The Disappearance of Brandy Hanna
For this episode, I watched an episode of Disappeared. It’s season 7 episode 9, titled ‘Love Triangle.’
A 32 year old woman disappears, and her case remains unsolved for many years.
For this case, I’m first going to discuss everything that was talked about in the Disappeared episode, and then I will end this post with the other research I uncovered.
Background
Brandy Hanna
Brandy Hanna was born on November 16, 1972. She was 32 at the time of her disappearance, and she was living in North Charleston, South Carolina.
Brandy was a waitress at Alex’s Diner, a hotspot for locals. Her mom, Donna, was also the manager at Alex’s, and Brandy took the job to spend more time with her mom. Donna had Brandy when she was young, and Brandy bounced around from extended family members when she was growing up. Donna said they had always been close, but they were even closer as they got older.
Brandy was described as a very sweet, nice, but shy person. She started to blossom as soon as she started working at Alex’s. Her mom said she was very popular with her customers, and it was good for Brandy’s confidence.
The Disappearance
On Friday, May 20, 2005, Brandy was working the day shift at Alex’s. Her mom was going to relieve her, and Brandy was excited because she had the weekend off.
Donna showed up to Alex’s to begin her 3pm shift. Brandy was getting ready to leave, but first she needed Donna to help her set up her voicemail on her new phone. Donna helped Brandy, and Brandy left with an iced tea and said goodbye to her mom.
I don’t know if Brandy didn’t have a driver’s license or just didn’t have a car, but she left with a retired police officer that she knew. He picked her up from the diner, dropped her off and she told him she’d see him on Monday.
Brandy had plans with her friend Amy that night, they were going to go shopping. Brandy had to wait for Amy to get off work, so she just hung out at home for the afternoon. Donna said she spoke to Brandy multiple times throughout the day into the evening. Brandy was also in contact with her ex-boyfriend, Zeke Lankford. Zeke and Brandy had made plans to meet up later that night.
Donna said while she was at the diner, she got a weird feeling. She tried calling Brandy, and there was no response. Donna didn’t think too much of it, maybe Brandy was with her friends. However, Amy, drove to Brandy’s apartment after her shift. This was around 10:30pm. Amy knocked several times on Brandy’s door and called her. There was no answer. Amy left thinking Brandy must have fallen asleep.
Where is Brandy?
Donna called Brandy on Saturday and Sunday, and there was no answer. Donna said she would wait until Monday, because Brandy had to work at the diner at 7am and she never missed a shift. Monday morning rolled around and at 7:20am, the diner called Donna and said Brandy never showed up.
Donna started calling everyone she could think of, including Zeke, the ex-boyfriend. Zeke said he didn’t know where she was. Donna said she knew that Zeke had a key to her apartment on Florida Ave, because he used to live there. Donna asked Zeke to meet her there, but told him not to go in.
Donna showed up at her apartment, and what do you know, Zeke was coming out of the apartment. He told Donna that he didn’t want her to find anything in case Brandy had died. The apartment was clean and there was no sign of a struggle. Brandy’s cup from the diner was still out, there was a blanket on the couch and her cell phone was charging. Donna was confused, and she contacted the police.
Zeke Lankford
Now before I get further into the case, I want to talk about Brandy’s ex.
Zeke and Brandy had only been dating for a few months when they moved in together in April 2005. Brandy chose the apartment because it was close to the diner. It wasn’t in the best neighborhood, but it was all they could afford. Zeke worked on/off for his dad’s plumbing company, and wasn’t working at the time they moved in. They even asked Donna to help pay for their deposit.
Brandy fell head over heels for Zeke, but Zeke had a secret. Zeke was actually married and had kids. He and his wife, Diana, had been separated for a year. Zeke eventually went back to his family, and Brandy thought maybe he was confused and would come back to her. Donna said their breakup broke Brandy’s heart.
Zeke had come back into Brandy’s life recently, and Donna wasn’t happy about it.
No Sign of a Struggle
Donna contacted the North Charleston police, and they told her that Brandy had a right to disappear if she wanted to. She was 32 and didn’t always have to answer Donna’s calls. The police even went to Brandy’s apartment, and didn’t find anything. The police didn’t believe anything had happened, but Donna, the rest of her family and Brandy’s friends thought the opposite, so they began their own search.
They put up missing persons flyers, and Brandy’s uncle was a police officer. His name was Henry Smalley Jr., and he was in charge of the boat unit. He helped as much as he could to help in the search.
Brandy’s apartment was near an abandoned Navy base, so they searched in several abandoned buildings. Nothing was found.
Ten days after Brandy went missing, Donna received a call from Brandy’s landlord. He said they had to come and pick up Brandy’s things or they’d be thrown out. Brandy’s apartment was a month to month payment, so Donna and Brandy’s sister Yvonne, went to pick up Brandy’s things. Inside the apartment, they found her clothes, a tin that had Brandy’s money and tips inside and a framed photo of Donna with Brandy. They now knew that she didn’t disappear on her own.
A Tip
Lieutenant Rick Keyes with the North Charleston PD, received a tip from one of Brandy’s neighbors. She said that she saw Brandy leaving her apartment on May 20, around 9-9:30pm. The neighbor said Brandy got into a red truck with a white strip on it. This truck also had a white Jason Vorhees mask on the grill.
