Episode 170: Brandon Mitchener (Part 1 of 2)

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Hello, and welcome to the Catch
My Killer Podcast. Thank you for listening.

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My name is Mark. Since twenty
fifteen, I've written a weekly newspaper

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column about true crimes and unsolved Thomas
Sides for the Claremont Sun newspaper in Ohio.

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Brandon Mitchener twenty two was a young
man who dreamed of establishing his own

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business. His line of clothing that
he designed was called make It Your Mission

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to Do the Right Thing. He
used the acronym M I y AM.

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Brandon had also completed his associate's degree
from Lansing Community College, where he studied

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business. Life seemed bright for this
kind hearted young man who had so many

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friends and was loved by his parents
and siblings. Fortunately, his dreams would

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come to an end in June of
twenty fourteen, when his body was pulled

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from the Grand River in Lansing,
Michigan. Brandon was last seen with his

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business partner shortly before he was found
dead. Law enforcement has ruled Brandon's death

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and accidental drowning, but his family
believes something more sinister led to brain instant.

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Brandon Mitchener was a twenty two year
old man who lived in Lansing Michigan

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with his parents. He had big
dreams. He had earned his associate's degree

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from Lansing Community College. It studied
business, and wanted to use his education

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to start his own clothing line and
call it m i YM, meaning make

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it your mission to do the right
thing. According to his mother, Shirley

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Mitchener, Brandon had always wanted to
start his own business. He had plans

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which included selling his clothing line all
over the world. Unfortunately, he would

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never live to see his dreams become
a reality because he would be found dead

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in the Grand River in Lansing,
Michigan. Law enforcement rold Brandon's death as

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an accident, but his family and
closest friends do not believe this. They

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believe he was thrown into the river
and left to drown. Surely shared the

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final moments between her and her son
with me. They were sitting around the

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dinner table celebrating Brandon's father's birthday.
June twenty fourteen. Would be the last

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time that she would ever be able
to give her son a hug and a

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kiss. It would be the last
time they would ever speak to each other.

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Brandon had plans that evening he was
going to meet up with his business

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partner to celebrate another friend's twenty first
birthday on a party bus. Young men

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had planned to take the party bus
to several different bars and some drinks and

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some fun. Meanwhile, Braindon's parents
were preparing to take a trip to Florida

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to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Before
Brandon left to join his friends, his

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mother told them to be careful.
He told his mother, I got this.

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You trained me right. Shirley said
she will never forget those parting words

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for her beloved son. The next
day, after Brandon's parents arrived at the

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resort in Florida, they got a
call from their oldest daughter telling them that

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she was concerned because Brandon didn't return
home. According to police reports, after

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the party bus returned from its round
of hitting several local bars and downtown Lansing,

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Brandon began to feel sick from all
the alcohol that he had drank.

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According to the security footage, Brandon
was seen walking down the road on June

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twenty nine with his business partner following
him. According to law enforcement, Brandon

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stumbled down the end of South Street, fell off of an embankment and into

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the river, and then und Brandon's
business partner told the police that he had

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lost sight of Brandon and had just
assumed that he had gotten home okay.

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He would then return to his friends
and continue socializing with them. He never

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bothered to call nine one one or
any of Brandon's family members to let them

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know that something may have happened to
Brandon. After Brandon disappeared, his siblings

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and friends began searching for him.
One of his relatives found his shoe in

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a hat belonging to Brandon. Brandon's
parents cut their trip short and left Florida

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to return home to search for their
missing son. They would come home to

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learn that the police had pulled Brandon's
body from the river. According to an

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interview on Dateline, Shirley Mitchner said
that there were theories about Brandon's debt.

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One is that he was thrown into
the river by the friends he had met

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up with on the party bus.
A second theory is that Brandon got into

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a fight and was pushed into the
river. The police theory is that he

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was intoxicated and fell into the river. Shirley Mitchner had also told Dateline that

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Brandon's friends should have stayed with him
but then once they realized he was gone,

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they should have called nine one one
immediately. She has spent the past

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eight years trying to find out what
she believes really happened to her son.

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She would also decide to keep her
son's dream alive by relaunching his clothing line.

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Law enforcement told Dateline that Brandon's case
has been thoroughly investigated and they feel

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that Brandon's business partner has been opened
and honest about this case. They do

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not consider him a suspect in Brandon's
death. Brandon's mother has said that he

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was a glue that kept the family
together. She's told me that she will

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keep digging and looking until she finds
out what she thinks really happened to her

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son. For this story, I
spoke to Shirley Mitchner about a relationship with

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her son now she continues to grieve
for him over eight years later. This

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is the first part of a two
part story. Be sure to listen to

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the conclusion next week. And now
on with the story of Brandon Mitchner is

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told by his mother, Shirley.
My son, Brandon James Mitchner. He

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was twenty two years old when his
life was taken from us. But Brandon

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was a very analytical person. He
thought about everything before he did it.

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Brandon was the youngest of six kids, born in Lansing, Michigan. My

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house is built the year he was
born in Lansing, Michigan. He was

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the person who got the family together. I always thought that it was the

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mother, but it was later in
life I found out it was Brandon who

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got the family together because none of
his siblings lived here in Michigan. Brandon

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was very athletic at a young age. It was just whatever sports he did,

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it was just natural for him.
His favorite sport was basketball. But

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he was short. He has a
brother who is six ft two or six

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foot three, and then another one
who I believe is five to eleven,

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so Brandon was short. Brandon was
loyal. He was a loving, loyal,

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dedicated friend. He was a joyful
to everyone. He had a smile

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that was so contagious that I would
say I paid for that smile because of

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his braces, and he would laugh
and say, but their mind. But

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I would laugh at that. Whatever
outfit Brandon would wear, he had shoes

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to match his outfit. He always
had to match whatever he wore. Brandon

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he was laid back. He was
easy going, but he was so helpful

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to other people. He didn't like
arguing or fighting. He just wanted peace.

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So he was a very peaceful,
calm young man. But it was

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funny. He was a jokester,
and he loved to dance. And everyone

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loved to see Brandon dance because he
could dance. As I said, he

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was very athletic. One thing that
broke his spirit was he played basketball all

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the way from three years old up
and through middle school, and teachers,

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coaches were watching him and everything.
But then Brandon, he got to high

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school and he didn't grow. He
didn't get tall like they was hoping because

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on five eighth and so my husband's
family, they're not tall. But my

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family everybody's talk. I mean,
they're six futton up. But Brandon didn't

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get the hype, and so the
coaches did not let him play in high

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school. That devastated him. And
I wanted to go say something to the

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coach, and Brandon said, no, no, no, my no,

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you stay out of it. Let
it be. I'm say because I'll speak

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up, Brandon. I'll speak up. Because the coaches told him the reason

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why they didn't want him to play
in high school was because the boys were

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bigger than him and they were afraid
that he would get hurt. Well,

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my thing is, let Brandon get
hurt. If that's what's going to happen.

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Bred women see things, and I
really broke feared. He went back

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to playing soccer, but his heart
wasn't in it. It wasn't the same.

