It wasn’t much past the midnight hour on the warm and early summer morning of Friday, August 9, 2013. Brandon Lawson, a 26-year-old father of four children, was driving toward Abilene, Texas, when his truck came to a rolling stop. The needle on the fuel gauge showed his engine had drained the last drop of gasoline from the tank.
It’s a chilling and partially inaudible 911 call that Lawson made, providing one of the only few clues of his disappearance. and one of only a few clues. The Houston Chronicle reported he was along Highway 277 near Bronte, Texas, and he started walking north. Then, at 1:20 A.M, the panel lit up at a nearby 911 call center, and it was the last time Lawson was ever heard from.
NBC DFW has portions of the transcript:
“Yes I’m in the middle of a field (inaudible) pushed some guys over, right here going towards Abilene, on both sides. My truck ran out of gas, there’s one car here, the guy’s chasing (inaudible) to the woods, please hurry!” The dispatcher asks if an ambulance is needed. The last thing heard by the 911 operator was the words: “No, I need the cops!”
His truck—keys and phone removed—was all found undamaged. As his dad, Brad Lawson, relayed to NBC DFW, “His cell phone battery dies so he had no flashlight, it’s rocky cactus terrain out there, if he had fell down or something we would have found him in a search.”
A website set up about the disappearance explains Lawson had left his San Angelo home minutes before midnight and later called his brother asking for gas. But there’s been no sign of him.
In a press release issued in 2014, the president of LostNMissing, a nonprofit helping Lawson’s family, said “we also believe there is a second voice on the 911 tape and if that proves to be correct, that person has knowledge as to what has happened.” Law enforcement has never confirmed this.
Missing: Brandon Lawson
Missing From: Bronte, TX
Date Missing: August 9, 2013
Race: White Sex: Male
Age at Disappearance: 26 years
Height: 5’9” Weight: 230 lbs.
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Build: Stocky
Tattoos: Multiple tattoos
Clothing: a yellow shirt with camo shorts and white 2013 “Air Max” brand shoes.
Police Agency: TX Dept of Public Safety, MPC at 512-424-5074 – Case # M1308005 or local police
Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers at (325) 658-HELP.
Sassy Liberty