The Disappearance of Brandon Lawson

On August 8th, 2013, 26-year-old Brandon Lawson left his home in San Angelo, Texas after a huge fight with his fiancé. She hoped that he’d return after cooling down, but she woke up the next morning to find multiple missed calls from Brandon. She quickly learned that while she was asleep, Brandon’s brother, Kyle, had left to bring him gas after he’d run out on a desolate road. After several strange phone calls to Kyle, Brandon made a 911 call, begging for help, saying that he was being chased. When Kyle finally arrived, he found Brandon’s truck abandoned, but his brother was nowhere to be found. 10 years later, some questions about Brandon’s sudden disappearance have been answered, but his family is still left wondering, what happened to Brandon that night?

Who was Brandon?

Brandon Mason Lawson was born on November 18th, 1986 to Kimberly and Bradley Lawson in Fort Worth, Texas. He had two brothers, Kyle and Billy, and a sister named Brittany. Brandon loved the outdoors and could often be found fishing or camping. There isn’t much information published about Brandon that isn’t regarding his disappearance, but it’s clear from the life that he lived, that he was a hard worker and a man who loved his family.

Brandon lived with his high school sweetheart, Ladessa Lofton in San Angelo, Texas. The two had met when she was a sophomore and he was a junior. Ladessa said that Brandon approached her in the hallway, asking if she knew who he was. She responded, “No, am I supposed to?” Brandon then asked her to write her number down on a piece of paper. She did, and they quickly fell for one another, Ladessa completely charmed by Brandon’s laugh and personality. She admitted that they were by no means a perfect couple, but they loved each other very much.

The couple had three children together, along with Brandon’s child from a previous marriage. Brandon had struggled with drug abuse, specifically with the use of methamphetamine, but had been maintaining his sobriety as of late.

26-year-old Brandon worked in an oil field, sometimes in excess of 80 hours a week. Because of this, Ladessa said that Brandon was due to start a new job soon. There was no question that Brandon was exhausted and under stress due to his demanding work schedule, along with his other commitments. Things seemed to hit a breaking point in August of 2013, as Brandon spent an entire night out, leaving Ladessa and the children wondering where he was.

Brandon’s brother Kyle later reported that Brandon had called him on the night of August 7th, asking him if he knew where he could get any methamphetamine. When Brandon finally returned home on August 8th, a fight quickly started between him and Ladessa. Just before midnight, Brandon left the home in his Ford F-150 pickup truck, with the intent of heading to his father’s home in Crowley, Texas. Brandon wanted time to cool down after the fight with Ladessa, and the drive to his father’s would take over three hours. This was the last time that Ladessa would ever see Brandon.

The Disappearance

Brandon called his father Bradley around 11:30PM, before leaving, to tell him that he was headed to his place in Crowley. At 12:00AM, Ladessa called Brandon’s cell phone and asked him to come back home, worried about him making such a long trip in the middle of the night. (I couldn’t find confirmation of whether she actually spoke to him or not) Ladessa had also called Brandon’s brother, Kyle, worried about Brandon. Kyle offered to come by the house to check on her and the kids.

At 12:34 and 12:36AM, Ladessa missed two phone calls from Brandon.

At 12:38AM Brandon called Kyle and told him that he’d run out of gas along Highway 277, near Bronte. Kyle said that it was difficult to entirely understand what his brother was saying due to poor cell service, but he heard Brandon say,

“I’m 10 minutes up the road. Just hurry up and get here.”

Kyle also heard Brandon say, “Three (expletives) are chasing me out of town.” The expletive reportedly referred to Mexicans. When Kyle heard Brandon say this, he asked his brother if he was high. Brandon said that he wasn’t.

At 12:40AM, Kyle called Ladessa and told her that Brandon had run out of gas. She said that she would leave a gas can on the porch for him to take, and that she was going to take a shower and go to bed. Because Brandon had the only wall charger, Ladessa put her cell phone in the car charger in her van and left it to charge. At 12:48AM, Ladessa missed another phone call from Brandon.

