Brandy Hall

Undated Brandy Hall photo

Brandy Hall, 32, was a firefighter, wife and mother of two when she disappeared on August 17, 2006 from the Central Florida town of Malabar.

I feel badly about going into Brandy’s past as much as I am going to, but her past might hold clues to her disappearance. In fact, I think there are clues in her past.

Brandy almost died as a child in a three-wheeler accident. She had extensive surgeries on her face and had chronic pain for the rest of her life. However, she was a tough kid and grew up to be an excellent firefighter, which she loved doing.  She married Jeffrey Hall, who was the fire chief, and they had two children, Taylor and Clayton.  She and Jeffrey both worked the same shift, so their kids could stay with her parents. By all accounts, up until July, 2005, she was very happy in her job and marriage.

Then, in July of 2005, her husband Jeffrey and another firefighter were arrested for growing and selling marijuana on the Hall property in Palm Bay, FL.  The men had a fairly small scale operation (no cartels or drug running was going on) although they reportedly netted $30,000 every two months for over a year. Although Brandy knew nothing of the operation, the land was in both of their names so she was arrested and charged as well.  All charges against Brandy were dropped, and despite her accolades and perfect record as a firefighter for ten years, she was fired from her job in Palm Bay.

This did throw Brandy into a slight tailspin. Along with losing her job and now sole source of income, she also had to find a new firefighting job or she would lose all of her credentials. So, she worked doing home repairs for a friend of hers and volunteered with the Malabar Fire Department to keep her credentials while she appealed her termination with Palm Bay. 

She remained supportive of her husband, who was out on bail, but she also began to have an affair with a district chief firefighter, Randal Richmond.  Richmond’s wife, Anne-Marie, allegedly confronted Brandy six months before her disappearance during a community festival and Brandy had mentioned it to her best friend. However, it is not known whether the affair continued up to the time of Brandy’s disappearance.

On the night of Brandy’s disappearance, she complained of stomach pains and left her shift at the fire station at 10:45PM instead of working the full overnight shift. Video from the fire house shows that Brandy was relaxed and left alone. Outside surveillance shows that Brandy got into her truck alone and no one followed her out. She was scheduled to testify on her husband’s behalf in court the next day and she told her co-workers that she planned to go home.

Jeffrey did not expect her home until early morning, so he did not become concerned until it was time to bring the kids to school and she was still not home. He continuously tried to call Brandy, but she didn’t answer and her voicemail was full. He hurried the kids to school and then drove, alone,  an hour to the courthouse. He kept trying to call Brandy, and finally decided that maybe she went to court ahead of him. When he arrived at court and Brandy was not there, he started to panic. He went to court and was sentenced to 18 months in prison and then probation. He claimed he barely heard the judge because he was so worried about Brandy. His family left the court and immediately went to retrieve the kids and file a missing person’s report. Jeffrey finally was able to make a call and he got in touch with his mother, who informed him of that Brandy was not found.

The police immediately began an investigation. Her last phone call was made at 10:53PM, to Randal Richmond. When he was questioned, he told police that Brandy was calling from a gas station.  She told him she planned to leave and “get away from everything.” However, no one remembers her truck idling at the service station and her debit and credit cards had not been used since the day before.  Although there is overwhelming evidence that she did not leave by her own volition, Richmond insists this is what happened.  

  The next day, her truck was found submerged in a small, local pond. Brandy’s body was not in the truck, and neither was her gun, which she always carried with her. What was found was a substantial amount of Brandy’s blood, though not enough to prove she was dead. Also in the truck was her firefighting equipment and a small cooler filled with soda and beer, which were still cold.  Over the next week, the small pond was completely drained, and neither the body nor gun was found. The police, at this point, also suspected suicide or stranger abduction were unlikely.

In July, 2007, a backpack containing Brandy’s personal belongings was found in a canal in western Indian River County, FL. This is about twenty minutes from where her truck was found, and there is no river that leads between the two bodies of water. The backpack contained her day planner and a few items of clothing, but not enough for longer than one night. Also notably missing from the backpack were her prescription painkillers, which she used daily to control pain from her childhood accident. The gun was also not in the backpack.

Jeffrey Hall has been eliminated as a suspect. He has been released from prison and is currently raising their children in Florida.

Brandy Hall was born September  13, 1973. She has blonde hair, blue eyes, and is 5’7 and weighed around 140 pounds at the time of her disappearance. She has a pierced tongue and naval, and she has two tattoos-a fishing scene on her lower back and a Tweety bird by a fire hydrant on her ankle.

Her children are now teenagers. Her youngest child asks every day if they are still looking for his mom.

Original "Missing" Poster