Crime Weekly - S3 Ep386: Brandy Hall | The Backpack in the Canal and the Skid Steer in the Yard (Part 3)

Episode Date: May 8, 2026

Brandy Lynn Hall was a 32-year-old firefighter and mother of two from Brevard County, Florida, who vanished on the evening of August 17th, 2006, after leaving her volunteer fire station in Malabar. The next day, her prized green pickup truck was found deliberately submerged in a nearby pond with a significant amount of her blood inside but no trace of Brandy herself. As time went on, scattered personal items surfaced miles away, but no body, no clear timeline, and no definitive suspect ever emerged. Despite connections to her husband’s recent drug case, a long-term affair with a fellow firefighter, and a series of investigative missteps, Brandy’s disappearance remains one of Florida’s most mystifying unsolved cases. Try our coffee! - www.CriminalCoffeeCo.comBecome a Patreon member -- > https://www.patreon.com/CrimeWeeklyShop for your Crime Weekly gear here --> https://crimeweeklypodcast.com/shopYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CrimeWeeklyPodcastWebsite: CrimeWeeklyPodcast.comInstagram: @CrimeWeeklyPodTwitter: @CrimeWeeklyPodFacebook: @CrimeWeeklyPod 

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to Crime Weekly. I'm Stephanie Harlow. And I'm Derek Lavasser. And we are diving into the third and final part of the Brandy Hall series. And I mean, we should just get right in. Yeah, I mean, we're part three here. By now, if you haven't heard about this case, you got to go back and watch it. Yeah, if you don't know what we're talking about. There's a lot that's happened. So you're going to be lost. All right. So we kind of finished up last time discussing how. how Brandy's truck was found, the condition of it, what was inside of it. And then they were kind of looking at suspects.

Obviously, her husband, Jeff Hall, would have been at the top of the list, but also her affair partner of over 10 years, Randall Richmond. And then we talked about how Randall's truck, his fire captain's truck, was spotted nearby where Brandy's truck would be found in the pond. and that there was a police officer, Jasmine Campbell, who saw Brandy's truck in the Home Depot parking lot, which was basically right next to the gas station where Randall's fire captain truck was found, even though Randall says he never left the station that night. Now, things kind of, they died down after this because, I guess they didn't have evidence. They really, you know, they couldn't really arrest or do anything because there wasn't enough to do anything. But then about a year after Brandy Hall vanished, a discovery was made roughly 30 miles south of Malabar in Vero Beach along Florida's east coast.

On June 24, 2007, several teenagers were hanging out near one of the area's many canals. They were smoking pot. And then they noticed something in the water. They pulled it closer and they realized it was a camouflaged backpack. And when they opened the backpack, they found a strange collection of items. There were a few pieces of clothing, several small steel squares, some pornographic DVDs, a tube of erection cream, and an address book. The name inside that address book was Brandy Hall. The teenagers called the police, but according to reports, no one came.

Later that same day, one of the teens searched Brandy's name online and realized she'd been missing for nearly a year. He called the police again, and this time, they responded. Now, what made the backpack especially important and interesting was its condition, police noted that the ink inside the address book had not completely smeared, which suggested the bag had not been submerged in the canal for the entire year Brandy had been missing. In other words, someone may have disposed of it much more recently. And that matters because this wasn't just any backpack. This was reportedly the bag that Brandy used to keep her prescription medication in. It was believed that she'd kept a firearm in it at one point.

And when the backpack was recovered, neither the medication nor the firearm was inside. Also missing was a radio from the Malibar Fire Department, a radio that was not found in the backpack or in Brandy's truck or at the original scene. So retired Palm Bay Detective Ernie Dybul, who was in charge of the case when the backpack was found, he later explained that several detectives, along with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, went down to Vero Beach to interview the people who had recovered the bag and also the people responsible for managing the canals. According to DiBel, the backpack had not simply been floating freely. It had become hung up near what he described as a lock or a small dam. And the person who managed that canal area told the investigator something very significant. Shortly after Brandy disappeared in 2006, Tropical Storm Ernesto had prompted officials to drain the canals in preparation for heavy rain and possible flooding.

Because of that, the canal manager believed the backpack likely had not been there at the time. if it had been, he felt it probably would have been found. So now investigators had a troubling scenario. Brandy disappeared in 2006. The canals were drained shortly afterward. Nothing was found. Then nearly a year later, her backpack appears in that same canal system, containing personal items, her dress book, video,

several small metal pieces believed to be connected to her welding work. And that raises the obvious question. Were those metal pieces placed inside the backpack to weigh it down? Former investigator Mike Pousetieri said they could not explain how the backpack ended up there. He said there were no cameras in the area, it was rural, and the canal ran parallel to an orange grove. So when asked whether the metal plates may have been used to make the bag sink, Pusetary said that was probably the case because there did not appear to be any other reason for them to be

inside. The backpack has become a strange and important part in Brandy's case. It was not found near her truck. It was not found near the original scene. it was found miles away in a canal, apparently weighed down long after she disappeared. So how did it get there? Did Brandy have it with her when she left that night? Did she meet someone and leave it somewhere?

Did someone else take it, remove certain items from it, like her prescriptions, her firearm, her firefighter radio, and then disposed of it later? Now, remember then the first part of the series, we talked about how Brandy had been in a bad ATV accident when she was just 11 years old, which led to a broken job, broken cheekbones. and a skull fracture, after which she had gone through an over 10-hour surgery and spent a month in the hospital. Not only had this accident left Brandy with permanent scarring, but she had to go through more surgeries as she got older, and she suffered from constant migraines. At the time of her disappearance, Brandy was taking non-narcotic medications for the headaches, and this was something she had to take several times a day, and if she didn't have her meds nearby, she would panic. She usually kept her meds in a smaller black bag, kind of like a cross-body bag, that she kept in the

a book bag that was pulled out of the canal 30 miles away from where she lived. So another important item, like I said, that was missing from Brandy's belongings was her radio from the Malabar Volunteer Fire Station. It hadn't been in her car, I mean her truck. It wasn't in that book bag. And when police searched Brandy's lacquer at the station, it wasn't in there either. I mean, listen, I don't know where this is going to go. I haven't read the script, but it's very clear that there was human intervention here.

Somebody dumped that bag here. If it wasn't Brandy, it was the person responsible for whatever happened to Brandy. But I want to focus for a second on what was in the bag and not necessarily what isn't. That's also important. I think two things you mentioned, not to oversimplify the evidence in the bag other than the metal pieces, was the fact I believe you mentioned, if I wrote this down correctly, that there was pornographic material and also erection medication or lotion. Erection cream. The erection cream would not be for her unless side of it. just my biology lessons are completely off.

You can correct me if I'm wrong on that, Stephanie, but also the pornographic material. Listen, when we think about infidelity cases and we talk about them, if you have someone who's disguising going to work or on vacations as an opportunity to rendezvous with the person you're having the affair with, you may sometimes pack a bag or have something nearby where you can throw it in your car or wherever to meet up with this person. And depending on what you're engaging in, that might be a common occurrence,

It's where you're throwing on porn and you have this erection medication or cream for when you're having these sexual encounters with these people. And so if this is Brandy's bag, which it is, you have to ask yourself, why would she have those items in her bag? I think the simple answer would be, would be for whoever she's seeing. And then the question would be, well, who was she seeing at that time? Those are things that I would ask. It sounds like an oversimplification. I know it would, but I think that's important. I don't think everything has to be this super secretive thing that you have to unpack.

Just look at it on the surface level. That bag, at least partially, was being used to transport items that she was using with someone. And the erection lotion would be clearly a male counterpart. You kind of sound like she kept the backpack in her car at all the time. Correct. You hear what I'm saying? Where that would be, quote, unquote, her work bag. And you wouldn't want it in the house, right?

That way, like, your husband wouldn't, like, be going through a book bag or putting stuff away and being like, Brandy, why do you have these porn DVDs and erection cream? Like, these aren't mine. If it was Jeff's, it would be with Jeff at the home. If that was something that they were engaging in, then you would expect to find that in the medicine cabinet or by the bed, whatever the case may be, right? To each their own. But the fact that she's bringing porn and erection cream in her backpack,

it's not a normal occurrence, and it's probably something that was in there all the time, like you just mentioned. And we have to imagine that this was going on for 10 years. And apparently Jeff wasn't in on it, so they were doing some stuff to kind of, to sneak around and engage in the sexual relationship. And so it probably would be when she was saying she was going to work or training or whatever,

and she'd have to have those items accessible to her in her car. So it wasn't obvious that she says, hey, I'm going to work and she's bringing these bags or whatever it is. I mean, just that you don't want to bring that book bag inside because Jeff's not going to go and search through your truck while you're at home. And every time you leave the home, your truck's with you, which means a book bag's with you. Which is why it's important to continue the, and you had said, you had mentioned, and I'm sure this is the case, like to develop a very strong profile on Brandy to understand everything that was going on her life at that time. She was clearly having an affair with Randall. Was there anybody else? That's an important question to ask because that would be the only other person that this cream they belong to.