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It wasn't if he had his heart
set on basketball and then he took

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to go on to soccer. It's
not the same. It's not and it

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wasn't. You have your heart set
on one board. That's what you want

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to do exactly, and that's what, like I said, that's what he's

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done all the way from a little
kid. Told later in life he tried

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out baseball, but when he got
hit with the ball, that was it.

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The fuck. He didn't do that
anymore. Then he had all for

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football. Well, like I said, he was short and if people wasn't

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blocking so that he can maneuver to
get because he was also very fast,

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then he said no football. He
played soccer, and I was okay.

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When he was little, he said, but that wasn't what he wanted.

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Brendan was very meticulous about his bedroom
his room every other month. He would

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change it around because, as I
said, he's very meticulous about his things

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and the way he looks, and
so he would change his room around every

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other month. But his room was
very clean to be a young person lived

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and he lived at home. He
always had a dog, and I ended

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up with his dog who was fourteen
years old, Bruno, which he loved.

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And even his senior pictures. I
didn't think the studios would allow this,

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but his senior pictures he took with
his dog. I didn't think you

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can do that, but he said. Mom asked him, can I bring

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my dog? And they said yeah. So his dog went and Bruno was

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firing taking the pictures. He was
doing real good. Vernon was a stay

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at home person. He had friends, love friends, and that was before

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he started dating. But he was
very popular. But he wasn't popular because

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he played basketball or anything. Believe
it or not. We live in a

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predominantly Caucasian neighborhood and the predominantly Caucasian
school. But people wanted to touch Brandon,

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and because he was so short,
everybody's hand was always on his head

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because he was so start. So
because of that, he was popular,

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but not because of sports or anything. It's just because of who he is.

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His personality was awesome. The parents
just loved him. Brandon would spend

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a night over at his friends houses
and the parents were always saying, out

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of all the kids, Brandon was
really, really a good person for our

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kids to be around because he was
positive. He didn't like negatives. He

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was very positive young man and didn't
like negative and didn't like fighting. That's

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a great compliment when other people give
you compliments about your kids, that's a

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really special thing to hear. Yes, absolutely, because it's coming straight from

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their heart right. It is so
believe it or not. I did not

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allow Brandon to wear sweats to school. I just didn't think sweats was a

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place to wear in school. I
just thought you can wear jeans, but

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no sweats. And everyone would tell
him that he was a well dressed young

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man. But I'm like, well
dressed, you're not dressed up. You're

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just wearing some jeans and assert he
said, Mom, but they're ironed.

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I said what he said, Mom, My clothes are always iron They're so

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neat that they think that I'm dressed
up. I said, boy, get

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out of here. He was not
dressed up. I just didn't allow him

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to wear sweats, and then when
he got older, he made up his

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decision if he wanted to or not. But they would always say, boy,

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Brandon, dress is really nice.
And I would think dress as nice.

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You don't have one nothing but a
pair of pants and shirt. And

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he come home Mom, I'm always
dressed up. Boy you are not wearing

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no sweats to school. Didn't allow
it. It would crack me right up.

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He would play games teasing me.
I found out recently, well I

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found out even before now run into
videos of me. I didn't know this.

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I'm thinking he's on his phone and
he's looking at his messages or something

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like that. No, Brandon was
videotaping our conversations and sharing them with his

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friends. And then the friends later
showed me videos and I was like,

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what, of course, it broke
my heart. It was a happy time.

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It made me sad, I should
say it made me sad. But

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he really did love his mother,
and people tell me that even out that

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he always talked about his mother.
Brendon was my Friday night date. Him

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and I were sitting on the couch
on Friday night and have popcorn and watch

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a movie. Or something on TV. And because this Friday night I worked

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all week, I would be the
one to fall asleep. But up until

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he stayed that way, until he
started dating. Even I want to say

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it was even after school because of
Brendan was such a friend to everyone that

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the girls said, Brendon, you
are such a nice and we like you

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and everything, but we just don't
want to date chair. And it was

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all because he was short. But
once you grow up, you get older,

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and you graduate from high school,
then girls look at you differently.

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And that is what happened. Once
he graduated from high school, he started

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working out, building up his muscles. He didn't get tall. I think

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he ended up at five six five
seven, So, like I said,

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he was short. One thing that
I know is Brandon loved my cooking and

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he loved his Chinese food that him
and his friends would always get once a

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week, always go to this Chinese
I surround to get food. But other

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than that, he loved his mom's
cooking and one of his favorite meals I

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would make is egg rolls, and
my egg rolls would have ground beef and

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shrimping. Them totally different and cabin
and he would hike them because he didn't

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want anybody else to have any or
he would give everybody two. You can

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only have two and that's it.
He would ask them up. And that

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was such joy that for him to
love my cooking so much that he didn't

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want to share with others, but
he did. But he told me as

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growing up, he said, Mom, when I become rich, I'm gonna

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take care of you. But you
know what, mom, we're gonna stay

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in the same house, me,
my wife, and my kids. We're

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gonna live in a home with you. And you have to do one thing.

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You have to cook. You don't
have to do anything else, Mom,

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but you gotta cook because you're refusing
the fear of your recipes with anybody.

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So you gotta cook. But you
can stay home and I'm gonna take

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care of you. And that was
that's such a joy for young men to

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say how much they love their parents, and the parents is good to them,

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and they're good to the parent.
And he loved to wrestle with me,

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jumping on my back. He had
no shame in his game as a

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very open person. He was a
young man and an old man's body,

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is that what they say? Or
old man? Yeah? An old soul.

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He had an old soul, and
his siblings would even call him for

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advice, and they all would contact
Brandon and discuss their personal business with him.

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And I was just amazed at that. But he had an old soul.

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He acted like an old man.
But at the same time, he

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was funny. He loved to tell
jokes. And I'm not good at telling

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00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:49.799
jokes or remembering them, but Brandon
I would tell something, I would just

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00:17:49.839 --> 00:17:52.960
crack up, thinking that I'm so
funny, right, and he would go

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00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:56.839
ahead and laugh as if it's really
funny, you know, get on the

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floor like you really, Oh my
gosh, this is so funny, and

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00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:02.240
I'm right, but it wasn't.
It was funny to me, but it

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00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:07.519
wasn't. But one thing else about
Brandon to show how determined and dedicated he

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00:18:07.720 --> 00:18:12.440
was. I believe he was like
four and he picked up his dad thumbbells

217
00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:17.279
because he wanted to get muscles,
and he saw his dad had him and

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00:18:17.319 --> 00:18:21.200
these were really heavy dumbbells. I
don't remember how many pounds they were,

219
00:18:21.240 --> 00:18:25.079
but they were really heavy, and
he picked it up and had dropped on

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00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:29.599
his foot. We had to take
him to emergency. Yeah, and they

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00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:33.519
had to cut off his toe nail
and get the blood out of it.

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00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:40.160
But he did that. Then he
once was at preschool and like I said,

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it was very athletic, and he
was playing basketball, running up the

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court and this little boy tripped him
because a little boy was jealous that Brandon

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could handle the ball so good.
Well, back then, these were cement

226
00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:59.519
walls, and he went into the
cement wall. At the rushing to the

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00:18:59.559 --> 00:19:06.200
hospital, he ended up with seven
stitches in his forehead. Then one time

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00:19:06.359 --> 00:19:14.000
him and his sister were playing outside
playing baseball and the sister swung and the

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00:19:14.039 --> 00:19:18.279
baseball that got loose and hit him
in the head. At the rush of

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00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:22.920
him to hospital again, but this
time Mamma wasn't going in the room.

