Disappearance of Brandon Lawson

On August 8, 2013, Brandon Lawson of San Angelo, Texas disappeared after leaving his home earlier that night. Disappearance: On August 8, 2013, Brandon Lawson arrived at his home in San Angelo, Texas, where he lived with his girlfriend of ten years, Ladessa Lofton. Between approximately 10:45 and 11:00 p.m., Brandon and Ladessa argued. Brandon had not returned home the night before, and Ladessa believed that Brandon was on drugs at that time. At the time, Brandon had had ongoing issues with substance abuse, but had been clean for about 6 months. Brandon's brother Kyle Lawson later claimed that Brandon had taken methamphetamines shortly before his disappearance. Around 11:30 p.m., Brandon called his father in Crowley, Texas, about a 3 hours drive from San Angelo, and told him he was coming to his house. At 11:54 p.m., Brandon left his house to go to his father's house, driving his Silver Ford F-150. At about 12:30 a.m. on August 9, Brandon called Kyle and told him he had run out of gas and was pulled over on U.S. Route 277 between San Angelo and Bronte, Texas. Kyle claimed that during the call, Brandon told him that "Three (expletives) are chasing me out of town," and later clarified it was “the Mexicans in the neighborhood." Kyle asked if he was hallucinating, which Brandon denied. Kyle, along with his wife and 4-year-old child, drove to Ladessa's house and retrieved a gas can. Kyle said they continued to make calls to each other, but Brandon wouldn't hold a conversation with him, usually ending the call after a few sentences. At 12:50 a.m., Brandon called 9-1-1, which rang at a local nursing home in Robert Lee, Texas, and he told the responder that he had run out of gas and that he needed the police. During the call, Lawson made several confused or incoherent statements, including, “Yes, I'm in the middle of a field (inaudible) pushed some guys over, right here going toward Abilene, on both sides,” and “My truck ran out of gas. There's one car here. The guy's chasing (inaudible) to the woods. Please hurry!” Several minutes later, at 12:56 a.m., a trucker called 9-1-1 to report Lawson's truck, which was parked in a hazardous manner on the road. Between 12:50 a.m. and 1:15 a.m., Brandon received and made several calls with his brother, his wife, his neighbor, and the 9-1-1 dispatcher, though his poor cell phone reception caused several of these calls to go straight to voicemail, and after 1:19 a.m., all calls to his phone went straight to voicemail. At around 1:18 a.m., Kyle called Brandon, who sounded out of breath and claimed he was bleeding. Shortly after 1 a.m., a sheriff's deputy arrived at Lawson's truck, though Lawson wasn't there. Kyle arrived at the truck around 1:10 a.m. At the time, he was on the phone with Brandon, who told him “I can see you; I’m right here,” but neither the deputy nor Kyle could see Brandon. At the time of the disappearance, Brandon had an active arrest warrant on him, and Kyle thought that he may have been hiding from the deputy. After talking to the officer, Kyle drove a short distance up the road and parked the car to wait for Brandon to appear, though after about 30 to 45 minutes, he left. Kyle left the gas can in the back of Brandon's truck and later returned to the truck around 5 a.m., where he was surprised that Brandon had not returned. Around 8 a.m., the truck was towed. Aftermath: In the aftermath of his disappearance, a local deputy organized a search party and spent several hours investigating the area near Lawson's truck, but found no signs of Lawson. Friends and family of Lawson set up a Facebook page called "Help Find Brandon Lawson", which as of 2016 had over 12,000 likes. However, Lawson remains missing.