I don't know how she would have time for another person. With Jeff, with Randall, and she's working like three jobs, and she's got kids. I don't know if she would have time for another person. And I also, without knowing Brandy, just, but you know, we've covered cases like this before. And you'd see also signs of that in her cell phone. Like if you saw signs of her talking to Randall in her cell phone, then why not the other guy? I don't think a 10-year affair is a sexual transaction. This was a relationship, as we have established.

I truly believe she had feelings for Randall, and the plan was to eventually be with Randall. And so I don't think she was sleeping with someone else. I think the only person that it would make sense that she was watching these videos with or using that cream with would be, would be Randall. Because to her it wasn't just sex. And that's clear based on some of the behaviors you talked about at the food festival where she was upset by the idea of just Randall being with his wife. This wasn't just sex. It was emotional as well. And there was a plan.

There was a plan to be together, at least on Brandy's side of things. Yeah, I mean, I agree with you for sure. That's what I think she wanted, especially with Jeff going to, to, to, to prison for an under-term amount of time, but sometime. Yeah. I'm going to be alone. You've made it clear you don't love your wife. What better time than now? Well, in 2007, the police talked to Randall Richmond about Brandy's bag being found. Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent Wayne Ivy told Randall that they had the backpack, and quote, we've got the cellular telephone companies working with us, triangulating everybody's telephone record. We've got a number of things that

are coming to the table now, DNA, the backpack, and everything is being tested for DNA. because being submerged in water doesn't do it. It doesn't get rid of it. There's a lot of things even DNA that's being taken from some mandalay erection cream that was found in the backpack." So at this point, I think they're bullshit Randall, okay? Number one, because triangulation would, you'd have to know when somebody put that bag in there in order to try, you can't just like... Also, where in the creek? Yeah.

And also, you have no idea when that part, you know it was after the canals were drained and they refilled, but that's... several months. Yeah. Right. So you would have no idea. You'd have no way of actively triangulating. I mean, I guess you could try to figure out if Randall had ever been to that location. Oh, that's how I was, yeah. So that's how I was looking at it. You're talking 30 miles away. And so if Randall doesn't have a reason for being out in that area with that triangulation, you would have three towers where there would be a diameter, a radius in which the cell phone in that area of that creek would have to connect to one of those cell. towers. So if he has no business for being out there and they're able to put him there after

the hurricane, there's definitely some questions. But the DNA side of things, I want to talk about that for a second because initially my first thought is they're bullshitting him because the DNA would be affected by water. We had that Don a little strangler. However, the lotion is interesting. Inside maybe, like where it's capped. It's capped, but also, right? Like if he's applying it on himself when I use toothpaste or lotion or whatever, you spray, you know, you squeeze out a little bit, you rub your hand along it, if it's not a toothbrush, right? And then the remainder goes sucked back into the bottle itself. So if that cap is airtight, then I guess the DNA could be preserved under that cap. So maybe that's what they're referring to. Well, I mean, they're definitely bullshit

him, I think, with the triangulation. Why wouldn't you? No. They don't know when they went in there, so that would be very difficult. No, but hey, listen, That's the game, right? Yeah. I know some people don't like it, but lying is a part of it. But as far as the touch DNA, yeah, I mean, you'd have to hope that the water and is it an airtight cap? What type of backpack is it? Is it a military-style bag that has like a waterproof lining to it?

I don't know. You know, that also could play a factor. I don't know. Yeah. But either way, they said that they were like, we found this mandalay erection cream. And Randall whispered back, Mandalay erection cream. And then William and Ivy asked if they were going to find. his DNA anywhere in that backpack and he said quote I honestly believe you're not going to find my

DNA in that backpack end quote which I thought was a weird way to word it like why wouldn't you just say no I honestly believe you're not going to find my DNA in that backpack it doesn't sound too sure I would also be checking his medical records I'd be trying to get I know HIPAA and stuff you'd have to get a search warrant but is he known to have ED is he known to have an erectile dysfunction I mean that's when you go to Anne Marie you know and you're like listen yeah that too but what they're not having sex, you know, what if it's like, you're far and few between? Yeah, why are they not, right? Listen, Ann Marie, like,

we found Brandy's backpack. There was erection cream in it. Does Randall have some issues in the bedroom? Yeah, does he use a particular brand if he does? Because at that point, she's, if he does, she's going to put two and two together and be pissed and she could be like, yeah, that he can't get it up to save his life, you know, absolutely, and then she'll throw him under the bus.

I agree. And it seems like she, that's the plan, right? Like, she's keeping, Brandy's keeping potentially his cream in her bag. that was their that was their like uh rendezvous bag you know yeah he can't bring it home because in amore he's going to be like well you have this erection cream for we're not having sex yeah right hmm this case is just getting weirder and weirder man so then um florida department of law enforcement agent tom davis asked randall well why don't you think you know we're you're gonna find your touch dna on that book bag or in that book bag like haven't you touched brandy's backpack

when you were around her or with her. And he told Randall that this was called touch DNA. And how would Randall explain if they did find his DNA on something that he had previously touched in Brandy's backpack? Randall said he didn't know what backpack they were talking about. Brandy had two or three backpacks, each with different things in them, quote, one had clothes, one had this, one had business stuff, end quote. So it seems like Randall knows a lot about Brandy's kind of, you know, like her daily

routines. We don't know what he did beforehand. I mean, if he is responsible for the bag, he could have sprayed the thing down with or doused it in alcohol peroxide before throwing it in the water. Because he didn't get rid of it right after Brandy's truck was found. There could have been some precautionary measures taken to ensure that even if it were found, everything would be cleaned. So you held onto it for a little while, which I think is curious. But Wayne Ivy again asked Randall if there was any reason his DNA would be on anything in Brandy's backpack, like the erection cream. And Randall said, quote, no, my DNA should not be on any erection cream. The affair she and I had was years before that, end quote. Now remember, this interview is happening in

2007. And at that time, Randall was still maintaining to the police that he and Brandy had only had sex one time. Yeah. And that this had happened a long time before Brandy went missing. But it wasn't until years later during an interview with Sid Liddo and Doc Jones that Randall would finally admit that he and Brandy had been intimate more than one time. And I think this was after after he and Anne Marie divorced. So maybe that's kind of why he was like holding on to that information, despite the obvious, which he didn't want people to know how, like, close he and Brandy were

and how intimate of a relationship they had. But once again, a weird way to answer, like, is your DNA going to be on anything like that erection cream? No, my DNA should not be on any erection cream. Shouldn't be. Yeah. If it is, I'll be as surprised as you. It shouldn't be because I cleaned the bottle beforehand.

And, no, I mean. Yeah, it shouldn't be. It shouldn't be. If you weren't having sex with her, then that's a pretty straightforward no. Yeah, no, it won't be. I've never. No, it won't be. The last time we had sex was four years ago.

No, it won't be. I have no issues in that department. Won't be me. Yeah, that should be your, but that's not what he said, Derek. No, it shouldn't be. That's not what he said because I think, I think that he knew it was, you know, documented in some place with his wife or whatever that maybe he did have it. issues in that area. Right? So he didn't want to be like, well, I don't have issues in that area. So that can't, my

DNA definitely can't be on that. He said, no, instead of saying that, he said, we had sex years ago. Yeah. So maybe, like, on an erection cream she was using years ago, but not this one. Why would she keep the same erection cream for years? No, I mean, he's definitely not being completely forthright. The reason behind that, we can all take a guess at that. But he's not being honest. And we know that because, like you just said, later on, he would came out and admitted he wasn't being honest about that in their relationship. All right. So now let's talk about Brandy's radio, the one from the Malabar Fire Department, the one that has never been found along with her prescription medicine, her gun, and her body. So the police would discover that Randall Richmond had a portable Paxat radio, a handheld

two-way radio that a firefighter or first responder would carry with them so they can listen to the fire department traffic or communicate with the station at all times. Now, the night Brandy went missing, Randall turned his Paxat radio on at 12.30 a.m. And so the police asked him, why did you turn on your portable, you know, radio? Like, why would you do that? And Randall said that it was so he could see what was going on in the city. Most likely he was referring to the police channels. Like, oh, he just wanted to see, you know, were there any police chases or what kind of crime was going on.