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00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:27.319
Oh, I said, well,
Brenna, since you did this, you're

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00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:32.480
going in the room and watch what
they do to his head because I was

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00:19:32.680 --> 00:19:38.039
not going in there. And then
the last time, the February before June,

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Brandon was driving his car. He
was going to the friend's church and

235
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he was so excited about going to
this church, and so he's driving and

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00:19:51.319 --> 00:19:55.519
it was a little slip. This
was back in February and Michigan was icy

237
00:19:55.880 --> 00:20:00.240
and slippery, first thing in the
morning, and so this guy was driving,

238
00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:04.079
an older guy, and so Brandon
passed him up and it was going

239
00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:12.799
over and Brandon's car lipped up in
the air several summer thoughts and came down

240
00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:18.839
and landed. Brandon should have died
in that car accident. The EMS and

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00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:25.559
the police said they could not believe
that he survived. And so Brandon,

242
00:20:26.359 --> 00:20:30.079
as the ambulance was taking him to
the hospital, he says, wait a

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00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:34.240
minute, I need to take pictures
of my car. You're in this major

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00:20:34.359 --> 00:20:41.000
car accident, totally major car the
car lipping all over. You don't know

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00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:44.920
if you're gonna live or not.
And then you asked them, can you

246
00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:48.279
please let me take a picture of
my car. So they took a picture

247
00:20:48.279 --> 00:20:52.079
of his car and he put it
on Facebook. Now, I was on

248
00:20:52.279 --> 00:20:56.880
my way home from my church and
my husband was at home. And then

249
00:20:56.960 --> 00:21:00.279
my husband said somebody called and said, hey, is your son Okay,

250
00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:07.200
And Steve is like, okay,
you know what you're talking about. So

251
00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:14.000
Steve contacted Brandon and Brandon said,
I'm in the hospital. What So then

252
00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:17.480
any contacted me. I get to
the hospital and he just sitting up there

253
00:21:17.559 --> 00:21:22.480
talking to the nurses. Everything's just
fine. He had no broken bones.

254
00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:27.119
He had some bruises, but that
just shows you he is such tenacities,

255
00:21:27.599 --> 00:21:34.279
such a loving person that God protected
him from all the things that happened in

256
00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:40.240
his life if you think about it, from the time he was born,

257
00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:45.160
well not even born, until the
time that he died. But he was

258
00:21:47.400 --> 00:21:52.119
brittanly helpful. A young lady contacted
me and after his death and said to

259
00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:59.279
me, Brandon saved me at school. Now remember he's short and small,

260
00:22:00.039 --> 00:22:06.200
and she said that you that a
bully was picking on her and she was

261
00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:11.880
scared, and so Brandon stepped up
and saved her from being beaten up by

262
00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:18.799
a bully. And you never know
what your kids have done until somebody comes

263
00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:21.599
and tells you things. Oh yeah, I knew Brandon was a good kid.

264
00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:25.759
But don't get me wrong. He
wasn't perfect, but he was a

265
00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:30.400
very nice, friendly, helpful young
man. And like I said, he

266
00:22:30.440 --> 00:22:34.200
wasn't a perfect son, but he
was a good son. He always worked,

267
00:22:34.759 --> 00:22:41.079
he was a workaholic. And Brandon, he didn't like me to buy

268
00:22:41.160 --> 00:22:45.000
things, believe it or not.
He would always say, mom, you

269
00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:48.559
keep your money in He was the
last one at home. So I didn't

270
00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:53.079
mind buying him things, but he
didn't ask for them, except for one

271
00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:59.200
time. I've grandkids and one time
I was buying the grandkids from gym shoes,

272
00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:02.799
and so he was like, you're
spending your money on those kids,

273
00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:07.519
huh. I say yeah. He
says, well, I think I want

274
00:23:07.599 --> 00:23:11.839
something. I want a pair of
gym shoes. So he says, mom,

275
00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:15.200
the's are special gym shoes, and
that's all he said. And so

276
00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:18.720
I gave him my deb carting me
about the shoes, and I'm like,

277
00:23:18.759 --> 00:23:22.039
Brandon, where's your shoes? That
I'm thinking, what did he do with

278
00:23:22.039 --> 00:23:26.519
my money? And so it's been
a while, but he had a pair

279
00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:30.559
of Nike gym shoes, created one
of a kind, and so of course

280
00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:36.359
they break the mold. But he
created a pair of gym shoes. So

281
00:23:36.599 --> 00:23:41.759
that's why it took so long or
his shoes to come. That was one

282
00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:45.759
of his proudest moments. And I
did take a picture and I did put

283
00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:52.799
his gym shoes in the casket with
him because they were hid. They meant

284
00:23:52.839 --> 00:23:56.599
so much to him. So tell
me more about your son's business partner and

285
00:23:56.720 --> 00:24:02.960
why did Brandon want to start his
own business. I do not know how

286
00:24:03.920 --> 00:24:11.680
Brandon met his business partners, but
Brandon was definitely a workaholic. He was

287
00:24:11.759 --> 00:24:17.559
working at Minards and they moved him
up where he could help some of the

288
00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:22.359
other workers because he knew a lot
of things about being there. Then he

289
00:24:22.440 --> 00:24:29.920
also had worked at Outback, and
he liked out Back, but you don't

290
00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:34.599
want to constantly do that once you
get older, and so then he rust

291
00:24:34.599 --> 00:24:41.640
god, liking community college and working
and living at home. He received his

292
00:24:41.720 --> 00:24:51.200
associate's degree in business slash marketing,
so he did have his degree and he

293
00:24:51.319 --> 00:24:57.039
wanted his clothing business. Now a
step back, Brandon was at Outback and

294
00:24:57.559 --> 00:25:03.039
he was doing something. There was
a piece of metal and he cut his

295
00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:08.839
finger and it was hanging. Yeah. So again my baby ended up an

296
00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:15.119
emergency. He almost lost a couple
of fingers his cleaning tables or something and

297
00:25:15.160 --> 00:25:18.920
there was some metal and he didn't
realize it was metal and it was real

298
00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:26.960
sharp and it sliced his fingers.
Yeah, So he was lucky and they

299
00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:30.960
were saved, you know, just
thinking about his foot, his hand,

300
00:25:32.400 --> 00:25:37.759
his head, you know, and
he survived them all. Yeah. So

301
00:25:37.960 --> 00:25:42.200
he was the handsomeone. He didn't
have the height. He was good in

302
00:25:42.279 --> 00:25:47.920
school, but he wasn't great in
school, but he did okay, and

303
00:25:48.359 --> 00:25:52.119
he was very analytical and thought about
everything that he did before he would do

304
00:25:52.200 --> 00:25:56.640
it. So Brendan had a business
partner, and I do not know who

305
00:25:56.680 --> 00:26:00.599
introduced him to this young man.
Do you think that they met in college

306
00:26:00.720 --> 00:26:07.160
or could they have met in high
school? It was at high school or

307
00:26:07.200 --> 00:26:12.400
it was after. I honestly don't
remember, but I don't know who introduced

308
00:26:12.440 --> 00:26:19.079
them to each other. Because Brandon
has a group of friends and they didn't

309
00:26:19.119 --> 00:26:23.160
hang around him. They wasn't with
the business partner. They didn't like the

310
00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:29.200
business partner. But Brandon said,
hey, mom, there's this guy.

