TADP Season 2 Episode 10 – The mysterious disappearance of Brookelyn Farthing

The armchair detective podcast

The mysterious disappearance of Brookelyn Farthing

Today’s podcast episode will focus on the disappearance of Brookelyn Farthing. I went on http://www.findbrookefarthing.com website and read the following from Brookelyn’s sister:

“My sister Brooke was a spunky, tell you how it is, loveable person. She loved animals and the outdoors. But she was a true girly girl, who loved pink and camouflage. She would do anything to help anyone. She had the sweetest deep long country sounding voice you can only find in Kentucky. Not a day goes by I don’t wonder about her.”

My entire goal with my podcast is to help the grieving families of missing loved ones, which is why I always encourage people to share the episodes over social media. The more we raise awareness the closer we get to getting answers for those grieving loved ones.

Brookelyn has been missing from Berea, Kentucky since 06/22/2013. At the time of her disappearance, Brooke was 18 years old and today would be 23 years old. She is described as being 5 feet one inches tall, she is a caucasian female with Blonde hair and brown eyes. Brookelyn’s nickname is Brooke. She has pierced ears and a birthmark on her left hip.

At the time of her disappearance Brook was wearing A gray t-shirt with the Madison County FFA (Future Farmers of America) logo and light blue denim shorts.

Brookelyn was last seen at a friend’s house in the 100 block of Dillon Court in Berea, a small city located about 40 miles south of Lexington Kentucky in the early morning hours of June 22, 2013. She had attended a party the night before with her sister, a cousin and some friends. Eventually, most of the others left, and Brookelyn stayed behind at the party.

She had a friend there who was going to give her a ride home, but the two females argued and Brookelyn’s friend left without her. She sent multiple text messages overnight trying to get a ride home, saying she felt scared. She wanted her ex-fiance to pick her up, but he didn’t get off work until later in the morning. The last text from her phone was sent at 5:30 a.m., saying “Never mind, I’m okay. I’m going to a party in Rockcastle County.”

Randall Walker, Brooke’s step father said the following to the huffington post:

“She started texting people to pick her up and give her a ride home,” Walker told HuffPost. “She was texting her ex-fiance — they were separated but still friends. He was at work and she texted him that he needed to come get her when he got off work. At 4:26 that morning, she texted him to hurry ‘because I’m scared.'”

“Another friend of hers was drunk and needed to get home,” Walker said. “A gentleman known to Brookelyn’s ex-fiance was at the party and he offered her his vehicle to give the boy a ride home.”

The huffington post article continues to say :

From what information Walker has been able to gather from investigators, Farthing purportedly drove her friend home in the man’s vehicle and then had to bring the vehicle back to the man’s house — a home with no electricity that was in foreclosure.

It was not long after Farthing arrived at the man’s home that she started to text friends about needing a ride.

“There was another text was sent from Brookelyn’s phone at 5:30 a.m., an hour before her ex-fiance was to get off work and come pick her up. The text said, ‘Never mind, I’m okay. I’m going to a party in Rockcastle County,'” Walker said.

“I do not believe that was a text from Brookelyn,” he continued. “I think something had already happened between the time she sent the text [in which she said] that she was afraid and that text. She had plans for the next day and would not have gone off to another party,” Walker said.

The huffington post article continues by saying the following:

At about 7 a.m., the owner of the home Farthing was visiting called the fire department and reported a blaze inside the home. The fire was extinguished before it got out of control, leaving a burned couch and a hole in the floor, police said.

Farthing was not inside the home when firefighters arrived on the scene. The homeowner allegedly told police that he had to leave and take care of a horse that morning. According to police, he said that, when he left, Farthing was sitting on the couch smoking. When he returned, she was gone and the couch was on fire.

Walker said something about the fire doesn’t add up. “I don’t believe Brookelyn set that fire,” he said. “I think the fire was set to throw people off.”

The article goes on to say:

Trooper Robert Purdy, a Kentucky State Police spokesperson, said the fire plays a key role in the investigation into Farthing’s disappearance, but did not elaborate. “The fire is a pretty integral detail in that investigation,” he told HuffPost.

Aside from the texts and the fire, Walker said he finds it disturbing that some of his stepdaughter’s belongings were found inside the home.

“She would dress up and she always made sure she had everything with her. She wanted to look good at all times,” he said. “When Brookelyn went missing from that house, all her stuff — her cowboy boots and her dress clothes — was still there. Everything except her phone and the clothes she had on. She would not have left her clothes behind, so I know something happened there at that house.”

The owner of the home where Farthing was last seen did not respond to a request for comment from HuffPost.