But get this, because it was discovered that there was already a radio in the fire captain's room at the station that scanned all those same channels. So if Randall never left the fire station that night, why would he have needed to turn on his portable radio? Why wouldn't he have just used the main one at the station that was located in the fire captain's room? What could it be because he wasn't at the station? And he wanted to know if there was some fire emergency happening at the station, which

would in turn reveal that he wasn't at the station when things went down and his crew tried to find him so that they could go out on a call. You know, he wants to make sure that there's not like a call happening. that way he can get away from wherever he is and get somewhere. And then if the crew's like, oh, where were you, Randall? There was a call. He was like, oh, I was just grabbing a coffee. See, I have a coffee, you know?

Yeah. He could know, like, what story to come back with at the least. But. Yeah, I mean, listen, being in the fire station, if there's a call that comes in, first off, I don't know the dynamic of that relationship, but I will tell you as a sergeant myself, I had my radio on me at all time so I can hear if an officer needed me. But the fire department's a little different because when these calls come in, most of the time a truck's going out.

The captain isn't usually sitting in the dispatch room listening to the radio. And if they're needed, they're called upon. And if there's something that requires his attention where he has to go out in that supervisor's vehicle, it's put over the intercom. It's all hands on deck. They let everybody know. I could make an argument that he had the portable radio on him because he was in an area of the facility where he didn't have access to it. It doesn't seem like it'd be the common practice. What's more common?

And I've actually seen this in my professional career when I've stumbled upon other firefighters or police off duty where they have their police radio or their fire radio on in the car when they're meeting up with someone that they shouldn't be because here's the thing. You're a police officer. You're off duty. You're meeting up with someone in a jurisdiction that you're familiar with that you shouldn't maybe be with. There may be a call that comes in from a passerby or a neighbor who says, hey, there's a suspicious view. vehicle at the park right now or in this parking lot, can someone go check on it? You don't want to be there when they show up. So you have the radio on so you can hear those things so that if you hear something come over the radio that's requiring your department to show up, you can get out of there

before they do so. But on the other hand, what you said is also very true, where if he's not at the station, those things that I just laid out where he would be in the building if a call came over the intercom, he's not in the building. So if there's a structure fire that happens on the other side of town and he's in the car with with brandy allegedly right he needs to be able to get out of there quickly by having that radio on in the car because he's still on duty so this is something that we've definitely seen before yeah he's still on duty so if there's a fire and he's not at the station and he can't hear he has to have his portable radio and that way he can still show up if he didn't show up at all and then she ends up dead well there's your alibi completely gone forever can we add

another layer to that if he's out in his SUV if he's out in the second secondary vehicle that we established was in the back lot. If he's in his car, there's a, there's a radio system in all of those vehicles. The only time you would need your portable radio on if you're inside the car is if you get out of the car. And as we've kind of laid out here, that truck was parked at Hess and it was unoccupied. So if hypothetically, it was him driving that vehicle and he knew he was going to be leaving for an extended period of time, well, he wouldn't have access to the radio in the truck, would he? So we'd have to It's going to be in Brandy's car for an hour or so or whatever while they chat, kiss, whatever.

And again, even we don't know if he's the person who was with her that night, although it's not looking good. But based on what we have learned, it's pretty fair to say that they probably met up a few times during work hours to have this affair. I agree. And this was a common practice where he would probably take the secondary vehicle. He would take his portable radio. And he would be available but quote unquote unavailable for a period. period of time. I absolutely agree. So you do think like him turning it on at 1230. It kind of, it looks like he was not at the station. No doubt. No doubt. Or he was not at the station or,

yeah, I mean, more than likely not the station. Because again, as a supervisor, they would be able to get a hold of you. And the radio actually is on the intercom through the station. Like, this is a common thing. It's not something that like would be specific to only certain stations. So yeah, normally as a supervisor, you wouldn't need that portable radio on unless you were heading out on the road. All right. So this interview in 2007 was the last time that Randall Richmond ever spoke to the police, even though he was asked to come in multiple times after for follow-ups and he also refused to take a polygraph. So almost a year after Brandy's backpack was found, her firefighter helmet was found floating in a marina near Mathers Bridge in Indian Harbor Beach, a few miles north of Malabar. Now, reportedly, the police decided that this helmet had nothing to do with Brandy's disappearance because it wasn't her Malabar fire helmet.

It had been the helmet she'd used years back when she'd worked as a volunteer at the Halipaw Fire Department. And Brandy's husband, Jeff, said that the helmet was kept at their welding shop in West Melbourne. So Detective Mike Pousetieri claims he doesn't think the helmet is connected because it would not have been in Brandy's truck. It was, quote, an old helmet that her kids would play with. I believe it was stolen or taken from what essentially looked like a trash pile behind the business and somebody discarded it and it ended up there. I mean, he would know more than us, but that's what a coincidence, right? Because it just doesn't sit right with me. I'm sure he went down this road.

And maybe there was some truth of what he was saying here where it's a crazy coincidence, but it is exactly how it looks. I don't know. It kind of seems like he doesn't know, but based on where it was. That's what he's assuming. It's like how, yeah, because the welding shop was in Melbourne. And this was found a few miles away from Malibar. So we've got three different bodies of water that are going to eventually reveal three different, you know, items connected to Brandy Hall, her truck, her backpack, and her helmet. And then it brings me back to the metal squares that were in Brandy's backpack, right?

They were like, oh, we think that they were intentionally placed in the backpack to weigh it down. But they also said that those metal squares were connected to her welding work, which is the welding shop in West Mollinger. Elborn, right? And so small squares of metal, by the way, used in welding can be surprisingly heavy. Like, they could be small, but they're... Especially depending on how thick they are, throw a couple of them in there. We have little metal blocks that were used in our buoyancy vest for scuba diving. Throw a couple of those on, and you're going right to the bottom. So if they're heavy, why would Brandy be carrying heavy pieces of metal around in her backpack for no reason? I wouldn't be comfortable to say that.

It doesn't make any sense. So if they were put there intentionally to weigh the back back down and you think they're connected to her work at the welding shop. Well, who had access to them? Where did they get the welding squares from? Did the person who brought harm to Brandy Hall pay a visit to her welding shop that night or sometime after in order to collect the metal squares thinking that they would be something no one would be surprised to find in the backpack if it was ever found because it's connected to her welding work?

And also while they were there grabbing the metal squares to weigh the backpack down, they grabbed the helmet, you know, for whatever reason, maybe that person didn't realize the helmet was an old one. And after the backpack was found, they wanted to get rid of the helmet and some other random body of water to throw police off any track or scent or just confuse the investigation. It doesn't make sense to me. The backpack was found in Indian River County. The helmet was found at Indian Harbor Beach. Now, that once again could be a coincidence, but I thought I'd mention it. They're not the same location. They just have the same kind of name. Worth mentioning. That's for sure. you could be in a scenario where whoever's responsible is there's a deliberate act here where

they're trying to diversify evidence so that even if one item is found, it's not the whole treasure chest of information that detectives would need. Or maybe they threw the old helmet, knowing it was an old helmet and it wasn't in her truck, but threw it in there thinking that nobody else would put that together and then they'd be focused on like the wrong location. Yeah. I think that's also possible. I mean, listen, I would assume for investigators to come out,

depending on the level of confidence that this was vetted, to determine where it would have last been. But the metal pieces to me are more interesting because we've established this particular backpack contained items that more than likely was used to hold items that would have been used during sexual interactions with somebody, assuming a person she was having a consistent affair with. So to your point, in that backpack,

would you also put metal pieces? Maybe you would. Maybe you would to kind of, again, depending on how things were thrown in that bag, maybe the thought process was to kind of bury those items at the bottom and put metal pieces over the top in case Jeff open the bag. I think there's a lot of other things that are more practical and not as heavy that you could put over the top, like a makeup bag or. But if I told you that was true, like if Brandy came out and said, yeah, no, I covered

it in metal shrapnel above it so that like, you know, you'd have to dig through the metal. the welding shop. Wouldn't he be like, what the hell are you doing? Karen around metal pieces of your book bag, Brandy? That's heavy as hell. Case I got to weld something up, Jeff. That's heavy as hell. And she's like, how do you think I maintain these guns? Also, that was something that crossed my mind where some people use the weighted vest and weighted backpacks. I don't know. Yeah, but she's not hiking around with it. It's like sitting in her car, you know, like strategically, you don't want that to be heavy. I'm just coming from the angle of if there's a suspect here and he's connected or even not

connected to her. Would you run the risk of going to the shop after killing her to grab these metal pieces when you could just grab a rock from a side of the road? Well, I think he wanted the metal pieces to almost look like maybe it's Jeff that did it, right? I guess. That's a stretch. Or maybe they're just that Brandy had a welding shop, so she just had pieces of metal. Yeah. Somebody trying to weigh them down. Maybe she just did, you know what I mean? Yeah, where if you put rocks in there, it's obvious somebody tried to weigh it down. Yeah. So then why not just burn the bag? And it wouldn't, I don't know. Right. I mean, I'm not trying to. trying to give people ideas here.