Kyle made his way over to Brandon and Ladessa’s home along with his wife, Audrey, and 4-year-old son, to grab the empty gas can. There were multiple calls back and forth, between Kyle and Brandon, most of which ended up being missed calls.

At 12:50AM, Brandon called 911. Because of how small the town was, 911 calls actually rang to a nearby nursing home. The receptionist who answered would triage calls and dispatch appropriate resources when necessary.

The 911 Call

At 12:51AM, Kyle called Brandon and left a voicemail. At the same time, Brandon called Ladessa again, which went unanswered.

At 12:52 and 12:54, Audrey and Kyle called Brandon. No answer.

At 12:57, Brandon called his neighbor. He then called Kyle twice.

At 12:58, Brandon’s neighbor called him back three times. Kyle also called Brandon again.

Around this time, a trucker that had been driving along Highway 277 reached a small gas station. While there, he called 911 to let them know that there was a pickup truck on the side of the road. The truck had been sticking out into the road and the trucker had almost hit it. He didn’t want an accident to happen.

At 1:04, the call taker at the nursing facility who’d taken Brandon’s 911 call tried calling him back to get more information regarding what was happening and exactly where he was located. Brandon didn’t answer, so she left a voicemail.

1:09: Brandon called Kyle three times.

1:12: Kyle called Brandon three times.

At 1:15, Brandon called Kyle twice, which were the last calls made from his phone. Kyle was actually on the phone with Brandon as he pulled up to Brandon’s truck. Law enforcement arrived shortly after, and pulled up behind Brandon’s truck. Deputy Neal was responding to the call that the trucker had made about an abandoned vehicle in the road.

Kyle told Brandon that he was pulling up right then and he said that Brandon told him, “I can see you, I’m right here.” Neither Kyle nor Audrey could see Brandon anywhere. Despite this eerie statement, Kyle wasn’t overly concerned.

During an earlier call between Brandon and Kyle (unsure of exactly which one), Audrey and Kyle said that he’d told them that he was about 10 minutes up the road and bleeding. Still, Kyle believed that Brandon was fine, and that they’d see him soon.

Audrey had texted Brandon that there was a cop by his truck. Kyle knew that his brother had an active warrant in nearby Johnson County for possession with intent to deliver and assumed he was probably hiding in nearby brush until the deputy left. The truck appeared to have been parked haphazardly. The back end was sticking out into the road and the doors had been left unlocked. Brandon’s cell phone, wallet, and keys were not in the vehicle.

Kyle told Deputy Neal that the pickup truck did belong to his brother and that Brandon was walking along the road, but having difficulty calling anyone due to poor cell phone reception. He didn’t tell the Deputy that he’d just spoken to Brandon. Once Kyle and Deputy Neal finished discussing the situation, Kyle drove down the road a short ways and parked to see if Brandon would come out once the deputy left, but he didn’t.

Kyle, whose paycheck hadn’t deposited into his account yet, couldn’t put gas in the can without cash from Brandon, so he left the empty can in the bed of Brandon’s truck. He waited for about 45 minutes, but still saw no sign of his brother. With a hungry and crying 4-year-old still in the car, Kyle was forced to head back home with Audrey.

Kyle later told GoSanAngelo that he still wasn’t worried at this point. “I go back to San Angelo, I get food for my kid and stuff. I figure OK, he’s just out there, he’s hiding because of the police, he’s going to be out there whenever I go back, when I take the gas, maybe the police officer will be gone by then.”

At 3:00AM, all calls to Brandon’s phone began going straight to voicemail, indicating that his phone was either turned off or had died. Around 5AM, Kyle returned to Brandon’s pickup truck. Unfortunately, Brandon wasn’t there. Kyle never saw him again.

After Brandon’s 911 call, no one was dispatched to the location he gave the call taker. Deputy Neal’s response was only made after the trucker called about the abandoned vehicle. In fact, it wasn’t until actually several days after Brandon disappeared that Ladessa discovered the call. She’d been scrolling through his phone records and found his call to 911.