Authorities contacted Farthing’s cell phone carrier and determined it last pinged on a tower in nearby Blue Lick, about 30 miles from where Farthing was last seen. The phone has not been turned on since.

According to the state police, authorities have searched more than 16,000 acres in three counties for the missing teen. They have scoured the land with cadaver dogs and searched bodies of water. Investigators have not said what, if anything, they have found during the searches.

What we’re doing is, we’re following up on any and all possible leads,” Purdy said. “Things are coming in every single day. It’s a widespread search. Everywhere that we had information she could be has been searched already.”

Authorities have not named any suspects or persons of interest in Farthing’s disappearance.

“I can’t release [the names of] any particular suspect or individual,” Purdy said. “We’ve followed up on any and all individuals that could have been involved.”

Walker, who Farthing has known since she was 4, said her family had to mark the first milestone without her Monday — her 19th birthday.

“It’s hard for the whole family,” he said. “She is an outgoing girl — an outdoors[y] girl and a tomboy in a way. She goes fishing and hunting, but when she wants to be a girlie girl, she is.”

“We have no idea what has happened at all. I just know [authorities] are chasing leads and have an idea of what happened, but will not tell the family. I perceive that as something bad.”

Brookelyn Farthing is described as a white female, between 5 feet 1 inch and 5 feet 3 inches tall, with blonde hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a gray Madison County FFA T-shirt and denim shorts.

“We hold out hope that she’s coming back and we’re going to continue to hold out hope until we find out otherwise. Please keep us in your prayers,” said Walker.

Brookelyn’s friend who owned the house left to take care of a horse. When he left, he said, she was sitting on the couch smoking. When he returned at 7:00 a.m., the house was on fire and Brookelyn was missing, but her cowboy boots, purse and some clothes were still there. The only item missing was her cellular phone. She has never been heard from again and an extensive search of the area turned up no sign of her.

The house fire began on the couch and almost completely consumed it, and burned a hole in the floor underneath, but it was extinguished before it got out of control. It was ruled suspicious. The homeowner was in the process of moving out, and as a result, utilities to the house had been turned off for weeks and there was no electricity there at all.

Investigators believe Brookelyn may have been taken against her will, and they think the last text message sent from her phone actually was sent by someone else.

Brookelyn is a graduate of Madison Southern High School. Her family doesn’t believe she would have left the house without her belongings and they stated she had no reason to walk out of her life. Her case remains unsolved.

Now the following was taken from brookefarthing.com:

“Since Brooke has gone missing I’ve learned many details about the evening and early morning hours leading up to her disappearance. After attending Papaw’s birthday celebration Brooke, Paige and our cousin went to a birthday party off Red Lick Road. Paige and our cousin decided to leave shortly after dropping Brooke off. Brooke had taken her belongings with her to spend the evening with a close friend; however those plans fell through after arriving at the party. Once the party ended Brooke caught a ride with a guy she knew. In the early morning hours Brooke spoke with Paige by phone and told her she would be home once a friend got off work and could give her a ride. Brooke sent several text messages making plans for the next day. She also sent messages about feeling unsafe where she was at.”

“Brooke never came home that morning and has not been heard from since. The guy she caught a ride when leaving the party reported a house fire at his residence early Saturday morning. Brooke’s personal belongings were later located at the residence however she was no where to be found. My sister had no reason to runaway. She made arrangements to get a ride home and had plans to spend the day on Saturday with a friend.”

“Since Brooke’s disappearance the community we call home has showed us nothing short of amazing support. We have hung flyers, pleaded to the public, and held numerous fundraisers. The Kentucky State Police in Richmond along with the assistance of others have searched thousands of acres and followed up on numerous leads. If you or someone you know has any information that could assist us in finding Brooke please call the Kentucky State Police in Richmond.”

Now I have my questions about many points in this case, but before I talk about them, I want to share something else. Bill Warner, a PI from Skip Tracing believes that there is a connection between Brooke’s disappearance and several other disappearances and murders of young women in the Kentucky and surrounding areas are possibly related. Now I had a hard time getting into Bill’s blog since it’s no longer on the internet. I had to use the internet database to track it down. Now here’s a comment from Bill’s blog:

“ Multiple petite blond females have gone missing and/or kidnapped with several murdered and cops have no clues, no suspects, the girls just vanished without a trace, where are the FBI profilers. Who is responsible for seventeen white, very pretty, petite look-a-like females with long blond hair who have been listed as missing, kidnapped or unfortunately murdered over the last few years all over the mid-west and the south? Serial killer Ted Bundy killed more than 100 women nationwide his lawyer has revealed. In a new book John Henry Browne says that the rapist, kidnapper and serial killer Ted Bundy preyed on pretty young petite look-a-like females with long brown hair nationwide from Seattle WA to the Florida State University (FSU) campus Tallahassee Fl. Is this a Ted Bundy copy cat, ‘Deja vu all over again’?”

