arrested for his involvement in a massive child sex abuse investigation known as Operation Candyman. [27:28] Computer records led FBI agents straight to his front door. Now, this guy is a 58-year-old Presbyterian minister, Bible school teacher and Boy Scout troop leader. Of course he is. During their investigation into Rogers, authorities do a forensic analysis of all his electronic devices.

[27:58] of children, they find evidence that this Jack Rogers guy isn't just a Presbyterian minister and a Boy Scout leader. He also fancies himself a bit of a surgeon. Um, I don't know. [28:11] So I have a lot of hobbies. I fancy myself a pretty good home chef. I fancy myself [28:17] A seamstress. [28:18] A surgeon? [28:20] is, uh, not something you can just... [28:23] Fancy yourself as. [28:24] Yeah, so this guy has been marketing himself online as a licensed surgeon. [28:30] providing, quote, [28:31] cost-efficient gender reassignment surgeries, end quote. Oh, my God. And get this, he actually had clients. He'd been performing these surgeries in hotel rooms not far from where he lived. But this isn't even the most shocking part, Britt. The most shocking part is that after these procedures took place, he kept going. [28:55] The genitals. What? Yep. As part of his whole thing, before he would perform his surgery, the person would have to sign an agreement. [29:06] stating that after the body parts were removed, Jack had complete ownership over them. [29:13] And what? He had a collection of them? No, he wasn't collecting them. [29:19] According to a federal court affidavit, he was [29:22] cooking them [29:24] dicing them into small pieces and eating them.

[29:29] Do you know how we know that? Because he took pictures. [29:33] tons and tons of pictures. Okay, one, that was actually the most shocking part of the story. [29:41] not the fact that he kept them, [29:43] You lied to me. Fair. Two, I feel like you just started telling a completely different story. What does this have anything to do with Branson? Right. OK, so hang with me here, because I'm not saying that he performed surgery on him or cannibalized him. But I like I needed you to understand, like, who we were dealing with before I tell you the part that connects him to Branson. In and among the materials on Jack Wayne Rogers' computer, police find hundreds of chat logs from a bunch of online chat rooms. [30:13] In one of those chatroom conversations that Jack writes in extremely graphic detail about the time he tortured, [30:21] raped and killed a young blonde male hitchhiker from Skidmore, Missouri. [30:29] Oh my god. And he says that he buried his body somewhere in a remote location of the Ozarks. And I mean, based on the size of town we're talking about, there can't be many other young, blonde, missing people from Skidmore, right? [30:45] There aren't, which is why authorities book it to where Rogers being held, because they want to talk to this guy right away. And when they sit down with Jack Rogers to question him about it, he tells the officers that he used these online chat rooms.

[30:59] merely to live out his fantasies, but he didn't actually do anything he said he did. In fact, he says he's never even met Branson Perry, let alone did any of the things he wrote about in that chat room. [31:13] But he's also literally describing Branson. [31:16] Well, during interrogations, Rogers explained to authorities that he had read an article in the newspaper about Branson's missing person case and that basically his chat log post was just like a story inspired by his own fantasies. [31:31] that he dreamed up when he read that newspaper article. [31:35] Now, police aren't about to take this dude just at his word. So they pulled together a team, which now includes officers from the Missouri Highway Department and federal agents who are all supporting Sheriff Espy and his team. [31:48] And together, they all start searching. They search Roger's home. They dig up his yard. They sweep every single one of his electronic devices looking for something, anything concrete that would tie him to Branson. [32:03] And for a minute, it looks hopeful when police find this leather turtle claw necklace that looks like one Branson used to own. Bob tells them it looks like the one Branson used to have, but Becky says it for sure isn't. Ultimately, police send the necklace off to the lab to get tested for DNA, but they were never able to link the necklace to Branson. And all the while, Jack Rogers continues to say he has never met and knows nothing about Branson.