The 911 call is one of the biggest question marks in Brandon’s disappearance and has been highly debated. Here’s what many people hear on the recording:

911-911 Emergency
Brandon- Yes, I’m in the middle of a field (inaudible) just pushed/pulled some guys over…out here going towards Abilene on both sides. My truck ran out of gas. There’s one car here. The guy’s chasing me through the woods. Please hurry.
911- Okay, now run that by me one more.
Brandon-We’re not talking to/There’ll be no talking to ‘em. I…ran into them.
911-Oh, you ran into ‘em? Okay.
Brandon-Inaudible…the first guy.
911-Do you need an ambulance?
Brandon-No, I need the cops.
911-Okay. Is anybody hurt? Hello? Hello? Hello?

There are a lot of noises on the 911 call that could simply be attributed to background noise, like Brandon running, or that he could’ve dropped his phone or even put it in his pocket. Some people have argued that there are gunshots in the background or even a second person talking. However, no one seems to be able to settle on exactly what Brandon says at the beginning.

Brandon immediately tells the call taker that he’s in the middle of a field, then says something like, “A staper just pulled/pushed some guys over”. Many assume that Brandon intended to say, “state trooper”, but in his heightened state, he unintentionally blended the words together. There was also no indication or record that anyone from law enforcement was on the scene near Brandon’s truck except for when Deputy Neal arrived, shortly before Kyle.

It also sounds like Brandon said that he ran into someone, suggesting that he could’ve hit a car, a person, or just figuratively ran into someone when his vehicle ran out of gas. Though the 911 call has been slowed down and analyzed, there’s still a lot of debate about what Brandon was saying.

The Investigation

Early morning on August 9th, after Kyle had returned to Brandon’s truck and was still unable to locate his brother, Brandon’s truck was towed. On August 11th, a small search team was gathered to search the area near where Brandon’s truck had been abandoned, but Brandon wasn’t found. A report said that there was a spot under a tree that looked as though someone had sat down in it, that was within eyesight of Brandon’s vehicle.

Just a few days later, the Texas Rangers began investigating Brandon’s disappearance, but they came to the same conclusion, that Brandon was no longer in Coke County.

On August 13th, Ladessa went to the Coke County Sheriff’s Office to report Brandon missing. On the same day, Texas Ranger Nick Hanna, took a helicopter ride from over the Colorado River south and down both sides of US 277, which was near where Brandon’s truck was left. Deputy Neal’s report from Hanna’s search read, “It was determined that Lawson was not on the ground due to the fact that there was a lot of exposed bare ground even under the short mesquite and cedar bushes…Brandon Lawson is not in Coke County, lost or hiding.”

Deputy Neal further emphasized his belief by explaining that Coke County was in the middle of a bad drought, and that during the helicopter ride, they could see corn sacks from the air. “If you can see those from the plane,” Neal said, “you can see someone lying down.”

On October 24th, 2013, a large-scale search was conducted by the Texas Search and Rescue and several law enforcement agencies, including search dogs, but no signs of Brandon were located.

Ladessa, like the rest of Brandon’s family, was crushed by Brandon’s disappearance. Ladessa in particular, felt guilt-ridden by the fact that their last interaction was an argument.

“For a long time, I blamed myself…I will never get those words back,” she said.

Theories

Despite Ladessa carrying guilt about her and Brandon’s last words with each other, she never believed that Brandon left of his own volition. “Brandon would never run from his kids and, while he had an outstanding warrant, we were in the process of saving to pay his fine and addressing it through his lawyer.”

Many said that because Brandon had the outstanding warrant and due to his past with drugs, he likely disappeared intentionally that night. Though it’s possible, and even probable according to Kyle, that Brandon was hiding from law enforcement that night, especially if he saw the officer pull up behind his truck. However, that leaves more questions unanswered. If Brandon was worried about police showing up, why did he call 911 and specifically request police help? Why wouldn’t he come out of hiding once he saw that the deputy’s cruiser was gone?

Law enforcement seemed to be under the impression that Brandon had left the area in another vehicle. This was initially based on the fact that he couldn’t be located nearby, there were no signs of foul play, and the text messages between Brandon and Ladessa regarding their fight.