You don't want the erection cream to explode? Who knows if that's fun or not? Oh, that's disgusting. Yeah, I don't know. Randall, it wouldn't have been weird for him to be at the welding shop. Remember that Jeff was like, yeah, it was always funny because people were like, oh, Brandy and Randall are at a hotel right now. And he was like, and Randall was sitting there talking to me at the welding shop.

So Randall went to the welding shop. He knew where it was. They were all friends. Not great friends, apparently. Now, according to retired detective Sid Lidot, the police considered arresting Randall Richmond on obstruction charges. based on the fact that he had initially lied. But then according to Sid, someone at City Hall got involved and told law enforcement

not to do this. So this is a lot of speculation where it's like, how did Randall get away with things? And it was kind of like even a year before he had a full interview and nobody really ever pressed him. And there was certain things where we tried to find out what he was doing. And we were kind of blocked. Like did Randall have somebody in law enforcement higher up who was kind of making sure that he didn't get in trouble.

I haven't found anything to support this. But, yeah, I mean, we already talked about a few instances where it was like, yeah, maybe, you know, it doesn't seem like as far as the local, not the Florida Department of Law Enforcement aspect, but as far as local goes right away, there wasn't really things done that that should have been done. Like the fact that Randall got rid of his cell phone, you know, like did you ask him where he got rid of the cell phone? Like, did you go and try to retrieve the cell phone? Why didn't you ask him for his cell phone records at that point? Little things like that that it just didn't seem happen because maybe he wasn't seen as a suspect right away.

But in February of 2009, a New England-based search and rescue group conducted a search in the area near the Brevard County Community College campus where Brandy's truck had been found. According to Fox Orlando, the search was started after one of the investigators on the case notified Fred Golba about several new areas of interest the police wanted to check out. but it wasn't yet necessary to bring in the full resources of law enforcement since the areas in question had been searched in the past. Golba said he viewed the search as an opportunity to train his people and his search dogs in realistic conditions, and he was utilizing new equipment and search techniques along with an underwater infrared camera that would scan several waterways. Golba said that there were concerns that Brandy's body might have been buried under truckloads of dirt that they hauled in to create the dam in order to drain the pond to search for Brandy two years prior. Because remember I said that they basically drained half at a time. So they brought in a lot of dirt.

And then they put all that dirt like on one side of the dam, on one side of the lake or the pond. And then basically so they could search one side at a time. But now they were like, well, maybe we buried her body with that dirt. So let's use the infrared camera and we'll figure it out. Now they used a pole to poke holes in the area where the dirt was poured while three different dogs waited to possibly catch a scent of human remains. the dogs never did hit on any scent, and it doesn't look like they didn't really find anything in that search, right? I mean, that doesn't mean her body wasn't there. It just means, I really don't think her body was there.

They've done a lot with that pond. They've drained it. They've done searches. I don't think her body's in that pond. I don't think so either. I think there was probably a deliberate attempt to move things to different locations. Yeah. But without knowing the layout, it's hard to say definitively.

I mean, even the backpack, they say that it wasn't in the creek before the hurricane. That's possible. I think it's likely, but it doesn't mean it's right, right? They also could have missed it. They weren't specifically looking for said backpack. So is it possible they didn't see it? Yeah, of course it is. Well, that same year, the Palm Bay Police Department contacted noted forensic psychologist Richard Walter.

Walter was the head of the V-Doc Society, a Philadelphia-based invitation-only group of forensic experts, investigators, profilers, medical examiners, psychologists, and other specialists who review cold cases. Their stated role is not to take over investigations, but to provide free expert assistance to law enforcement when invited. And they described themselves as a catalyst for agencies working unsolved murders. So Richard Walter was one of the three co-founders of the V-Doc Society. along with forensic sculptor, Frank Bender, and FBI Customs Investigator, William Flesher. So Walter was known publicly as a forensic psychologist and criminal profiler, and for years he was presented as one of the major minds behind the group's profiling work.

Palm Bay Detective Ernie Diable asked Walter to take a look at Brandy's case, and he received an email back on November 30, 2009, that said, quote, In brief, while the investigative effort has eliminated almost every tangible lead, it remains that the primary person of interest has received only nominal attention. That is, as suggested in at least four interviews, and Richmond is the primary suspect that cannot be excluded by motive, method, and opportunity. Furthermore, the situational deceptions presented to the investigators, be it commission and or emission, indicate that Randall Richmond has knowledge and has some complicity with the same, end quote. That's interesting.

I mean, first off, VDAC society is right behind. us at CrimeCon this year. I was looking at the booth setups. They're directly behind us, and a lot of their investigators are from the Philadelphia area or have worked in the Philadelphia area at one point. I understand what they're saying here as far as Anne is concerned means motive opportunity. She would have a reason behind this if she figured something out. My question back to them would be, well, what about the fire truck then? Is that just a coincidence that that happened to be there at that time? Also, Randall is complicit or no something. Yeah, well, yeah, that part were on the same page. The end thing, I would go the angle of

maybe she knows more about his behavior in the past, like what research has she done to kind of figure out what Randall was involved with, specifically with Brandy, and was she aware that he had been leaving work to go to these specific locations? Was there, was there an investigation conducted by her that may be advantageous to the investigation being conducted by law enforcement now? I don't necessarily think she's directly involved. I also think that looking at Brandy, I haven't seen Ann, I think Brandy would have beat me up.

So I feel like in a disagreement or an argument or a physical altercation, Brandy would have won that side of it. But if there's a weapon involved, that is the ultimate equalizer, I think they're leaning more. I think they're trying to cover their bases like I often do.

But at the same time, I think they are leaning towards Randall as much as we are. They're just trying to cover all bases. Well, I mean, if Anne-Marie Richmond was suspicious enough to conduct an investigation, I have no doubt that she would have figured out the everything, right? And listen, don't mess with a wife. Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

Like, if you have a wife who's suspicious enough to take time out of her busy life to start trying to figure out what you're doing and who you're talking to and what you're lying about, then it's over. It's over. She knows everything. Yeah. She's on. it's a bloodhound with a scent, it's over for you. It's literally over. And they also know your mannerisms, your behaviors.

So when you're off at all, they're 10 times what a detective would be. Because we talk about developing baselines during interrogations. They have the ultimate baseline. They have the ultimate baseline. And then suddenly you're like, okay, this date. Oh, I remember that date. Randall came home and his energy is weird. And he was an hour late.

And he said he was at work. Took a shower right away or whatever. Yeah. But now I'm seeing that actually his car was. was located in the, yeah, exactly. So that's what the V-Doc Society said, at least. Now, in August of 2011, it was reported that Brevard County was seeking the help of the FBI to help them reinvestigate Brandy Hall's case.

Detective Ernie Dybul spoke to the media. He told them that the case was solvable, and, quote, someone out there knows something, end quote. He was also like, hey, we know that when Brandy left the fire station the night she disappeared, she made one call to Randall Richmond. He was dropping names. okay and ernie diable mentioned that the police were interested in talking to randall again as well as his wife anne marie quote since he was last spoken to there have been a number of things that came up new things that we

would like to speak with him and see what he has to say about it also we'd also like to have his dna and fingerprints to compare to some things we have end quote so maybe the police were able to get some touch dna off the stuff in brandy's backpack but randall never gave his dna so they couldn't compare police said that they wanted randum and Anne Marie to take polygraphs, and they wanted to look more into the public argument that had happened between Brandy and Anne-Marie Richmond. News reporters then went to Randall's house, and he was home, and he answered the door, and he told them that when he had last talked to Brandy, she had told him she was leaving, and he said he was surprised the police still wanted to talk to him, and he said that neither he nor his wife were anywhere around or had anything to do with it. In fact, Randall said, quote, neither of us were anywhere around. Neither one of us had anything to do with it. They've said that, end quote.