[32:33] Thank you. [32:33] Now, the good news in that part of the story is Rogers is tried and convicted for possessing and distributing child sex abuse material and on several other charges related to the so-called surgeries he performed on multiple patients. And he is eventually sentenced to 30 years in prison. So by the time he's sentenced to prison on these other charges, is the Branson connection just totally ruled out or is this guy still a suspect? [32:59] Well, [32:59] He does technically stay on the list of suspects for several years. And even though authorities really no longer believe that Rogers was still involved, this lead did help move Branson's case forward. You see, before law enforcement had searched Rogers' property, they acquired DNA samples from Becky, Bob, and Branson's brother, Philip, to enter into their database. [33:21] And though nothing found on Rogers' property could be connected to Branson, it does put police in a position to be able to match DNA to Branson if and when they do ever find something. Okay. [33:33] But the sheriff, and I think everyone in law enforcement, knows that the person responsible for Branson's disappearance isn't from another town 250 miles away. [33:44] I go back to those cables in the shed. Someone, someone from right there in Skidmore knows what happened to Branson. And sooner or later, authorities are convinced that they're going to shake the right tree. Because here's the thing. [33:58] I get the sense from the sheriff's comments in particular that they know, and not just in general, but like specifically...

[34:07] They know who is involved. The problem is it doesn't seem like they have enough to prove it. And Skidmore has a long history of keeping secrets. Like, just as an example, back in 1981, the town bully was basically surrounded by like 60 people and killed. [34:37] Any one of them. Yeah, I remember that case and I think there's even a documentary out there on it. Yeah, there is. [34:43] Without any cooperation, nothing really happens. And in 2006, it's up to the family to renew the search. They raise money to offer a reward and for information, and they put up bright yellow billboards with Branson's picture along the local highways. They even hire a private investigator in a medium. But no. [35:04] Nothing comes of their efforts. Nothing happens in Branson's case for years. [35:11] But according to Ron Johnson, who covered this case for KQ2 News, three years later, in 2009, police get not just one, but a string of tips that all point to a very specific place. [35:30] For decades, some cold cases have been reduced to files in a cabinet, but not anymore. I'm Ashley Flowers, and me and my team on the deck have been traveling across the country to report on these forgotten cases. And in some instances, it's resulted in these cases being solved after decades.

[35:50] Join me every Wednesday as we revive these stories one card at a time. Listen to the deck now. [35:57] wherever you get your podcasts. [36:01] All the tips point to a town called Quitman, Missouri. These tips caused Sheriff Espy to re-interview a lot of those drug acquaintances of Branson's that they had interviewed years back in 2001. During these new interviews, several of the people claimed that Branson had been shot and buried in this field in Quitman. [36:22] Like, these people were even able to identify the approximate area that Branson's body was buried on a map of the field. Oh, wow. So on July 8th, 2009, authorities head out to Quitman and do a two-day excavation of the field with the help of 10 cadaver dogs. They begin carefully combing a two-mile radius around the field, and nine of the 10 dogs signal on the same spot. [36:52] this area is different from the other parts of this field. It's looser, like it had been recently disturbed. So immediately, police start digging. [37:02] But [37:04] In a common theme with this case, [37:06] Police don't bind. [37:08] Anything. Wait, back up for a second. The dirt was different? Or like disturbed? Like someone had recently dug or did something in that area? Yeah, that's what the source material, like that's what they say. I mean, to me, that doesn't mean that nothing was ever there. I mean...

[37:26] You just said that several people pointed to this place. Maybe someone knew the police were coming and moved something. So that's actually kind of the theory that Espy had. He told producers for No One Saw a Thing that he believes that when Branson told Gina that he had to run out for a minute that day back in April 2001, that he had gone to meet some people at a meth house. [37:47] Espy believes that whoever was in charge of this drug ring in Skidmore was worried that Branson would talk to police, especially after that one run in he had with an officer that I mentioned earlier. And so he thinks because of this, he was basically like taken out so he could be silenced and Branson was shot and killed. [38:05] I mean, the sheriff thinks that he was shot right there in the meth house, like in Skidmore? Yes. [38:10] So was that house ever searched for evidence? I don't remember you even mentioning it. I didn't because here's the thing: a couple of days after Branson went missing, [38:21] That meth house burnt to the ground. And honestly, burnt to the ground isn't even the right way to say it. It more like exploded. So there was nothing left to collect. Right. And more than anything, when officers responded to that explosion, at that point, they had no idea Branson was even missing. [38:41] Like he hadn't been reported missing it. His family hadn't put it together. Right. So at the time, everyone thought that this was just an explosion caused by a bunch of amateurs trying and failing to make meth. Except Espy thinks it might have been a bit more intentional, like a way to help ensure that no trace of Branson would ever be found.