Brad, Brandon’s father, agreed that his son wouldn’t have run off. “Something happened that night, and it wasn’t him meeting a girl and driving off somewhere. Brandon had already done some state jail time and Brandon wasn’t afraid to take the punishment that was dealt to him…no, I don’t believe that, not for a minute. It took a lot more than that to scare Brandon.”

Kyle also knew that his brother wasn’t perfect, but that he was a man who wouldn’t have abandoned his family.

“My brother might have been a felon and might have messed with drugs and might have relapsed, but my brother worked for what he had…he loved his children, he took care of his children, he was a good person.”

Some believe that, based on Brandon’s history and the strange 911 call, he was under the influence of drugs. Even Kyle thought that Brandon might have been high when he first spoke to him that night. If Brandon was using drugs, this could explain several things, including what was said during his 911 call.

Could Brandon, high on methamphetamine, have run out of gas, called for Kyle and Ladessa’s help, while suffering from paranoia and hallucinations? This may have led Brandon to run off into one of the nearby properties, where he could’ve gotten lost, still suffering from delusions. From there, Brandon may have fallen victim to elements common in the area, like rattlesnakes, coyotes, or feral hogs.

Though Texas Ranger Hanna wouldn’t discuss what he thought happened to Brandon, Ladessa said that he told her that he believes Brandon’s body is somewhere on the land surrounding the area where he was last seen. Searches using helicopters, ATVs, and several other agencies and resources took place during August, September, and October of 2013, as well as January, February, and July of 2014. Brandon was not located.

A private investigator, Paula Boudreaux, helped track down leads, mostly ones that came into the Help Find Brandon Lawson Facebook page. Both Boudreaux and Brandon’s family searched the area countless times, although there were several pieces of land that the owners did not allow them to search. However, Boudreaux said that she was told by law enforcement that they have cleared those areas.

In 2019, Kyle did an interview with several members of the Crawlspace podcast. He clarified information from the night that Brandon went missing, and even said that he knew for a fact that his brother was high on methamphetamines that night. Despite the fact that Brandon continued to deny that he was high on the phone, Kyle said that he knew Brandon was

Kyle said that on the night of August 7th, when Brandon had called him, asking if he knew where he could get meth, he’d urged his brother not to use. However, Brandon, who had just switched jobs, had just been drug tested, and told Kyle that he was just going to smoke a little bit. Kyle said that Brandon picked up one of their friends and that the two went off to get high. This was the night that Brandon didn’t return home.

The next day, when Kyle still hadn’t heard from Brandon, he called Ladessa, who also didn’t know where he was. Kyle called around, finally getting in touch with his brother, who’d been at a friend’s house in Fort Worth. Brandon assured Kyle that he was heading home soon.

Later that night, August 8th, Brandon and Kyle’s mother called Kyle, asking him if he could go over to Brandon’s house to try and calm him down. Brandon and Ladessa were having a heated argument, the one that ultimately caused Brandon to leave the house. As Kyle headed over to the house, Brandon called him, already on the road. He told Kyle that Ladessa had some Mexicans from the neighborhood, chasing him out of town. Brandon said that a state trooper had pulled one of them over, but that there were two still chasing him. Then, he hung up the phone.

That’s when the barrage of phone calls began. Brandon called Kyle back and said that he needed help because he was about to run out of gas. During the other phone calls, Kyle said that Brandon would just say a few words, like ‘where are you’ or ‘hurry up’, then hang up the phone. Kyle said during the interview that during these phone calls, his brother sounded out of breath, like he was running.

As Kyle pulled up to Brandon’s truck, Brandon called again and asked him where he was. Kyle said that he was pulling up right then, but Brandon hung up. Kyle made a u-turn and parked on the opposite side of the road. He got out and walked over to Brandon’s truck.

Brandon called him again and Kyle asked him where he was. Brandon said, I’m right here, where I said. Kyle said that there was a vehicle approaching him, which turned out to be the sheriff’s deputy. Kyle reported that Brandon said to him, “one-time, run”. Kyle explained that the term ‘on-time’ is slang for ‘cop’, and that Brandon was alerting him that a cop was pulling up behind him and that he should run.