311
00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:33.440
He said that he wanted to go
in a business with me and he's got

312
00:26:33.480 --> 00:26:38.039
some connections. Well, Brandon's thing
is he trusted everybody. He trusted you

313
00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:44.039
until you get him wrong. And
that's definitely not always a good thing.

314
00:26:44.839 --> 00:26:48.000
I mean, so that's a bad
thought. Yes, you trust the wrong

315
00:26:48.079 --> 00:26:56.000
people right exactly, Because his best
friend Jeremy told him, man, don't

316
00:26:56.000 --> 00:27:00.000
hang around him. He's bad blood, he's bad business. Don't get into

317
00:27:00.079 --> 00:27:04.480
business with him. And Brandon being
the jokester and whatnot. Ah, man,

318
00:27:04.759 --> 00:27:10.559
it'll be okay, It'll be okay. But Brandon did learn that wasn't

319
00:27:10.599 --> 00:27:15.359
the right person to do business with, and he wanted out of business.

320
00:27:15.880 --> 00:27:21.440
Can you tell me more about your
son's business. These guys went into business

321
00:27:21.440 --> 00:27:25.559
together to sell clothing. Is that
correct? Can you tell me a little

322
00:27:25.559 --> 00:27:30.599
bit more about that endeavor. Yes, it was a clothing line that sold

323
00:27:30.279 --> 00:27:37.680
T shirt, sweatshirts, and hats
is what it's sold. Was there something

324
00:27:37.799 --> 00:27:41.559
unique about what they were going to
do? I mean, were they going

325
00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:48.240
to do something completely different than what
their competitors were doing. They weren't going

326
00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:52.960
to do anything any different. But
the logo is very special. His logo

327
00:27:53.359 --> 00:28:00.240
is M I Y M, which
is making your mission, and it's a

328
00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:07.279
very positive logo, meaning doing the
right thing. He believed that everyone should

329
00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:12.799
not be a crutch to the system. You should take care of yourself.

330
00:28:14.359 --> 00:28:18.559
You should get a job. You
should not live at home. You should

331
00:28:18.599 --> 00:28:23.599
not be depending upon your parents,
but depend upon yourself. And also he

332
00:28:23.640 --> 00:28:30.799
believed, don't hurt somebody else,
don't go being a bully, don't be

333
00:28:30.920 --> 00:28:36.200
disrespectful, don't say the wrong things
to your parents. Talk to your parents

334
00:28:36.240 --> 00:28:41.359
with respect. Being a good citizen, not perfect, but being a good

335
00:28:41.480 --> 00:28:49.079
citizen. And so mem is what
his whole heart he believed in. So

336
00:28:49.240 --> 00:28:53.519
there was a message, Yes,
it was a method. So it sounds

337
00:28:53.559 --> 00:29:03.440
like Brandon wanted to inspire people and
encourage people to do the right thing.

338
00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:12.039
Yes, and he loved reading inspirational
poems, inspirational words because he was an

339
00:29:12.039 --> 00:29:18.400
inspirational person. And so he believed
in that. And that's what his business

340
00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:22.519
was all about. It was to
make money along the way, but still

341
00:29:22.440 --> 00:29:26.400
he would want to tell people to
do the right thing. So make it

342
00:29:26.519 --> 00:29:30.319
your mission to do the right thing. And that's what he spent for.

343
00:29:32.079 --> 00:29:37.119
And what was the partner going to
contribute to the business. Well, in

344
00:29:37.240 --> 00:29:41.160
the beginning, I believe they were
fifty fifty because I know Brandon was giving

345
00:29:41.240 --> 00:29:45.799
him money. Well, the partner
said, I could do this, I

346
00:29:45.799 --> 00:29:48.640
could do that, I could do
all this stuff. But my daughter and

347
00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:56.440
the logo for Brandon. She helped
Brandon with the business. The business partner

348
00:29:57.200 --> 00:30:03.160
told Brandon, I'm to get the
trademark for the logo. He lied to

349
00:30:03.240 --> 00:30:08.759
Brandon. I contacted the federal government
and they explained to me how to look

350
00:30:08.759 --> 00:30:14.079
for the logo. And I looked
online and it never was completed. He

351
00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:18.000
didn't do it. He started the
paperwork, but he didn't do it.

352
00:30:18.279 --> 00:30:22.160
But he was getting money from Brandon. Brandon was doing it out of the

353
00:30:22.200 --> 00:30:26.359
home, but he would take orders
and he would go to the place in

354
00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:33.400
East Lansing to pick up the items, and he would drive around to deliver

355
00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:37.480
or he would have people come to
pick him up. So what was the

356
00:30:37.559 --> 00:30:44.039
business partner doing good question? No
one liked him. He was doing everything,

357
00:30:44.880 --> 00:30:48.720
and so the business partner told Brandon, hey, man, I don't

358
00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:53.359
have time for this business. I've
got a girlfriend and I work at art

359
00:30:53.400 --> 00:30:59.440
Van as a delivery person. I
don't have time for this business. So

360
00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.160
okay, So Brandon continued to sell
and it wasn't anything big. It was

361
00:31:04.240 --> 00:31:11.119
the beginning of something to become big, I believe. But so the business

362
00:31:11.160 --> 00:31:15.720
president tells Brandon, I want some
of that money that you're getting. I

363
00:31:15.799 --> 00:31:19.640
know that you're selling merchandise, and
I hear that you're doing good. I

364
00:31:19.720 --> 00:31:23.960
want some of the merchandise, some
of the money. And Brandon kept telling

365
00:31:25.039 --> 00:31:27.519
him, no, I'm not sharing. I'm not getting you anything. You're

366
00:31:27.559 --> 00:31:33.920
not doing any of the work.
And I never had met the business partner

367
00:31:34.079 --> 00:31:38.440
if he came to the house.
We have a room in our basement where

368
00:31:38.440 --> 00:31:44.119
the kids would hang out at.
Our basement is finished, and Brandon would

369
00:31:44.200 --> 00:31:47.559
hang out with his friends there,
and if you're really close, they made

370
00:31:47.559 --> 00:31:49.799
go upstairs to his room listen to
music. But I never saw the business

371
00:31:49.839 --> 00:31:55.359
partner, so I didn't even know
who he was other than the name.

372
00:31:56.000 --> 00:31:57.640
Well, I don't even think I
knew his name. Come to think of

373
00:31:57.680 --> 00:32:00.960
it, Well, it doesn't sound
like this guy was too special to your

374
00:32:01.000 --> 00:32:06.519
son, because I would think that
if he was that important of a person

375
00:32:06.839 --> 00:32:09.720
in your son's life, he probably
would have at least introduced him to you

376
00:32:09.799 --> 00:32:17.400
and your husband exactly. So I'm
guessing that you probably wondered why he never

377
00:32:17.440 --> 00:32:22.440
made it a point to introduce you
to this guy. Did you ever wonder

378
00:32:22.519 --> 00:32:27.000
that that your son was doing business
with this guy, but yet he never

379
00:32:27.039 --> 00:32:31.039
introduced him to you. Did you
find that suspicious? I did, And

380
00:32:31.079 --> 00:32:35.039
I thought, honestly, I thought
this is only going to be a temporary

381
00:32:35.039 --> 00:32:39.720
thing with him. I thought they
were going to split anyway, because Brendon

382
00:32:39.839 --> 00:32:45.599
was doing all the work. And
as stated, we didn't know that person.