[39:02] Former Sheriff Espy says there is evidence to support Branson being buried by a group of nine people. [39:09] out in that Quitman field. But he believes that because the Quitman connection was announced by the media a few weeks prior to the dig, it gave the people who buried Branson's body time to dig it up and get rid of it. [39:23] Some people in Skidmore believed that his body had been cut into multiple pieces and scattered into a body of water, never to be found. [39:31] And there really isn't enough amid all of this, even circumstantial evidence, to get anyone to trial... [39:39] Well, so here's the thing. Espy says that he is sure that the investigation has turned over more than enough information and circumstantial evidence for the prosecutor to file charges. But that's never happened. Not yet anyway. [39:52] Now, Esby retired as the county sheriff in 2008. [39:56] But Jessica Edson reported for News Press Now that the current sheriff, this guy named Randy Strong, is still actively investigating Branson's case. Although the investigation has moved more towards a homicide investigation than a missing persons investigation, primarily due to the tips that former Sheriff Espy had received back in 2009. [40:17] And just like Espy, Sheriff Strong is sure that they know who did it, and they are actively trying to find more evidence and witnesses to solidify the case and hopefully finally lead to an arrest. [40:30] In July 2010, a year after the Quitman dig turned up nothing, Branson's case was featured on America's Most Wanted. Becky and Branson's entire family were hoping that this would finally bring in some kind of new information that could help solve the case, but it didn't.

[40:46] Branson's disappearance wasn't the Perry family's only tragedy, and it wouldn't be their last. [40:52] After Branson went missing in 2004, his cousin, Bobby Jo Stinnett, was murdered during a fetal abduction. And we actually covered her case in our fan club during the episode on Amanda Howard, right? Right. And then Branson's mom, Becky, tragically passed away in 2014 after losing her battle with melanoma at age 52. [41:13] At that point, she had been actively searching for answers about her son's case for over 13 years. [41:19] Earlier, I mentioned Becky's post, A Mother's Plea, and there's one part that I'm going to have you read, Britt. [41:25] Becky wrote, quote, "Parents of missing children never have a feeling of ease. [41:30] it never becomes bearable. [41:32] only easier to hide. [41:33] One minute you're okay and functioning. [41:36] The next minute something triggers inside, and you plummet to the deepest ravine you could ever imagine and can't find any way out. [41:43] It can be something as simple as a smell, a taste, [41:46] A sound. [41:47] a touch, and all the horror is there again. It never ends. [41:52] End quote. It never ends. The pain, the void, the not knowing, that was Becky's reality for 13 years. And she died believing that the only way Branson's case would be solved is if someone with information comes forward. [42:07] Both of Branson's parents are now gone, but his family is still in Skidmore and they still want to bring this case to a close. They want to bring Branson home.

[42:18] Skidmore might be known for its ability to see nothing, hear nothing, and say nothing. But even the best-kept secrets come out eventually. [42:28] If you have any information about the disappearance of Branson Perry, please contact the Community United Effort Center 24-hour tip line at [redacted phone]. [42:42] You can also contact the Nottaway County Sheriff's Office or the Missouri State Highway Patrol. We'll have all of that posted in our show notes and on our website. [42:51] to see pictures or our source material for this episode you can find all of that on our website crimejunkiepodcast.com [43:09] And be sure to follow us on Instagram at Crime Junkie Podcast. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode. [43:43] So [43:47] you [43:47] you [43:48] .

[43:51] Crime Junkie is an AudioChuck production. [43:53] So? [43:54] What do you think, Chuck? [43:56] Do you approve? [44:00] Okay, crime junkies, you know I absolutely love a twist and a turn, especially when it comes to people who turn out to be someone they're not. That's why I have been obsessed with the podcast Chameleon. Every Thursday, host Josh Dean deep dives into a scam so bizarre, it will leave you wondering, how did they get away with that? [44:18] It is truly one of my favorite podcasts right now and I've been listening for years. [44:22] I think you'll love it too. [44:24] Listen to Chameleon wherever you get your podcasts.