And when I think he's saying they, he's talking about the police. And in response, Detective Ernie Diebel said, quote, I can't rule them out because of their statements. I wouldn't say they're incomplete, but there's still more questions to be asked and answered. End quote. So it had been announced by law enforcement that Jeff Hall, Brandy's husband, had been ruled out as a suspect. And Randall said he didn't understand why the police were having such a hard. time ruling him and his wife out as well. Randall said he had just had knee replacement surgery and he couldn't talk to reporters for long. But when asked what he thought it happened to Brandy,

he said, quote, sometimes I think she's somewhere hidden in the woods. Sometimes I think she fell in foul play, wrong hands. End quote. So that's interesting. And before he passed away, retired detective Sid LaDoe, he said he had ruled Anne-Marie Richmond out, at least in his mind. He said that he had talked to several people, and he believed that Anne-Marie had gone home right home after she got out of her shift at the hospital at 11 p.m. And Anne-Marie was known to religiously go home right after work because she and Randall had three sons together and she wanted to make sure they were in bed and not burning the house down. That's from retired detective Sid LaDoe. The police themselves, I don't believe have ever come out.

and said, we've ruled anyone out besides Jeff Hall. So by the time the FBI came on, not only had Jeff Hall been ruled out as a suspect, but they had investigated the possibility that something or someone connected to Jeff's marijuana business could have contributed to Brandy's disappearance, and they had ruled that out as well. So one of the things the police wanted the FBI to do was develop a profile on Brandy to see if there was any truth behind Randall's claims that she had voluntarily left her in hire family and life behind. And the profile stated that due to her job loss and Jeff Hall's legal issues, Brandy was dealing with a limited financial means, which pretty much means like she can't

just go and start a new life over. She didn't have money to do that. And they also said that nothing about Brandy indicated she would have disappeared of her own free will. They had monitored her bank account activity, her social media activity, phone activity. There had been none. Brandy had not only left her truck behind, but if she'd been the one to drive it into the pond, she'd also damaged it. And according to everyone the FBI talked to, quote, the truck was like a kid to her. She valued that truck highly, end quote. Yeah, I know I'm never someone to close the door completely on any theory that I can't with 100 percent certainty say is no longer viable. But I would say as close as I can to a 100% certainty, it is not viable that that Brandy left on her own. If anything,

she had more of a reason to stay now more than ever because Jeff was going away, more than likely, and she was finally going to get the opportunity to be with the man that she had been seeing secretly for 10 years. And I'm sure it was weighing on her. So if there was a time for her to be excited about being where she was, it was in that moment. Yeah, she's not like, I'm just going to like, waste my time with you for 10 years. And then the second we have a window, I'm like, I'm out. Absolutely not. No. And as you mentioned, the bank cards, the taking of nothing that belonged to her, her vehicle, where's she going? How's she getting there? Yeah. Unfortunately, it is highly likely that Brandy's no longer with us. And that's coupled with everything else that we've talked about

over these last three episodes, plus the amount of blood that was described to be in the vehicle where unless she received medical attention, according to investigation, she would not have survived those injuries. So it's just a matter of where she is now, right? Like what was done to her? Yeah, that's what they said to. The FBI said the significant amount of blood found in Brandy's truck suggested that at the very least she'd been severely injured.

And it would have been unlikely that she walked away of her own accord. Right. So the possibility that Brandy had just walked away and vanished voluntarily, that was firmly dismissed at that point. And that same year, the police and Sid LaDose searched property adjoining. Randall Richmond's property with ATVs and cadaver dogs. So they're still, you know, they're still looking into Randall and they're making it not a secret necessarily. And in December of 2011, an attorney representing the Richmond's told the media that his clients were sick of it and they were sick of the perception that it was giving to the public.

And they asked if the police could quickly clear the air of suspicion surrounding their quote unquote links to Brandy Hall. In 2018, Florida Today's True Crime podcast Murder on the Space Coast devoted its third season to Brandy Hall's disappearance. The season began releasing on March 15th, and it was hosted by Florida Today columnist John Torres. After its release, the podcast noticed someone on social media who was following the podcast on SoundCloud using the name Brandy and a photo of brandy that the podcast producers had never seen before. And of course, they're producing a podcast so they'd gotten all the pictures they could. from Brandy's husband, her parents, et cetera. So they were like, well, this picture I'd have come from somewhere, maybe social media. They reverse Google image the search.

They tried to find that photo somewhere on the internet, but they were unable to. Now, John Torres described the photograph to Brandy's mother, Debbie, explaining the photo appeared to have a crease through it and a parent wear and tear as if it was a picture of a photograph. And Debbie recognized the photo immediately when he was describing it. She said, yes, this photo exists. It's a photo that Brandy's father kept in his wallet, and he had only recently put it into a drawer in their home.

So to be sure they were talking about the same picture, Debbie went into the drawer, took a picture of the photo, and sent it to John Torres. And he said it was identical to the one the social media user who was following the podcast was using. So it appeared that someone had taken a picture of that photo and then started using it on the internet, but how would they have done that

when the photo had been in Brandy's father's wallet for years up until recently when it was in a drawer in their house. Interesting question. Debbie said that she and her family had never used that photo anywhere on the internet or social media. They'd never given that picture to anyone. No one else had it. And like I said, the person following the podcast using Brandy's name and picture had been following on SoundCloud. So they were using a SoundCloud account.

The Palm Bay Police Department was also unable to locate that picture anywhere on the internet. And so they began the process of getting a subpoena through SoundCloud to figure out who the account belonged to. Thank God. I was hoping you were going to say this and that they didn't just let it go by. So, okay, let's see where this goes. Let's see where this goes. They didn't. But the last update that we have from this piece of the puzzle was in October of 2019 when Detective Rebecca Spears of the Palm Bay Police Department

informed John Torres that they were having a very hard time obtaining information because SoundCloud is a German company and their efforts to work with law enforcement. in Germany had been unsuccessful. Yeah, not a surprise here when you have corporations from foreign countries. People think it's easy, even locally, like even statewide, where I've tried to get certain pieces of information. There's a legal team, whether it's for AT&T or Verizon. And understandably, they want to protect their customers' privacy because if it gets out that they provided information to law enforcement on a customer that they weren't legally

entitled to, that's going to affect business. So I understand it. But yeah, these companies, they are very careful about disseminating information because it doesn't only affect that person. It affects their entire marketing strategy, right? If it gets exposed, what was it recently? I forgot what it was. I would think it was Ring, where Ring was allowing a pet option. They had promoted it during the Super Bowl or something like that where essentially Ring cameras were now allowing a pet location service.

service where you could use other ring cameras in the area to identify a lost pet. And people went nuts, basically saying like, so you're able to access my camera footage without my consent, regardless of what it's being used for. That is weird. I agree. Yeah. Right. And I agree with it as well. And so I mean, I get the concept behind it and it's a great concept. You should be able to opt into it. Yeah. Right. You should have to opt into it. But my point being, this was something that was supposed to be good, but because it exposed that customers' information, personal data, was being disseminated to people they didn't know. It affected them.

Stock prices went down. And so it's a similar thing here with SoundCloud or anybody else for that matter, where they usually try to stop you from getting this information because it can have a negative impact on the overall stock prices. Even if it had been like an Instagram or a Facebook profile, that might have been easier to get them the SoundCloud. And that still would be very difficult because you'd have to prove no one had access to that picture. And all you have is now Debbie and her husband's word that he's had in his wallet and no one had access to it. Right. Never shared it.

Now what I think is Brandy probably knew that picture was there. Maybe it was a picture of her when she was younger and she sent it to someone that maybe she was like dating or something. Like this is what I looked like when I was younger. You know how you do that when you're together. Yeah. Yeah. So I think that's how the. person got it, that Brandy sent it to them. But somebody's following the murder on the space coast

podcast using Brandy's name and a picture that no one has access to. Yeah, which is stupid because why would you just make a fake name that has nothing to do with the case? Why would you just burn the book bag, like you said, instead of throwing it in a canal? Yeah. It doesn't make a lot of sense. If you're trying to secretly follow the page, why would you draw any attention to yourself? Why not just call yourself John Smith and put up a fake profile picture of someone who has nothing to do with the case. But I mean, I will say that's 2019. I would hope that although difficult, they still went through the process.