383
00:32:45.960 --> 00:32:52.440
We knew Brandon's friends but we didn't
know him, so it wasn't making

384
00:32:52.480 --> 00:32:57.240
sense. The whole thing just doesn't
make sense. And like I said,

385
00:32:57.319 --> 00:33:00.839
I have even spoken to his best
friends, the people he hung out with.

386
00:33:00.680 --> 00:33:06.880
No one can tell me how Brandon
met him. Who introduced Brandon to

387
00:33:07.079 --> 00:33:12.160
him? I don't even know.
Was it after he got out of high

388
00:33:12.160 --> 00:33:15.720
school or was it his senior year? But I can find that out from

389
00:33:15.720 --> 00:33:22.240
his sister. Because he's close to
his siblings. He would share, you

390
00:33:22.279 --> 00:33:24.160
know, even girl, like I
said, after high school, you know,

391
00:33:24.279 --> 00:33:29.759
got closer with females and whatnot,
and he would get his speak to

392
00:33:29.759 --> 00:33:35.240
his siblings about that. But what
he would say to his parents if he

393
00:33:35.480 --> 00:33:38.119
was talking to someone, he would
let us know who they are, and

394
00:33:38.240 --> 00:33:43.359
he would bring them over and introduce
us. And Brendan did get his heart

395
00:33:43.400 --> 00:33:47.799
crushed really bad with one of them, and so then he would say,

396
00:33:47.839 --> 00:33:52.039
well, man, if anybody else
I bring them over, I'm not even

397
00:33:52.079 --> 00:33:57.759
introducing you to them, Nope,
because I'm not letting them get close to

398
00:33:57.799 --> 00:34:02.400
my mama at all unless I know
this is the one that I'm gonna marry.

399
00:34:02.720 --> 00:34:07.119
And it was not the one I'm
gonna marry. You'll never meet another

400
00:34:07.160 --> 00:34:09.239
one of my friends, and I
never did. I don't need to meet

401
00:34:09.239 --> 00:34:15.199
anyone like that. Now, I'd
like to ask you about the video of

402
00:34:15.239 --> 00:34:20.840
your son with the business partner.
They were walking somewhere and then I guess

403
00:34:20.920 --> 00:34:27.039
something happened to your son afterward,
which is unknown. So I'd like to

404
00:34:27.159 --> 00:34:31.320
start off by having you tell me
about the final night that you and your

405
00:34:31.360 --> 00:34:37.599
son spent together. You all were
having dinner and then he left. Tell

406
00:34:37.639 --> 00:34:42.880
me about that. Oh, the
last day of being with Brandon. It

407
00:34:43.039 --> 00:34:50.000
was June twenty ninth, twenty fourteen. It was my husband's birthday and our

408
00:34:50.039 --> 00:34:54.440
anniversary. So I got married on
my husband, Steve's birthday. But for

409
00:34:54.599 --> 00:35:00.400
Brandon, even on his bitch his
headstone, we put down two thousand,

410
00:35:00.639 --> 00:35:06.360
we put down June twenty eight.
We do not celebrate my husband. We

411
00:35:06.440 --> 00:35:09.639
do not celebrate our anniversary, but
we at least have cake for my husband's

412
00:35:09.679 --> 00:35:15.519
birthday. So the family was all
around in the kitchen, laughing and joking,

413
00:35:15.639 --> 00:35:19.119
and it was getting a little bit
later, and Brandon says, going

414
00:35:19.440 --> 00:35:23.239
to celebrate my friend's birthday party he
started in twenty one, and it's gonna

415
00:35:23.280 --> 00:35:29.280
be on a bus. He had
never been on a party bus before and

416
00:35:29.320 --> 00:35:32.800
so he says, I'm gonna have
a nice time. I'm excited, I'm

417
00:35:32.840 --> 00:35:38.760
really glad I'm going. And we
were going to Florida the next day.

418
00:35:39.280 --> 00:35:45.679
So the next day we were going, but before we left, Brandon gave

419
00:35:45.760 --> 00:35:49.960
me. He always hugged me and
kissed me. Every day. He hugs

420
00:35:49.960 --> 00:35:52.079
and kissed me when he wakes up, if he sees me, he hugs

421
00:35:52.079 --> 00:35:55.360
and kissed me. When he leaves
and he comes back, he hugs and

422
00:35:55.480 --> 00:36:00.880
kiss me if he's going to bed. He loved his mom, he loved

423
00:36:00.880 --> 00:36:05.039
his father too, but it was
just a different relationship with me. So

424
00:36:05.559 --> 00:36:08.079
he gave me hug and a kiss. And I'm a person who's always now,

425
00:36:08.119 --> 00:36:10.519
don't forget to do this, and
don't do this, and don't do

426
00:36:10.559 --> 00:36:15.440
that. That's me. And so
I was telling him, Brandon, please

427
00:36:15.480 --> 00:36:21.639
be careful. I said, don't
take stuff from other people, me talking

428
00:36:21.639 --> 00:36:24.280
about drinks. And he put his
hand up and he said, Mom,

429
00:36:25.079 --> 00:36:30.000
and I'll never ever forget this.
He said, Mom, I got this.

430
00:36:30.599 --> 00:36:35.920
You trained me right, I got
and gave me a hug and a

431
00:36:36.039 --> 00:36:38.280
kiss and teasing me. And that
was the last time I saw my baby.

432
00:36:38.639 --> 00:36:44.480
When Brandon left it would be the
last time that surely would ever see

433
00:36:44.519 --> 00:36:50.000
her son alive. Brandon's body would
be pulled from a river hours after leaving

434
00:36:50.039 --> 00:36:54.239
home. According to the official police
report, he was intoxicated and fell onto

435
00:36:54.280 --> 00:37:00.440
the river and drowned. However,
there's a video of Brandon being with his

436
00:37:00.559 --> 00:37:06.079
business partner before he was found dead. The family doesn't believe law enforcement's theory

437
00:37:06.199 --> 00:37:10.400
about Brandon's death because the business partner
said he saw Brandon and the water,

438
00:37:12.239 --> 00:37:15.880
but oddly enough, he didn't call
nine one one or try to help save

439
00:37:15.960 --> 00:37:22.280
Brandon. He continued to hang out
with his friends and didn't contact law enforcement

440
00:37:22.440 --> 00:37:25.639
or Brandon's family about him being in
the river. We will take a quick

441
00:37:25.679 --> 00:37:45.119
break and return with Shirley discussing her
son's death. So I know Brandon's role

442
00:37:45.440 --> 00:37:50.760
two where the party bus was going
to pick them up? I knew that.