He also mentions the following in his blog:

“17 Petite Blond Females Listed as Missing, Kidnapped or Murdered and Cops Have No Answers for Parents of Heather, Kelli, Paige, Holly, Lauren, and 12 Others. All times listed above are approximate the dates used are when someone had last known contact with the ‘missing female’. Cops Seek Killer After Remains Of Missing Katelyn Markham Found April 7th, 2013 Near Creek In Cedar Grove Indiana, Katelyn Last Seen In Fairfield Ohio. It is 32 miles from Fairfield Ohio to Cedar Grove Indiana, see map click here.Katelyn Markham’s skull was found in a brown grocery bag other bone fragments were scattered around the creek. Morgan Harrington victim #13 and victim #16 are linked by DNA. Karen Swift, Morgan Harrington and Misty Gwinner were abducted, raped and murdered, their bodies were all found in open areas, (dumped), there was no attempt to bury the bodies, there is no known match to DNA found to anyone in the CODIS DNA databases.”

His blog also mentioned the following:

“Sarasota Private Eye Kayla Sharrow Looks Into The Investigation of Multiple Missing Petite Blond Females Like Holly Bobo and Heather Hodges. In August I was invited to Atlanta GA by CNN Headline News and Jane Velez Mitchell to participate in the ongoing investigator of multiple missing petite blond females like Holly Bobo and Heather Hodges by what appears to be a serial abductor. These missing petite blond females appear to have been kidnapped by a serial abductor and this premise will be the subject of CNN Headline News and Jane Velez Mitchell new series called ‘GONE’.”

Now I also want to discuss some of the opinions of other armchair detectives:

Mouse wrote the following on websleuths on June 29^th 2013:

Also, some of the news articles have mentioned that her personal belongings (purse and suitcases) were left behind in the Dillon Court house. But nothing has really said why she’d have suitcases there. A purse I understand, but suitcases? Personally, at 18 years old, I would not have wanted to stay in a house with no electricity during a humid KY summer. (Wouldn’t want to do that now, either–my hair frizzes just thinking about it.) Had she moved out of her folks’ house and into the Dillon Court house because of a conflict with her parents? Or was she getting ready to travel somewhere for a post-graduation trip? I’m assuming the suitcases were packed, since there’s been mention of “leaving her belongings behind”…but maybe they were empty, and she was just lending them to the house owner to use as he moved out? (Although if that’s the case, why bring up the suitcases at all?)

Her social media pages (especially the Pinterest page) have a whole lot about wedding and baby stuff, as if she’d been counting on marriage and starting a family in the very near future, as the next step after graduating from HS. And none of the news articles or FB postings have mentioned anything about any plans for college (as in, “We don’t think she would have run away, because she was excited about starting at EKU in the fall,” etc.), or starting a new job. If her long-term relationship had recently broken up–and with it, her “next step” plans–I wonder if she could have been feeling directionless, and maybe decided to just get away and figure out what to do next. I don’t think that’s what happened, unfortunately (especially without her purse and suitcases), but I hope that it is.

AnnieOakley from websleuths wrote the following:

So, from Jwpmoyer’s first post, the news story says:

“The 18-year-old’s been missing ever since Saturday morning. Police say she was at the home in Berea with another man. They say he told them he left for a bit, then came back and found the fire burning, Farthing gone, but several personal items left behind.”

It’s from this one:

(http://www.wkyt.com/news/headlines/…-County-teenager-212757781.html?device=tablet)

Anyway, I find the word “another” to be interesting. Do they mean a man other than the homeowner? If so, was this person a friend of hers, or homeowners?

Also odd to me is that they say he left “for a bit”…. I wonder how long he was gone and where he went. And can they verify it?

Oop I was posting at the same time as Alisha8191- sounds like maybe the reporter was just using loose language there. They prob meant another person, meaning the homeowner…

Now advocate1 wrote the following on websleuths:

Does anyone have a link where KSP or some official say the cause of the fire was a cigarette? I have been looking and I just keep finding qoutes from officials about how suspicious the fire is because there is no electricity. I saw they had arson investigators on the scene also. If it was a cigarette then that has nothing to do with electricity. Maybe the cigarette on the couch is only a rumor?

Are there any locals that cam clear up the confusion as to where Brookelyn was last seen?