And whatever hurdles they faced, they overcame them eventually. And maybe they just haven't released the outcome. I would hope that they didn't just say, oh, this is too difficult. We're going to stop. Yeah, I mean, that was the last update we had. Yeah, I mean, they might have more that they just haven't shared. Or maybe it led nowhere. Like, if I'm Anne-Marie Richmond,

And I want Randall to know that I know he got this picture from Brandy. Maybe I found it in like his electronics or something, right? Yeah. Now I'm using it as a profile picture and using the name Brandy. So it's almost like someone's trying to taunt the person who killed Brandy, right? Like I know, you know, or to almost make the person who killed Brady's because why would the person who killed her do that? Unless they knew for a fact that SoundCloud would never reveal their information. I don't know.

Yeah? I doubt that. And there's one more piece of this case that adds to the mystery of it all. So remember that we had talked about how on the morning after Brandy went missing, Randall Richmond called Brandy's husband Jeff Hall twice. The first time Jeff claimed Randall was crying and told him that he couldn't show up for him in court that morning. The second time Randall called was a few hours later at 10.04 a.m. and that call lasted only one minute and had to do with a skid steer.

So this particular skid steer was Brandy's. She had needed to get it about four months prior so that she could get more side jobs like the one she had with holiday builders, but she and Jeff hadn't been able to afford one. At that time, a skid steer would run you about between $30,000 and $50,000. So through one of his businesses, Randall Richmond had secured a loan for the skid steer, and Brandy made the payments to him. And remember, during his 2007 police interview, Randall had mentioned all the things he had done for Brandy and Jeff, and he mentioned never having to make a payment on something. He was talking about the skid steer, meaning Brandy had never missed a payment.

Now, at the time of her disappearance, Brandy had the skid steer for four months, but a man named Charles McClellan did make a few of those payments, or at least gave Brandy the money to make the payments. And Charles McClellan was the same person who had given Brandy $1,000 to bail Jeff out of jail. when he'd been arrested. And Charles said over the years, Brandy had borrowed money from him and she had repaid him by doing odd welding jobs for him and building him an airboat once. And at first you're thinking, like, well, maybe is she got something going on with Charles McClellan?

No, he was an older man. He was the father of a childhood friend of Brandy's. So basically he had grown up with Brandy. Well, his daughter had grown up with Brandy. And so they were very close. You know, she and the friend were close. And so she's always at his house. It was kind of more like a father.

type thing, like I'll help you out if I can. Now Randall told Florida Department of Law Enforcement Agent Wayne Ivy that the skid steer had been having some issues that were covered under warranty. I think it was issues with the joystick. And Brandy had been telling him that she was going to drop it off at Ring Power. And Ring Power is a Caterpillar authorized dealer. They sell rent, lease, service, and provide parts for Caterpillar's heavy equipment. Caterpillar, in case anybody didn't know, is they make like heavy equipment like that for like construction and stuff. It's usually got like, you would probably know more than me, but it usually has a big CAT on the side. Yeah.

Yeah. So Randall claimed that the morning after Brandy went missing, he had called ring power to see if Brandy had dropped the skid steer off for servicing yet. And they said no. So he called Jeff. And Randall said, quote, I think I asked Jeff maybe it was the same conversation or maybe a different one. Where is the machine? Did she drop it off? he said no, the machine is sitting in the yard on the trailer.

And I think I asked him, can I go and unload the machine off the trailer so Kat can come and fix the warranty issue? End quote. So Randall told the police that he went over to Brandy's house during a time when no one else was there. And he knew that no one else was there. He knew Jeff was at court. He knew that most of Jeff and Brandy's family and friends would be at the courthouse to support Jeff. And he knew that the hall children were at school. Randall said that all he did was remove the skid steer from Brandy's trailer,

so that Ring Power could go over to Brandy's house and work on the Skid Steer there since Brandy hadn't dropped it off. According to private investigator, Nick Sandberg, who did some work for Brandy's family, Ring Power could not find any record maintenance for the skid steer in those four months that Randall had owned it and Brandy was using it. And he said that Ring Power would usually charge a service fee or a surcharge for having to go out to a site and do warranty work on a machine as opposed to it being dropped off, which was what was supposed to happen. Another PI who worked on the case, John Lind, said, quote, it's strictly circumstantial, but perhaps what's interesting about this is that Randall goes to deal with this equipment the very morning that he was due at court and informed Jeff a short

time later that he was actually going to his house to deal with this piece of equipment that would have been something that is still at Brandy's house and she would have still been currently using for jobs. So he not only had an appointment in court, but also has an appointment for the repair on the same day, he's there the very morning she disappears, end quote. So here are some questions that were left with after learning this skid steer information. The loan for the skid steer was under Randall's name, which means if there was a service fee charged, it would be charged to his account with Caterpillar and Ring Power. Ring Power was only a few miles down the road from Brandy's

house. Why wouldn't Randall have left the skid steer in the trailer that was hooked up to the truck at Brandy's house and then asked Jeff if he could drive the truck over to Ring Power and have the machine service there, or he could have even hooked up the trailer to his own truck and drove it there, which had been the whole plan the entire time to have the machine brought to ring power so they could service it and avoid the surcharge. And why was Randall so intent on having the skid steer serviced that specific morning, especially after talking to Brandy the previous evening and hearing that she was quote unquote leaving?

And he didn't know whether that meant for five minutes or forever. And why wasn't he concerned when he heard she was leaving to be like, hey, I just got you like a $50,000 skid steer four months ago that you're making payments on. So if you're quote unquote leaving, how long are you leaving for? Because you got to make these payments. Like, are you going to be back in time to make your next payment? Are you never coming back? Like, is this going to be something I have to deal with? Because I don't need a skid steer. You know? Now, according to the police, the skid steer was found removed from the trailer and they didn't believe it had ever been taken off the property. It was just taken off the trailer.

So a skid steer, for those who don't know, it's primarily used for digging, grading, leveling, moving materials like gravel or dirt. And after finding out about Randall's visit to Brandy's home the morning after her disappearance, private investigator Nick Sandberg looked up images on Google Earth where he found a depression in an obvious sandy area in Brandy's backyard that was there shortly after she went missing. These were areas of noticeable interest that had not been in the backyard in the weeks before August 16th, 2006, when she went missing. So this led the police to wonder if Randall or someone had used the skid steer to dig a grave for Brandy on her own property.

Yeah, I would make things difficult, too, because you can dig up a lot of ground very quickly. Yeah, with the skid steer? Yeah. So two different cadaver dogs with Peace River K-9 search and rescue were brought there, and they both alerted in the same areas. And then a technician with The ground penetrating radar also confirmed disturbances roughly five feet below the surface in the ground, and this led to an August 2019 search of those same areas carried out in a joint operation between the Brevard County Sheriff's Office and the Palm Bay Police focused on three locations that had been identified as potential gravesites. So after the search and after digging in these locations, Sergeant Jeff Spears with the

Palm Bay Police announced, quote, based on the cadaver dogs and the indication they gave us, as well as ground penetrating radar, it gave us some hope that there would have been some disturbed areas underground and we checked that area thoroughly and unfortunately we did not locate any human remains, end quote. Kudos though for the effort. You know, we see sometimes that law enforcement just phones it and they're trying. They're trying. And it's clear that they think Randall's involved.

Yes, I think that's what we're seeing. They're trying not to show their cards, but they are indirectly, or I would just say directly, They're trying to find the evidence to link Randall to this crime at this point. They believe he did it. They just don't have the evidence to prove it. I mean, it does seem like if they thought that Randall may have gone in there with the skid steer and dug a hole and put Brandy in it on her own property, he might be trying to make it look like Jeff Hall did this because it's the only other viable person, right? It's a smart move. It would be smart to do that because if she's found.

It's reasonable doubt. On his property, meaning Randall's property, you're screwed, right? But if it's found on Jeff's property, aka Brandy's property, now you have an argument. Hey, listen, why would I bury Brandy's body on Jeff's property? That doesn't make sense. And if it goes to trial, a jury might hear that. Yeah, I think Jeff's the guy. Yeah, and be like, well, yeah, it doesn't make sense.