443
00:37:51.719 --> 00:37:54.679
I know there was a party bus. Don't know who all were on

444
00:37:54.760 --> 00:38:01.480
the party bus because the police did
not investigate who was there. I know

445
00:38:01.679 --> 00:38:08.480
that the father of the birthday boy
rented the party bus under the table because

446
00:38:08.480 --> 00:38:15.800
there's no record of it and the
police don't even know the name of the

447
00:38:15.840 --> 00:38:21.679
party bus company. Saul my Son
text his girlfriend that night at one of

448
00:38:21.719 --> 00:38:25.639
the bars and said, they keep
giving me these shots of liquor and I

449
00:38:25.639 --> 00:38:30.000
don't even know them because he didn't
hang out with these people. That's the

450
00:38:30.039 --> 00:38:35.000
other thing. He didn't hang out
with them. This is not his group

451
00:38:35.039 --> 00:38:42.440
of friends. And so who invited
Brandon to this birthday party? The business

452
00:38:42.440 --> 00:38:46.480
partner said he did. The birthday
boy said he did. Well, Brandon

453
00:38:46.599 --> 00:38:51.719
no longer hung around the birthday boy. I mean they went to school together

454
00:38:51.760 --> 00:38:55.119
and they were cool and everything,
but they weren't hanging out, okay,

455
00:38:55.119 --> 00:39:02.079
And just to clarify, the man
having the birthday and the business partner are

456
00:39:02.119 --> 00:39:07.599
two different men, is that correct? Correct? Well, the way that

457
00:39:07.719 --> 00:39:15.599
Brandon even ended up at the party
was the business partner kept I don't know

458
00:39:15.639 --> 00:39:22.159
if it was texting, emailing or
calling or what, but he kept pleading

459
00:39:22.159 --> 00:39:24.000
with Brandon, man, we'll have
such a great time. You gotta go.

460
00:39:24.760 --> 00:39:28.199
Come on. Because they didn't hang
out together. Yeah, they may

461
00:39:28.280 --> 00:39:32.039
meet up somewhere, but they didn't
hang out together. And so he kept

462
00:39:32.039 --> 00:39:35.599
calling them and said, man,
you gotta go, you gotta go to

463
00:39:35.639 --> 00:39:38.480
this party, and Brenda kept saying
no, And like I said, Stephen

464
00:39:38.440 --> 00:39:44.400
and I were leaving to go to
Florida, and little did we know that

465
00:39:44.480 --> 00:39:47.559
our son was going to Battle Creek, which is where his girlfriend lived at

466
00:39:49.639 --> 00:39:52.199
Brendon was going to Battle Creek to
pick his girlfriend up the next day,

467
00:39:52.920 --> 00:40:00.760
and so we didn't know that,
but we found that out later. A

468
00:40:00.800 --> 00:40:04.400
lot of things we found out later, like this whole story, and there's

469
00:40:04.400 --> 00:40:07.360
still pieces of the pie that I
don't know because the police didn't investigate.

470
00:40:08.440 --> 00:40:15.559
I say they did not do a
thorough investigation because at the bars, Brandon

471
00:40:15.639 --> 00:40:20.760
didn't know the boys, and he
got sick and he told them he was

472
00:40:20.800 --> 00:40:23.719
sick, and he threw up a
couple of times. Don't know what the

473
00:40:23.800 --> 00:40:29.599
name of the bars were. Police
didn't find out. Okay, so then

474
00:40:30.440 --> 00:40:34.440
the party bus, Brandon was sick, got back on the bus. Out

475
00:40:34.480 --> 00:40:39.679
of all those kids, even the
birthday boy, why didn't you call somebody?

476
00:40:39.719 --> 00:40:43.920
I mean, everybody knew us,
you know, we were the parents

477
00:40:43.920 --> 00:40:47.000
that are very involved in our kids'
education, So people knew us at the

478
00:40:47.000 --> 00:40:51.599
school. Everybody knew where we lived
at, you know, because we always

479
00:40:51.639 --> 00:40:55.119
had Brandon's friends over here, so
we knew. So how come no one

480
00:40:55.199 --> 00:41:00.880
brought him home. How come nobody
never called us? Nobody knew we were

481
00:41:00.880 --> 00:41:07.199
out of town until later, but
nobody. So they got off of the

482
00:41:07.199 --> 00:41:09.639
bus, and when they all got
off of the bus, they got in

483
00:41:09.719 --> 00:41:14.280
like a circle, talking about where
they're getting ready to go and what they're

484
00:41:14.280 --> 00:41:19.440
gonna do. And so pretend that
you and I are in front of each

485
00:41:19.440 --> 00:41:23.719
other, and I throw up in
front of you, and I say,

486
00:41:23.760 --> 00:41:27.159
I'm sick, man, I gotta
go home. I gotta go home.

487
00:41:28.000 --> 00:41:34.559
And a business partner was on the
side, and so Brandon's lee started walking,

488
00:41:34.960 --> 00:41:37.760
and so the business partner tells this
other boy, Hey, I'm gonna

489
00:41:37.760 --> 00:41:44.239
follow Brandon. This is a mile
and a half walk. You're point twenty

490
00:41:44.280 --> 00:41:51.840
two drunk. So Brandon was intoxicated
and sick and attempted to walk to his

491
00:41:51.920 --> 00:41:58.199
own car, but he ended up
walking in the opposite direction of his car.

492
00:41:59.000 --> 00:42:05.000
So were you saying that the business
partner didn't steer Brandon in the right

493
00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:09.960
direction. He stared him in the
direction opposite of where his car was actually

494
00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:15.320
parked. They turned him away from
the car. They turned Brandon away from

495
00:42:15.360 --> 00:42:20.920
where his car was. Brendon was
reaching in his pockets for his car keys,

496
00:42:21.559 --> 00:42:25.440
and they turned him the opposite way. You could see his car from

497
00:42:25.519 --> 00:42:30.639
where they were. Okay, and
can you tell me more about the party

498
00:42:30.679 --> 00:42:35.760
bus? What was the plan with
What exactly were they going to do once

499
00:42:35.760 --> 00:42:38.360
they got on the bus? Tell
me about that. The party bus took

500
00:42:38.360 --> 00:42:43.880
them to several bars, so then
it was time to go back to where

501
00:42:43.880 --> 00:42:49.079
they started from where they picked up
the bus. So when they got off

502
00:42:49.079 --> 00:42:53.039
of the bus, that's when Brendon
was staying, I need to go home,

503
00:42:53.480 --> 00:42:59.360
corning to Shirley, Brandon was reaching
for his keys and then vomited from

504
00:42:59.360 --> 00:43:04.800
being in talking excated. However,
Brandon's car was across the street from where

505
00:43:04.800 --> 00:43:09.039
the party bus parked, so he
should have easily found his car, but

506
00:43:09.199 --> 00:43:14.840
instead of pointing him to his car, the business partner directed Brandon down the

507
00:43:14.920 --> 00:43:17.159
road and said he was going to
follow Brandon to make sure that he got

508
00:43:17.199 --> 00:43:22.320
home safely. Shortly after, Brandon
would then be found dead in the river.