It was reported for days that she was last seen at 113 Dillon Court rd but now its being said she was last seen “in the area of FLoyd branch rd.”

http://www.wkyt.com/news/headlines/…al-area-for-missing-Berea-teen-213573771.html

That is about 5 miles from Dillon Court.

Now Amasai wrote the following on websleuths:

I’m a local. I’ll try to clear some of this up. The initial flyers and reports that came out said that Brookelyn was last seen at 113 Dillon Ct. around 6am on Saturday June 22nd. These reports came directly from her family via facebook posts before it was in the media. One of her relatives who has since removed the facebook post said the man she was last seen with went to put up a horse and came back and she was gone. (This was still in context of being last seen at 113 Dillon Ct around 6am.). Next, the same morning and around the same time Brookelyn went missing there was a fire at this same address – 113 Dillon Ct. This made me wonder if the fire was to cover up some sort of evidence. Later, news media reported that the home at 113 Dillon Ct. had been without electricity for several weeks and that it belonged to a friend of Brookelyn’s ex-boyfriend. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/25/brookelyn-farthing-missing_n_3499509.html

From researching social media, it appears Brookelyn had been in a 2 year relationship which had broken up in early June. She had lived with her boyfriend. I’m wondering if either her and her ex lived at 113 Dillon Ct. or if maybe she moved into 113 Dillon Ct when her and her boyfriend broke up even though the house is in the ex boyfriends friends name. Either way, the fire happening there the same time she disappeared is alarming. Also, the time that she was last seen (6am), would be correspond to the time that the ex boyfriend would be getting off from work. The area that the police searched latest Floyd’s Branch/Red Lick is where the ex boyfriend was fishing with a friend the day that she went missing.

It is possible she could have left Dillon Ct and walked to Floyd’s Branch to try to find her ex boyfriend, and she fell and got injured etc. etc.. but with the fire, I think it is more likely the foul play is involved.

Now Jenstar wrote the following on websleuths:

I’ve been to Berea once before (traveled through on a greyhound) and it’s a very rural community. I’d be surprised if you could find the ONE bus stop along the route. I agree something’s fishy about this couch. As for smoking, I doubt that someone would have left a cig smouldering from the night before and no one notices it. Mostly because the new paper that they use for cigarettes is the FSC kind “fire safe cigarette”. Chemically treated to put itself out. That and most couches would rather melt than catch fire without an open flame. Couches are mostly made of synthetic fabrics (ie Nylon, rayon, vinyl) with some sort of polyblend filler or foam. My point is; the couch wasn’t an accidental fire. And if it were “on fire”, someone used something as an accelerant; Lighter fluid, paper stuffed in the couch, whatever. (And yes, I’ve accidentally put out my cigarette on the arm of my couch. I didn’t realize it until I hit the wood of the arm as the material just melted away). JMHO

Now I checked several other amateur sleuth sites, but to be honest, I’m surprised at how little theories there are about Brooke’s case. I certainly have a theory, and it just comes from simple logic.

Ok, so Brooke crashed on this guy’s couch. The following day that same couch catches on fire, conveniently when the owner of the home is out feeding his horses. Now here’s one problem. Assuming that Brooke was somehow abducted, I am sure she would have yelled and fought, yet the home owner never claims to have heard a struggle or Brooke yelling. Here’s another problem, the fire was contained to the couch, yeah the same couch that Brooke crashed on the previous night. Alright, so why would someone set a couch or any anatomic object for that matter? Well, to get rid of DNA evidence of course. So who had access to the couch other than Brooke? The owner…. Also considering that a local wrote on Websleuth that Berea is a very rural community, the odds of someone just coming by Dillon Ct at 7am and setting some guy’s couch on fire for no apparent reason… Come on, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this one out. I believe the owner has something to do with Brooke Farthing’s disappearance and I bet some of his associates and friends are aware of exactly what happened to her. If law enforcement push a bit harder, they will crack, guaranteed.

Well, that’s all I have today. One thing I want to say is that I will be doing a series on PI Bill Warner’s theories about the missing or murdered women of Kentucky and surrounding areas. So the next 17 podcast episodes will be dedicated to finding out what happened to these young women.

Thanks again for tuning in to the armchair detective podcast. I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but if you like the podcast and want to support the podcast, then go to www.patreon.com/thearmchairdetective and click become a patron. I have already uploaded some content today, and will upload additional content tomorrow on the missing person case of Brandon Lawson, it’s a must see… or listen in this care I guess. Well thanks again and please share over social media to raise awareness about Brooke Farthing’s disappearance. Until next time, take care everyone!

~Acdetective~