Why Randall do that, you know? We talked about in David's case. All you need is one person, one person to say, I don't think you did it. Yeah. And you walk. So that leads us to another weird twist because remember that Jeff Hall was running this pretty substantial marijuana grow operation. And he has always claimed that Brandy had no idea what he was doing and that she was furious when she found out about it when he was arrested. Brandy has also always

denied knowing about the grow operation. But Randall Richmond told Florida Department of Law Enforcement Agent Tom Davis that Brandy did know, stating, quote, she swore up and down, telling me that she had nothing to do with it, that she was aware of it, that she had knowledge of it, but she never did anything. End quote. So private investigator Nick Sain, Sandberg told Florida today reporter John Torres that he'd found out from police interviews that maybe Randall didn't know about Jeff Hall's illicit drug operation just from talking to Brandy because apparently people interviewed by the police had seen Randall Richmond at the property where the grow operation was happening, not once, but several times. Well, we talked about this, right? It's not across the board, but in my experience, significant other living under the same roof, there's coming. There's comings and goings that happen at the house, right? There may have been phone calls that Jeff was having unless he was completely secretive

about it, which I have seen before. She would have an inclination of what was going on. It'd be difficult for her not to. This is her significant other, living under the same roof. You can have some level of plausible deniability if it ever goes to, you know, the criminal level, which is maybe that was done intentionally. But it would be hard for me to believe that Brandy didn't know what was going on. I don't know if it's relevant to what happened to her here.

I'm just saying when you put that in a vacuum, in my professional opinion, most of the time, the significant other is aware of what the person is doing. And they just, you know, they kind of turned a blind eye to it. It's interesting that Randall says that, you know, Brandy knew, but it also appears that Randall knew about it too. And he's like, I can't come and support you, Jeff. You know, what would it say about my standing? And it's like, well, if you knew about it, if you were at the property,

while it was happening, there's questions about like how involved you were. And it also, you know, if Randall knew about it, then Brandy knew about it. No doubt. Yeah, he would have only known about it more than likely from Brandy. She would have been confiding in Randall. Again, this was more than just sexual in nature. This was a romantic emotional relationship. This was basically her boyfriend.

And those trials and tribulations that come up with Jeff and what he's going through and what he's involved in, she would be talking to Randall about that. Yeah. I mean, it's common sense. Yeah, but I mean, also, like, I think if Randall knew and Brandy didn't, that's unlikely because he would have had one to take any opportunity to be like, your husband's doing this and yeah. Of course. If Brandy knew, Randall knew, vice versa, right? Yeah, I agree.

I think that Brandy was well aware of what was going on. I'm not saying she was directly involved, but I think she knew what was happening under her own roof. if you will. I kind of feel like it, even if Jeff hadn't told her directly, so maybe Jeff wasn't even aware that she knew, which is why he says to this day, like, no, she didn't know, she was furious. Maybe he didn't even know how much she knew, but she'd done her own investigation and had figured out what he was doing, and it just wasn't worth it for her to make a big deal out of it? To make a big deal out of it. Because like we said, you know, she was doing her own thing, and she's like, whatever, if this distracts him, keeps him busy.

And to Brandy's defense, she wasn't charged with a crime relating to this. So when inventing, Investigators looked at this. They didn't find any evidence to charge her with any criminal act. So that is worth mentioning here. She may have had an understanding and knowledge of it. It's not my opinion that she was directly participating in it. I don't think she was, no. Yeah.

There's a big difference there. It's also at one point it's kind of like, hey, you can tell somebody until you're blue in the face, this is dangerous. You're putting us in danger. But if they keep doing what they're doing, how much control do you have over it? Yeah, until you start the car wash to launder the money. Yeah. All right.

I'm just good. That's for breaking bad in case anyone one. Sorry. Sorry. I couldn't help it. I almost made a full episode without a BB reference, but didn't get there. Because you're thinking of Brandy being like Sky, right? Yeah.

Starting the car wash. Get rid of the money. Because if she wasn't for it, she was totally against it until she saw the money. Until she wasn't. And then she became a stone called kill. I also think for Sky, some of it was like, okay, he's finally like happy and like passionate about something after like so long of being depressed and like unplugged. And like, I see my husband's coming back.

a little bit, even though it obviously went too far. But yeah, anyways, what I'm thinking is Brandy apparently was really bad with money. Like according to everybody who had kind of looked into it, I think that she, they said like Jeff would give her money and she just spent it. Like she wasn't good at saving money. She wasn't thinking about the future, really. I think it was Sid LaDow that said her kids had two of everything, computers, dirt bikes. She bought a lot of like gold chains and jewelry and stuff. So I don't, I don't necessarily think she was in the the books, like in the bank accounts. She wasn't the one who was doing that, so she wouldn't necessarily have known that there was a lot of money coming in, but once again, as a woman, you know when

your husband's distracted by something. So that brings us to a very recent update reported by WFTV News 9 on March 20th, 20, 26. So just about a month and a half ago. It says, quote, nearly 20 years after Brandy Hall vanished Palm Bay police say new leads are bringing movement to the case, end quote. The update claims that detectives say a recent reexamination of the case and new interviews have uncovered fresh information pointing to an undisclosed area of interest, and that location was searched twice that week in March of 2026. Apparently, a tip came in from an anonymous source claiming that Brandy Hall was buried in this location that has not been disclosed to the public to maintain the integrity of the case. Palm Bay Police said that since news of the new lead

became public, detectives have received several additional tips that they are actively following up on. In a statement to news nine, Brandy's daughter Taylor, who was only 10 in 2006 when her mother vanished, she said, quote, even though this specific tip did not lead to finding my mom's remains, I still stand by that feeling. Something about this time and the team working her case feels different. I truly believe we are finally moving in the right direction towards finding my mom's remains and holding everyone involved in her murder accountable, end quote. So it kind of sounds like Taylor thinks more than one person might know something. Yeah, I mean, I'm, I'm, I would imagine that she's referring to Randall and Anne. And maybe Anne Marie, yeah. Where if Anne knew what Randall did, Randall could have gone to her and said, listen, I had to do this. She was going to, whatever. I don't know. I think it's, we don't know.

Everyone's innocent as of right now. Or maybe Anne Marie told Randall prove that you don't care about her. Yeah. And kill her. And they're divorced now. So if she knew something and she wasn't directly involved, now would be the time to talk. Right. I don't know. I don't know.

So I did some of my own research into the area where Brandy Hall lived, worked, and went missing. And as we've already talked about when I described the area to you, it's pretty wild in a lot of places. There's plenty of spots to put a body and have it disappear completely. So a place that I found that grabbed my attention is known as the compound. It's a roughly 2,800-acre area in the southwestern section of Palm Bay that has developed a reputation for being a place where bodies can be hidden and where disposal of bodies. is easier because the terrain is pretty rough and wild and there's limited oversight. So the compound was originally part of a planned GDC development that began in the 1980s, and GDC stands for General Development Corporation.

It's the Florida Land Development Company responsible for several of the planned communities in the area, including parts of Palm Bay and Port Malibar. But then GDC went bankrupt in 1991, which caused the project to come to a halt. And what was left behind, it's kind of weird and creepy. It was basically the skeleton of a future suburb, miles and miles of roads, a street grid, lots of land, but very few homes, businesses, lights, or regular daily activity. And that's why it has such an eerie reputation. It looks like a city that was started and then abandoned before people arrived. There are paved roads with street names, intersections, blocks, and a grid pattern.

But instead of neighborhoods, much of it is overgrown lots. brush empty land, and long stretches where someone can drive without encountering many witnesses. Local coverage has called it a magnet for criminal activity, and WESH reported in 2023 that in less than a year five bodies had been dumped there with others found in prior years. It's large and isolated. A few thousand acres is a lot of space, especially when much of it is undeveloped and overgrown. It has road access without normal neighborhood visibility. So the old GDC roads mean someone can drive deep into the area, but there are not residents there or doorbell cameras or businesses or streetlights or passerbyes that you'd expect in normal subdivisions.

It has a longstanding illegal dumping and trespassing problem. The Palm Bay Police Department specifically warns that, quote, the compound is not a recreation area, and it says the area is privately owned in many places. It's hazardous and subject to trespassing enforcement. The city also notes that the area has been associated. with unauthorized off-roading, illegal dumping, and unsafe activity, and unfortunately, the reputation has been reinforced by real cases. Local outlets have covered multiple death investigations there. In December of 2022, two teenagers, Jeremiah Brown and Trayvon Anthony Jr. were found shot in an open

field inside the compound. In 2023, several other bodies or remains were found in the area, including the dismembered remains of Nancy Howery and the body of Nicholas Mitchell, according to local reporting summarized in later coverage. More recently in 2026, Palm Bay Police responded to the area after reports of a suitcase and they found human remains, again, renewing debate over the compound's crime issues installed development. So I'm just throwing it out there. I don't even know how an organized search of that area would work, how you would do it.