509
00:43:23.480 --> 00:43:29.000
We will take a final break and
return with Shirley's final thoughts about her

510
00:43:29.079 --> 00:43:49.519
son's questionable death. So Brandon was
intoxicated and did not realize that his car

511
00:43:49.679 --> 00:43:53.719
was actually parked near the party bus. So are you telling me that Brandon

512
00:43:53.840 --> 00:44:00.599
was so inebriated that he didn't realize
this and just walked away from his car

513
00:44:00.320 --> 00:44:07.559
and actually walked the opposite direction away
from his car, and his business partner

514
00:44:08.199 --> 00:44:14.760
was following closely behind him. Right. Yes, but I think there's more

515
00:44:14.800 --> 00:44:17.559
to the story that I don't know, and this is what I believe happened.

516
00:44:19.320 --> 00:44:24.360
I believe that one of the boys
drove Brandon down to the river,

517
00:44:24.880 --> 00:44:30.239
that he didn't walk. I don't
think my son walked a mile and a

518
00:44:30.239 --> 00:44:35.599
half pint twenty two alcohol. Don't
get me wrong. I've been wasted before,

519
00:44:36.280 --> 00:44:40.159
and I know there's no way I
could have done it at night eleven

520
00:44:40.239 --> 00:44:45.559
thirty twelve o'clock at night. There's
no way. And then your clothes aren't

521
00:44:45.599 --> 00:44:50.199
tour no mud or dirt are on
them. Nothing's wrong with your clothes.

522
00:44:50.280 --> 00:44:53.639
And you walk a mile and a
half, even going over and overpass.

523
00:44:54.480 --> 00:44:59.920
How come he didn't fall off the
overpass? And then you're walking. Suppose

524
00:45:00.039 --> 00:45:07.840
the league you're walking and you're passing
all these other houses and apartment and all

525
00:45:07.880 --> 00:45:12.920
the rest of them had a guard
reel up and you end up at the

526
00:45:13.039 --> 00:45:16.679
only one that didn't have a guardrael
everything else had a guard reel, but

527
00:45:16.800 --> 00:45:23.519
this one. So you think that
there's a high probability that someone drove brain

528
00:45:23.639 --> 00:45:30.440
into the river and that he didn't
actually walk because he was probably too intoxicated

529
00:45:30.480 --> 00:45:34.599
to walk that bar. Is that
what you're telling me? Yes, yes,

530
00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:38.639
that's what I'm saying. I believe
they let him off and that's when

531
00:45:38.639 --> 00:45:43.719
he started. You see him running
or walking. Lake let him off just

532
00:45:43.840 --> 00:45:47.559
a little bit before, and he
got out of the vehicle and then he

533
00:45:47.599 --> 00:45:53.159
doesn't know where he's at anyway,
So you can see the two together.

534
00:45:53.400 --> 00:46:00.079
Okay, So the business partner says
he was so intoxicated that he didn't know

535
00:46:00.159 --> 00:46:05.320
where he was at. Hear me, the business partner said he was intoxicated.

536
00:46:05.920 --> 00:46:09.119
Did he look intoxicated to you?
No, he's not. He's on

537
00:46:09.159 --> 00:46:15.639
his cell phone. Who was he
talking to? We don't know because the

538
00:46:15.679 --> 00:46:21.000
police didn't look at his records.
Who's he talking to? Next thing,

539
00:46:21.039 --> 00:46:28.440
you know, they say the business
partner says he heard a splash and he

540
00:46:28.599 --> 00:46:31.920
looked in the river and he saw
Brandon. Now, this is a cliff,

541
00:46:32.880 --> 00:46:36.519
so you have to imagine, like
you know, how you see divers

542
00:46:36.559 --> 00:46:43.559
jumping off of a cliff. This
cliff has trees, branches, rock.

543
00:46:44.519 --> 00:46:47.079
So if Brandon fell off of the
cliff, how come he has no marks

544
00:46:47.079 --> 00:46:52.800
on his body? How come he
has no bruises, no broken bones.

545
00:46:52.719 --> 00:46:59.280
If you were pushed or thrown,
you wouldn't have any of those marks,

546
00:47:00.280 --> 00:47:04.840
but if you fail, you would
have them. And then they found one

547
00:47:04.880 --> 00:47:09.800
shoe and his hat, and there's
a footprint. Now the location you can't

548
00:47:09.840 --> 00:47:14.360
walk. It is not a path
like you're a jogger. It's not a

549
00:47:14.360 --> 00:47:21.840
path. Oh what whose footprint is
this? It's not Brandon's footprint because they

550
00:47:21.960 --> 00:47:27.239
measured. They showed a tape and
Brandon's foot is too small. That was

551
00:47:27.239 --> 00:47:32.000
a size twelve shoe. And then
Brandon's hat, if I believe correctly,

552
00:47:32.079 --> 00:47:37.239
the hat and the shoe is not
down the cliff, you know how like

553
00:47:37.320 --> 00:47:40.880
if you fall, it's going to
fall off, right, It's not like

554
00:47:42.039 --> 00:47:45.760
that. So how can his hat
and his shoes still be on top?

555
00:47:46.440 --> 00:47:52.559
One shoe and his hat? Okay? So the business partner says that he

556
00:47:52.559 --> 00:47:57.880
heard a splash in the river.
So what did he do afterward? He

557
00:47:57.880 --> 00:48:01.400
heard a splash, he said to
me, because I met with him,

558
00:48:01.480 --> 00:48:06.039
He said, he looked at Brandon
in the river, and he said,

559
00:48:06.079 --> 00:48:09.360
and I quote, both of us
aren't gonna be dead. So then he

560
00:48:09.480 --> 00:48:15.760
says, oh, by the way, I was intoxicated and I couldn't see

561
00:48:15.039 --> 00:48:20.199
because I didn't have my glasses on. So Y already liked me, because

562
00:48:20.719 --> 00:48:24.519
how are you going to follow him
if you can't see? So then you

563
00:48:24.639 --> 00:48:29.960
say, but I saw him,
I heard the splash. But you're tell

564
00:48:30.039 --> 00:48:35.199
him the police that I was looking
and I didn't see Brandon. I thought

565
00:48:35.239 --> 00:48:38.559
he went to the bathroom. Oh, could wait a minute. You thought

566
00:48:38.559 --> 00:48:44.599
he went to the bathroom. Where
was the outhouse? Where was it?

567
00:48:45.199 --> 00:48:49.400
Where is it? I didn't see
anything. They didn't show any of that

568
00:48:49.480 --> 00:48:52.599
in the video. Where was it? Oh? I thought he might have

569
00:48:52.679 --> 00:48:57.880
just went over in the bushes And
were the bushes at There's no bushes none.

