http://www.newstribune.com/articles/2008/0...issingwoman.txt

Authorities piecing together puzzle of missing woman
By Ra'Vae Edwards
News Tribune

Mid-Missouri's most recent missing adult case has law enforcement trying to piece together a 21-month old puzzle.

And family members are fearing the worst.

When 24-year-old Brandi Mathews was last known to be living in the Osage Beach area, her family said she was in fear of the man she was dating, and now they fear he may have had something to do with her disappearance.

Deanna Roberts said the last time she spoke to her daughter was in September 2006, when Roberts took custody of Mathews' then 18-month old son.

“We thought maybe she needed some time to herself,” Roberts said this weekend. “I know she was hurting because she didn't have her son, but I know she knew why we did what we did.”

Roberts said she wanted to give her daughter time to cool off. But after several weeks passed with no phone calls or contact, she began fearing the worst.

“I know Brandi would never go this long without getting in touch with us or her son,” Roberts said. “That's just not the kind of person she is.”



After several weeks passed, Roberts - who lives in Arkansas - said she started contacting Lake area law enforcement officials looking for information about her daughter. Those attempts, she said, were unsuccessful.

Mathews was living in Barnett at one time, so Roberts said she contacted the Morgan County Sheriff's Department to ask for help.

“They told me they would do a well-being check on Brandi and call me back,” Roberts said. “I never heard back from them.”

At the time of her disappearance, Roberts said her daughter had been dating a man from the Eldon area for about two years. Roberts considered him to be a dangerous person who was abusive.

“We knew the life Brandi was living was not a good one,” Roberts said. “We knew it and so did she, but she couldn't get out of it.

“Her boyfriend was controlling and she could not get away from him. She told us that she had been working with the police to get him put away so she could get away from him.”

Mathews' boyfriend is considered to be a person of interest in the case, but law enforcement officials will not release his name. However, family members said the man has had numerous run-ins with the law.

Court records show he has had more than a dozen convictions in Missouri, ranging from traffic violations to drug-related crimes to animal cruelty.

Court documents also indicate the man pleaded guilty to domestic violence involving Mathews in 2006 in Morgan County. He was sentenced to two years' unsupervised probation.

“Brandi always said he was a dangerous man,” Roberts said. “I know she was very scared of him.

“She left him several times, but he wouldn't leave her alone. He would send her text messages and stalk her until she would go back with him.”

But, Roberts said, knowing all of that wasn't enough to get someone to listen to her.

She said she repeatedly was told that her daughter was an adult who had the right to run away if she wanted to.

After multiple attempts, Roberts decided to launch her own investigation.

“I started calling all of Brandi's friends and I kept getting the same response from them,” Roberts said. “Everybody I talked to told me they hadn't heard from her since September 2006. ... Nobody knew anything about where she was.”

Court records show Mathews missed a Sept. 18, 2006, court date for a Payment Review Hearing on a Miller County traffic case.

After months of gathering information, Roberts made a report to the Osage Beach Police Department.

“I took them everything I had found and they listened to me,” she said. “They let me put in a missing persons report on Brandi (last) March and, since then, they have been working with me and keeping me up-to-date on what is going on with her case.”

Anyone who has information about Brandi June Mathews is asked to contact the Osage Beach Police Department at (573) 302-2010.