These red trucks are very distinctive, and the police knew of two people in Brandy’s life that owned them: Zeke Lankford and Ray McAdams, both of which were Brandy’s ex-boyfriends. The trucks were the company vehicles driven by employees that worked for Zeke’s dad’s plumbing company. Ray McAdams’ truck had the Jason mask on the grill.
Another Love Triangle
Ray and Brandy had dated for about 6 years. They were even engaged for a time, but after Brandy started working at Alex’s she realized she didn’t want to be with Ray. Zeke and Ray were good friends, and Ray invited Zeke to stay at his house where Brandy also lived.
Brandy and Zeke fell for each other, and Ray was angry. He kicked Zeke out, but invited Brandy to stay. Brandy chose to leave with Zeke, and they soon moved in together.
The police now had to look into both Ray and Zeke. Lieutenant Keyes asked the neighbor if she could identify the man she saw the night Brandy disappeared, she said yes. Lt. Keyes took the neighbor on a drive and went up to speak to Ray, while wearing a Bluetooth earpiece to talk to the neighbor. The neighbor told Lt. Keyes that Ray was the man she saw.
There was one problem, Ray and Zeke both had alibis on the night Brandy disappeared. However, they were both brought in to take polygraph tests. Ray passed, and Zeke didn’t. Zeke was also very hesitant to take it. The police still didn’t look any further into either man, and their trucks were never searched.
Another Missing Persons Case
Natalee Holloway had disappeared in June 2005. The coverage from her case had completely taken over, and Brandy’s case wasn’t covered. Natalee’s case was even covered by the Post and Courier, a newspaper in Charleston.
Donna wrote a letter to editor of the Post and Courier, asking them why Brandy’s case wasn’t being covered. The next week, they wrote about Brandy’s case and it was front page news in their small town.
They also put up a large banner at the diner, with a tip line and reward for any information. One tip did surface, a customer said that on Friday while Brandy was at work, she received a call that scared her. The call was apparently about Zeke’s wife, Diana. It wouldn’t be clear until years later who the call was from. (More on that later).
Brandy’s missing persons poster at Alex’s Diner
Investigation Timeline
In August 2005, an official search began by the Cue Center for Missing People, with the North Charleston PD assisting. Cadaver dogs were brought in, and Brandy’s family and friends were also there.
One other person showed up: Zeke. He apparently asked if the dogs could smell Brandy, even if she was covered up. The authorities asked Zeke to not participate again after that.
In April 2006, Ray’s mom called Donna at the diner. She said Ray had passed away that morning from a heart attack. Around this time, the police did eventually search Ray’s truck after a tip came in that his alibi wasn’t accurate. His sister-in-law, Amy, told the police that she dropped off some things at his house around 9pm, and he was there. Ray had told the police that he had been at a club from 8pm-1am. The police didn’t dig any further, even after hearing this information.
Two weeks after Ray’s death, Brandy’s uncle passed away from cancer. Donna said that before he passed he promised to find out what happened to Brandy from heaven.
Another Look At The Case
Six years after this, Sgt. Ron Locher, reached out to Donna. He wanted to re-open Brandy’s case. He discovered that there were several things that were never looked into about this case. The first being the phone call from the diner, and no one seems to know where that red truck went.
He also received information about the female neighbor. She told the police that it was Ray that picked up Brandy on May 20, 2005. Later, she identified Zeke as being the man who picked her up. The police said it could have been an error because the two men looked alike, and it was dark that night.
Sgt. Locher believed that Brandy was murdered. He went back to the abandoned Navy base, which was now a park and an industrial area. It was also near an area that used to be a golf course in 2005, but it was now a salt marsh filled with alligators.
In May 2011, Sgt. Locher searched a sandy area near the base. He found a woman’s Nike sneaker, size 10 1/2. Brandy’s friend Robyn said she recognized the shoe. The date code on the tongue of the shoe was January 2005, and Brandy had bought similar shoes just a few weeks before she disappeared.
The shoe was sent in for forensic testing, and in August 2015, the test came back. There was no DNA on the shoe.
Sgt. Ron Locher never gave up his search for Brandy.
My Research
At the time that the Disappeared episode aired, the police had no information about what happened to Brandy. I did some additional research, and found quite a bit of information.
On August 26, 2013, Brandy Hanna was declared legally dead.
Garland Eugene Lankford, aka Zeke, was arrested and charged with obstruction of justice in Brandy’s disappearance. The police said he provided many false statements.
Zeke Lankford
There’s a rumor that Brandy was sold to pay for Zeke’s drug debt, but the police don’t have any credible information about that.
Zeke’s sister was the one who called Brandy at Alex’s Diner. It’s believed she threatened her, as the customer said Brandy was afraid that day.
Alex’s Diner closed in 2012.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Most of these cases are still unsolved and have no further information about what happened. I’m glad that someone is at least being held responsible for something in this case. Brandy deserves justice, and so does her family. Zeke Lankford seems like a piece of shit, but I don’t believe he’s the only one who had a hand in her disappearance. I don’t want to assume because everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but why would he have his sister threaten Brandy? From what it seems like, Brandy thought Zeke’s marriage was over, and he probably made it seem that way.
I hope eventually Zeke is charged with murder or something similar, because I believe he killed Brandy and knew how to cover it up.
Sources
https://disappearedblog.com/brandy-hanna/
https://abcnews4.com/news/videos/watch-live-update-on-brandy-hanna-case