I don't know the logistics, but it is interesting in a place that exists like this in the same landscape where Brandy Hall disappeared. I do think it's interesting. And I think there's more than one place like this that would fit this box, right? Where it's got promise when it comes to a potential dumping ground. For me, as we're kind of wrapping this episode up, I think if this case does have a resolution, more than likely it will be a charge from a no body homicide where they may not find Brandy, but due to the totality of circumstances, they take a shot and go after someone.

I wanted to end. This is kind of wrapping up what we know, not what we're speculating. about and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on any of these facts just based on how you've described them over last three episodes. Randy was at work. She was supposed to spend the night there. She abruptly decided to leave and she told her supervisor that she had to get ready for the trial in the morning and that she was going home or she didn't feel well, right? So she lied. No doubt about it. She lied because we know that when she left there, she didn't go home. She drove right by her street. So the first question you ask yourself is why did she lie?

She knew she was doing something that she could not disclose to the chief. So to me, we know that for whatever reason Brandy didn't want people knowing what she was about to go do or who she was about to go meet up with. So we take it a step further. If we go back to the officer's description from that night, a vehicle matching Brandy's description was seen in the parking lot of a Lowe's or Home Depot. Which one was it? Home Depot. Okay. Why is that important?

Well, when we talk about the idea that someone like an Anne-Marie or a random act of violence occurred where Brandy was caught off guard, according to law enforcement, according to that officer, Brandy allegedly, was inside that vehicle with someone else. If it was her vehicle and it was in fact Brandy, she was voluntarily in that vehicle with another person. So this wasn't like Anne-Marie showed up and was like surprise and they decided to get in the car and talk about it. because even more to that point, according to this officer, after seeing that vehicle, the vehicle moved, right? So there was a reason that those two people decided to move from that location to a secondary location because they didn't want to be seen together. And if it was Anne-Marie and it was Brandy, maybe they would have moved,

but I don't think the conversation would have been as civil inside their vehicle. So then it moves to the secondary location. You're talking about a body of water that would not be known to many people. But I would point out that firefighters from that community would be very familiar with these bodies of water. I don't think I mentioned it previously when you talked about it, but even as police officers, we didn't have a lot of bodies of water in my town where I worked in my city where I worked. But the ones that we did have, we had the Blackstone River. You had to be familiar with that body of water in case we received a call for an emergency there. So firefighters, even more so with their dive teams would have to be familiar with all the bodies of water, where they're located, how deep they are, etc.

or all the information surrounding it. So we have Brandy's vehicle being found in this area later, which is close to this parking lot. That's what we know. So it's my belief from that information that Brandy left the station voluntarily to meet up with someone and that someone was an individual that she didn't want other people knowing she was going to meet up with, right?

There was something there that it would have been frowned upon. And whoever that person was, if this vehicle was, in fact, her in the parking lot, That was the individual she was with. That was the person she planned on going to meet up with. And then they ended up at the body of water where the truck was found. Now you add other wrinkles into it. Like, who could that person have been?

We have her phone records. We know that she had been speaking to Randall. We also have a supervisor's vehicle being found at the Hess gas station, a short distance from where this car was found in this parking lot. What did you say it was, Lowe's or Home Depot? Home Depot. Home Depot. So now we're starting to get something.

And then for me, it's not a smoking gun, but you've talked about a lot over these last three episodes with the radio being on, you know, the portable radio for Randall. But to me, one of the most compelling things that doesn't look good for him is the fact that this was a guy who did not know something had happened to her was talking to her or interacting with her 12 to 15 times a day. And yet after that night in question, never tried to contact her. 12 to 15 times like, well, 50 on average and more that day. More that day. Okay, so 50. I apologize, 50, not 15. But after that day, before even knowing if something had happened to Brandi or if she had

just left on her own, he never contacted her again. Doesn't look good for Randall. I don't think I'm going out on a limb here saying he would be a person of interest at minimum. I think it's also pretty clear that law enforcement believes he's a person of interest. and they're just trying to tie in enough information where they feel like a grand jury could potentially indict him. But at this point, you know, if you don't have enough, you don't have enough, and you haven't been able to rule everyone else out,

which does raise some concerns because you only get one shot at it. If you miss, that's it forever. But the question does become, how long do you wait? With the advancements in science and technology and new investigators with a fresh perspective looking at it, there is a high likelihood they may find something that was missed in the past. So I think it's worth taking a second look at it and seeing what you come up with. But it's very clear to me that Brandy did not leave to go run off and be somewhere else.

She was going to meet up with someone. Yeah, I agree. The question is who? Because whoever that person is. Maybe the last person she talked to before she went missing. That would be, that would make sense, right? Because I know there may be some people who say, okay, she could have left. Maybe she was going to meet up with someone, but never got to.

there and there's this random act of violence. No, because she said she was meeting them at the gas station where she was filling up the Sonoko. That's right. Yeah. But my point being, if you're in the camp of, oh, before she got there or whatever, there was a gunman or a carjacking or a robbery gone wrong, we know that she was in a parking lot with an individual.

Do you think the carjacker would have parked at the Home Depot with her and sat there and had a conversation with her? We also know that, according to the blood spatter, Brandy was in the driver's seat. So she was driving this person around. I don't know. You do your own math there, but I think the writing is on the wall of who we're looking at. And is it possible that it's just an unfortunate set of circumstances for Randall?

Maybe. Really unfortunate. Yeah. It does not look good. And this isn't something that he doesn't know. I think everyone in that community, we've actually received some emails on it, by the way, where people have said anonymously that it's a very well-known thing

that everyone from that, community believes that Randall is responsible for it. But just my legal disclaimer, he's not been charged with a crime. He's innocent until something happens if it goes to court. And even if it does go to court, he's innocent until there's a verdict. So it may not look good, but clearly there's not enough after 20 years to charge anyone. No. And, you know, you kind of know where I'm at with this. Yeah. I mean, how could you not be? How could you not be? But we will keep you updated. It looks like they're kind of reinvigorating the case, like Brandy's daughter said. She feels like this time it's different.

Like they're going to get some answers. It sounds like they're looking at it and they have new leads coming in. So if something does come in, we will do an update on crime weekly news and we will keep you guys up to date on any new kind of leads or theories. And if you guys are from the area and you know something or you have some sort of insight, let us know. And then we'll tell the police. I'll also throw out there. I mentioned it last episode. Criminal Coffee is now donating to organizations in need of funds to solve cases or,

to assist in investigations. We don't have to do the investigations ourselves, but if anybody from those agencies working in this case decides, hey, you know what would be really cool if we were able to incorporate this technology into our investigation, we'd love to go out with this equipment and check this particular area. Reach out to us.

We're not hard to find. We do have funds available. We would be more than willing to help if there's something viable that you need to explore, but unfortunately the funds just aren't there. That's what we do. that's why we're so passionate about criminal coffee. My final words, just to end it on a good note, shout out.

I said it on Crime Weekly News. I'll say it here because not everyone is following Crime Weekly News. And if you're not, you should be. I had mentioned a couple episodes ago that we were trying to get to 10,000 reviews on Apple. We've now surpassed 10,000 on Apple and on Spotify. Shout out to a couple people for leaving a review after we asked for it. I had some funny names. Anxious Human was one of them.

RC3 photography was another Hollis G Goe Bells There was also the go You're going to make me say that one again, aren't you? One Nicky was another one Katie Gob And then we have KCY40

And Tiff Gibb We have a bunch Common Mama Really appreciate it It doesn't seem like it means a lot For you to take two minutes And just put that You know, click the five stars

But what it does is it allows Apple and Spotify To promote our episodes In the algorithm Which allows more people to see what we're doing over here and it all is connected, whether it's Crime Weekly or Criminal Coffee and trying to solve cases, it's all in one ecosystem and we wouldn't be where we are without you guys, so we

greatly appreciate it. We're going to be back next week with a new case. I've kind of got a little bit of insight into what it is. It's a really interesting story. It's a multi-parter. I'm looking forward to it. I'm ready to get into it right now. Any final words from you before I wrap this one up? Nope. That's it for me. Good case. We hope there's an outcome. Like Stephanie said, if there is, we'll let you guys know. Until next, Next week, everyone stay safe out there. We'll see you soon. Bye.