By David Lohr
April 11, 2007
SKIDMORE, Mo. (Crime Library) — Six years ago today, 20-year-old Branson Kayne Perry disappeared from his West Oak Street home. He has not been seen or heard from since. His case has puzzled law enforcement officials and left his family desperate for answers.
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Branson lived in this house |
Branson's parents, Rebecca and Bob Perry, were divorced in 2000. At the time of his disappearance, Branson was staying with his father in Skidmore. Bob Perry had been hospitalized for some health problems but was due to return home any day. On the day of his disappearance, April 11, 2001, Branson wanted to make sure everything was in order for his father's return, so he asked a friend to come over and help clean the house. The details surrounding the day's events are somewhat sketchy.
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Branson Perry |
"According to a girl who was helping Branson clean the house, up she said there were two guys replacing an alternator on his father's car," Rebecca Perry said in a telephone interview with Crime Library yesterday afternoon. "Around three o'clock in the afternoon, Branson went to put some jumper cables into a shed on a lot adjacent to the house, but the jumper cables never made it to the shed and nobody has seen Branson since."
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The shed that Branson was headed for with the jumper cables |
Perry first discovered her son missing two days later when she went to check on him. She found the house unlocked and Branson nowhere to be found. His wallet and personal possessions were left untouched. Fearing the worst, she called police and reported her son missing.
"There was speculation, because a river wraps around the town of Skidmore, and maybe something happened at the river," Perry stated. "They also searched a pond and brought in cadaver dogs, but they didn't find anything."
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A photo of Branson's family when he was younger |
Branson's disappearance baffled friends and family alike. He was not the type of kid to just run off without telling anyone. Where would he go with no money or transportation? Interestingly enough, the jumper cables that never made it to the shed miraculously reappeared not long after Branson's disappearance.
"Two weeks after the investigation began, the jumper cables appeared in the shed. We have no idea who put them there," Rebecca Perry explains. "When I asked police if they could look for fingerprints on the cables, I was told that they wouldn't be able to get any good prints because so many different people used them. So as far as I know, they never did check them."
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