Life Goes on After Brandon Lawson's Disappearance, But Questions Remain

It has been 886 days since Brandon Lawson was last seen. The father of four disappeared on Aug. 9, 2013 off the side of U.S. 277 near Bronte, Texas, where his truck was found unharmed. However, no traces of Brandon were found, and have not been found to this day.

Lawson disappeared just one month shy of his 10-year anniversary with his girlfriend, Ladessa Lofton. Even though two-and-a-half years have passed since she last saw the father of her children, Lofton is still grieving the loss and has not moved on due to lack of closure.

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Above: Brandon Lawson and Ladessa Lofton. (Photo/Facebook)

“There’s good days and bad days,” she said. “I just try to keep myself busy so I don’t think about it all the time. I try to be the best parent I can for the kids.”

Lofton’s two youngest children, now ages 3 and 4, were just babies when Lawson never returned home, but their oldest son had a much harder time.

“He shut down completely," stated Lofton. "He didn’t sleep for days. The hardest thing as a parent is not being able to give him answers.”

Lofton recalled the events of the last day she saw her boyfriend of almost a decade: “It was a typical day. We got into an argument and he left the house. I talked to him one time after he left the house.”

She said that Brandon had taken their wall phone charger with him and she only had a car charger, so she put her phone in the car to charge it and went to bed.

“Brandon called me three times and never left a voicemail that night,” she said of the night he went missing. “I’ll never forgive myself for not having my phone on me.”

Brandon had apparently run out of gas on the highway and had also phoned his brother for help. However, when his brother came to help him, all he found was his F-150 on the side of the highway and no traces of Brandon.

Lofton claimed that the fight they had the previous night was a normal argument caused by stress of work, kids, and everyday life. It would not have been enough to cause Brandon to voluntarily leave forever. The fact that the last words she had with her boyfriend were out of anger has really stuck with her for the past couple of years.

“You don’t think that someone is just going to go missing or you’re never going to see that person again,” she said. “It taught me so much, to always value my words. I make sure every time I drop the kids off or leave for work, I always tell them I love them. You never know when you’re going to get those last words.”

Since Brandon’s disappearance, many rumors and speculations about him and Lofton’s lives have surfaced. Lofton recently addressed some of the concerns that the public has had.

Why would his girlfriend move away shortly after he disappeared?

After Brandon disappeared in Aug. 2013, Lofton moved from their San Angelo home back to her family’s home in Fort Worth the next month. Most people found it strange that she left only a month after he went missing, but Lofton offered a simple explanation – the lease at the San Angelo rental was up and her family wanted her to come home so they could help with the kids.

“I had to quit my job when I searched for Brandon, but I stayed there a good month and a half,” said Lofton.

Was Brandon really a drug dealer?

Many people have speculated that Lawson had some trouble with drugs and was even a drug dealer. However, Lofton stated, “How could Brandon be a drug dealer when he worked 95 hours a week?”

She added, “He worked. He was a good dad. He took drug tests at a job and passed every one. Brandon had a past, yes. Everyone has pasts, but he wouldn’t do anything like that.”

Did Brandon really collect the funds from his 401(K) right before he disappeared?

Claims that Brandon had cashed in his 401(k) shortly before his disappearance began to get around. Lofton claimed that he did not, but “he thought about it.”

Riley Crain, who was his supervisor at Renegade Well Services, stated, “I am not sure if that is right or not. I’ve heard some people say that, but I don’t think he really did.”

This has yet to be confirmed by the corporate office of Renegade.

Was Brandon hiding because of warrants?

Lawson had an outstanding felony warrant for his arrest at the time of his disappearance, which has led many to believe that he ran away and was hiding from law enforcement.

“They knew exactly where Brandon was at,” Lofton said. “He wasn’t hiding or anything; we were just waiting to get a lawyer.”

So, where is Brandon Lawson?

Brandon Lawson’s disappearance has gained much attention over the years and everyone has their own theories about what might have happened to him.

“He was a pretty mellow, nice guy. Everybody got along with him,” said his former supervisor at Renegade, Riley Crain. “It’s kind of strange that this happened. People don’t know what to think about it. It didn’t seem like he would have ran off, but you never know.”

Marcus Jones, who was Lawson’s co-worker at Renegade, said, “He was pretty level-headed and straight forward. He was always pretty cool. I never had any dealings with him. He seemed like a pretty good guy to me.”

Jones, however, does believe there are many holes in this story. “His brother was kind of tore up about it, but not acting like someone who had just lost his brother; more like he might have known something was coming. He wasn’t real informative, but kept the same story.”

He continued, “It’s all kind of fishy to me, but he did love his kids. I don’t see him leaving his kids. He did talk about them all the time. He was a hardcore daddy. I don’t really see him just up and leaving. That was one thing he was surely proud of.”

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Lofton noted, “I try to tell myself it was an accident. After hearing the 911 call, I don’t know if somebody hurt him or if somebody didn’t, but you just don’t want to think somebody would do that to someone you love.”

On the night Lawson went missing, this is said to have been the 911 call (and it's the one Lofton referred):

She stated that she is baffled by what happened and the knowledge that someone can just disappear without a trace. However, she will continue to seek closure for her family.

“There are so many things that could have happened," she said. "I just don’t have any closure.”

Thus, the question still remains, where is Brandon Lawson? Click here for more.