Kyle told his brother that he wasn’t going to run because he hadn’t done anything wrong. Brandon responded, “Where is your pride mother fucker?” then hung up the phone. During these short calls, Kyle said that Brandon sounded like he was standing still. Kyle also said that he believed Brandon could see him at that time because he told him that he could see him and that he saw the officer pulling up behind him.

Additionally, in the 911 call, the noises that some people have compared to gunshots, Kyle said are the noises from someone driving over the seams of the bridge nearby. He also said that one of the confusing pieces of the 911 calls, where Brandon said what sounds like the word ‘staper’, that he believes his brother was trying to say ‘state trooper’. Ultimately, Kyle agrees with the overall confusion and mayhem of his brother’s actions that night, saying that nothing that happened and nothing that Brandon said made any sense at all.

Kyle told Crawlspace that he was questioned by law enforcement shortly after Brandon disappeared, and that he felt that they seemed to think that he’d picked Brandon up that night and dropped him off somewhere. Kyle asked for a polygraph test and ultimately passed two different ones.

Because of his brother continuing to mention a state trooper, Kyle mentioned concerns about the deputy that responded that night. When Kyle told the deputy that he was going to drive down the road and look for Brandon, he said that the deputy told him not to drive down the way that he just came, because he hadn’t seen anyone down there.

Kyle said that there was something strange about how Brandon wanted him to run from the deputy that night. He said that Brandon never spoke to him like that, unless they were in a serious situation. He said that he honestly has no idea why Brandon said that to him, or why he wouldn’t answer any of his phone calls after that. Something gave Kyle a strange feeling about it. He told Crawlspace that he thought the deputy should be subject to questioning and a polygraph test.

Answers and Questions

On February 4th, 2022, Ladessa made a post on the Help Find Brandon Lawson Facebook page:

“First and foremost, I want to tell each one of you that I appreciate all of your support, kind words, prayers, assistance, concern, and love that has been given to me and my family over the course of the last 8 ½ years. Being Brandon’s partner in life and knowing him, I know that he would feel hallowed knowing that so many people took the time to share his story. It is deeply appreciated and has helped our family in so many ways find comfort. Answers are something that we have searched for, and today I’m sharing with you that we now have some of those answers.

It is with a heavy heart and great difficulty that we have an important update regarding Brandon’s case. Our family’s long-awaited journey to find answers draw near. For years, we have gone to great lengths to search the area of Brandon’s last known whereabouts. Many searches have been conducted in various ways to locate any potential clues. We have had a circle of supporters assisting us in locating Brandon throughout this process.

Recently, one of those advocates led a small search party in the vicinity of Brandon’s last known location. The search team came upon some clothing that were consistent with Brandon’s clothing. Authorities in local law enforcement were contacted and were able to take the evidence in for testing. The Texas Rangers conducted a search that ultimately led them to discover human remains in this same area. Although DNA tests are needed to confirm identification, it in our hearts that we know that it is Brandon.”

A small search team led by a family advocate, Jason Watts, was searching a piece of property near the area where Brandon’s truck was found when they found a Nike Air Max tennis shoe. About 50-75 feet ahead, they found the shoe’s mate in the dirt, along with a pair of camouflage MMA shorts. These were some of the pieces of clothing that Brandon was last seen wearing. On top of the clothing, they also located some bone fragments. The search group alerted law enforcement, who cleared the area and continued to search, finding more bone fragments. The remains were sent to a lab for DNA testing.

When Jason Watts was asked why the landowners hadn’t allowed previous searches on their land, he explained that they didn’t permanently live in the area and were unaware of Brandon’s disappearance. Watts said that once they found out about the searches, they allowed them to access their land.

Though results are still pending, Brandon’s loved ones believe that they finally have some closure. Along with the fragments being located with what is very likely Brandon’s clothing, the remains were found within a one mile distance of where his truck was parked.

While the probable location of Brandon Lawson’s remains confirm that he didn’t intentionally leave his family, which surely brings them comfort, it unfortunately still leaves many questions unanswered. His loved ones remain hopeful that the analysis of the clothing and remains will bring more answers.