570
00:48:58.280 --> 00:49:06.400
So ioke the corner twice and asked
him about Brandon Mitchener's autopsy, and

571
00:49:07.760 --> 00:49:13.000
they said there, that's where I
get the no mark, no bruises,

572
00:49:13.920 --> 00:49:17.880
nothing broken on him. And so
that's why I say my son had to

573
00:49:17.960 --> 00:49:24.239
be thrown in the river. And
the police just keep asking me, where's

574
00:49:24.280 --> 00:49:29.559
the proof, where's the proof.
Well, here's the proof. The business

575
00:49:29.559 --> 00:49:34.880
partner went to another party after Brandon
was in the river? How do I

576
00:49:34.960 --> 00:49:39.360
know this? And he was driven
to this party whereas he told the police

577
00:49:39.639 --> 00:49:45.559
he caught an uber. Where on
his phone records does it show you that

578
00:49:45.639 --> 00:49:50.400
he caught an uber? Did you
all call the number? Nope? No,

579
00:49:50.519 --> 00:49:52.559
you didn't call the number. So
how do you know he caught an

580
00:49:52.639 --> 00:49:57.480
uber? Because he told yall that? Okay, So there was a young

581
00:49:57.519 --> 00:50:00.519
man at this party. It was
at an apartment building, and I found

582
00:50:00.519 --> 00:50:07.000
out whose apartment it was, and
a couple of the names who was at

583
00:50:07.079 --> 00:50:12.239
this house party, and the business
partner and two other guys drove up there

584
00:50:13.000 --> 00:50:17.639
in the vehicle. And that's how
the business partner ended up at this place

585
00:50:17.800 --> 00:50:22.880
and not an ooper. So they
all walked into the place and I gave

586
00:50:22.920 --> 00:50:28.280
all this impotitually that they did not
investigate any further. Now, did anyone

587
00:50:28.440 --> 00:50:32.760
call nine one one for help be
your son? No? No, So

588
00:50:32.800 --> 00:50:38.800
then the business partner went on to
another party without calling nine one one,

589
00:50:39.360 --> 00:50:43.960
But yet he knew that Brandon was
in the river, he just went on

590
00:50:43.960 --> 00:50:46.920
to another party. Right, he
didn't even try to get help for your

591
00:50:46.920 --> 00:50:52.639
son? Right? None? And
not only that, how come there is

592
00:50:52.639 --> 00:50:55.960
a house, and okay, the
river is in the middle, and there's

593
00:50:55.960 --> 00:51:00.000
a house on the side of the
river, and there's apartment on the side

594
00:51:00.000 --> 00:51:02.280
out of the river. How come
you didn't knock on the door? How

595
00:51:02.320 --> 00:51:07.079
come you went agreemn hollering I can't
find my friend. He didn't do any

596
00:51:07.119 --> 00:51:09.400
of that. But you had the
cell phone because he was talking to somebody,

597
00:51:09.679 --> 00:51:13.480
because that's in the video, and
he didn't call nine on one.

598
00:51:13.960 --> 00:51:19.800
So at the house, they said
he was pacing the floor and he walked

599
00:51:19.840 --> 00:51:22.360
in there and he said, hey, y'all, we lost Brandon tonight.

600
00:51:22.840 --> 00:51:25.039
How can you say you lost Brandon
tonight? How can you say that?

601
00:51:25.599 --> 00:51:29.559
How do you know you lost them? Couldn't you have said, hey,

602
00:51:29.599 --> 00:51:31.480
I think Brandon went home. He's
not with me, you know what I

603
00:51:31.519 --> 00:51:37.079
mean? Why did you say we
lost Brandon tonight? So then he left

604
00:51:37.360 --> 00:51:42.280
and he came back with a couple
of guys. So then he went to

605
00:51:42.320 --> 00:51:45.880
sleep, you hear me. He
went to sleep, and eleven hours later,

606
00:51:46.639 --> 00:51:50.599
Brandon's girlfriend was looking for him because
he was supposed to have been in

607
00:51:50.639 --> 00:51:57.519
Battle Creek and so the business partner
has a mutual friend and that the girlfriend

608
00:51:57.599 --> 00:52:01.519
knew so she asked this young lady
and it didn't come. He didn't come

609
00:52:01.559 --> 00:52:08.840
here to Battle Creek. So this
young lady had to convince the business partner

610
00:52:09.679 --> 00:52:15.960
to go on Facebook and ask anybody
do they know where Brandon was? Eleven

611
00:52:16.000 --> 00:52:23.440
hours later, he never called the
police. What he did was he called

612
00:52:23.440 --> 00:52:29.280
the police to say do you have
this person locked up? Not that this

613
00:52:29.360 --> 00:52:34.119
person's missing. My daughter found out. My husband and I were the next

614
00:52:34.199 --> 00:52:37.679
day, which was Sunday. We
were on our way to Florida, and

615
00:52:38.599 --> 00:52:43.039
that night we got the phone call
that he was missing from our daughter.

616
00:52:43.800 --> 00:52:46.360
So we told her to call our
friends. We have some close friends here,

617
00:52:47.039 --> 00:52:52.480
and had her call the friends and
then they all Then my daughter contacted

618
00:52:52.679 --> 00:52:58.960
the police that her brother was missing
because of what was on Facebook. So

619
00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:05.440
eleven hours later, you still didn't
call nine one one. What you did

620
00:53:05.679 --> 00:53:10.239
was you got on Facebook saying,
hey, has anybody seen Brandon, not

621
00:53:10.400 --> 00:53:15.519
that he was missing, which strikes
me as odd because if he saw Brandon

622
00:53:15.599 --> 00:53:21.360
the river, why would he need
to go on Facebook and ask if anyone

623
00:53:21.480 --> 00:53:25.559
had seen him. It doesn't make
much sense. Yep, right exactly,

624
00:53:27.039 --> 00:53:30.360
And that concludes the first half of
this tragic story. Do you know what

625
00:53:30.480 --> 00:53:36.440
happened to Brandon Mitchener back in June
of twenty fourteen when he ended up in

626
00:53:36.480 --> 00:53:40.719
a river. Did he actually fall
in and drown or was his death part

627
00:53:40.719 --> 00:53:45.800
of something more sinister. Law enforcement
has ruled that Brandon's death was an accident.

628
00:53:46.440 --> 00:53:52.079
However, Brandon's family disagrees. They
can't understand how he was with a

629
00:53:52.119 --> 00:53:55.920
group of friends and then somehow got
separated from them, and then moments later

630
00:53:57.000 --> 00:54:00.360
he's in a river drowning even stranger, no one called nine to one one

631
00:54:00.480 --> 00:54:05.440
or reached out to the family to
let them know that something had happened at

632
00:54:05.480 --> 00:54:10.000
Brandon. If you know anything about
this case, you can provide your chips

633
00:54:10.239 --> 00:54:16.320
to the Lansing Police Department at five
one seven four eight three four six zero

634
00:54:16.480 --> 00:54:22.800
zero. And for additional information about
this case, please visit the Justice for

635
00:54:22.920 --> 00:54:28.559
Brandon Mitchener Facebook page and if you'd
like to purchase anything from Brandon's clothing line,

636
00:54:29.000 --> 00:54:32.000
there's also a link to the shop
on that page as well. The

637
00:54:32.079 --> 00:54:37.159
family has also offered a reward for
any information that could lead to a break

638
00:54:37.199 --> 00:54:40.239
in this case. I'll be sure
to provide this information in the case story

639
00:54:40.320 --> 00:54:45.760
notes. Be sure to listen to
the conclusion of Brandon's story next week.

640
00:54:45.800 --> 00:54:51.280
And if you are a parent,
law enforcement official, friend, or relative

641
00:54:51.320 --> 00:54:55.119
seeking justice for an unsolved thomicide case, please visit my website and complete the

642
00:54:55.159 --> 00:56:17.719
contact form. You can also contact
me through Facebook. Thank you for listening.