Brandon Steve Williams
Aka: Brenden, Will, Hoss
Missing since May 18th, 2013
Possible Last Locations:
Salt Lake City, UT-St. Louis, MO-Nashville, TN-Atlanta, GA-Miami, FL-Key West, FL
Brandon Steve Williams, known as Brenden to some, Hoss to others, is described as approximately 5’10” and about 170-185lbs. He is a white homosexual male, brown hair and brown eyes. He has several tattoos, one index finger shorter than the other, has had a broken nose and scaring to his lip and head and an Epileptic. When Brandon was seen last, he was wearing an Orange shirt and brown or tan pants.
Brandon was one of the middle children, of five. He had three older brothers, and a younger sister he doted over. They are all at a loss…” What happened to Hoss?” When I spoke to Brandon’s sister, she described him as a “goofball” and that he enjoyed playfully picking on her. His family stated he loved cooking and woodworking. His sister fondly remembered him making her toys when she was a small child. While speaking to his sister, you can so feel the pain in her heart. Since Brandon went missing, they have lost cherished loved ones, mom got sick and now the sister he doted over is sick as well. Where Is Hoss? Brandon would never leave his family, and not come back. Especially now, he WOULD have made contact.
Brandon had made some bad choices in his 20s, so he had left the Utah area to start a new life. He seemed to have been doing good. When an old warrant came up, and he was transferred back to Utah, from Key West Florida. Just before extradition, he released his phone, wallet, ID as well as the rest of his property to his presumed lover, Charles. In Utah County, UT He was convicted of a minor possession charge, and served the short sentence that was handed down to him. After his release from jail, is where the water gets murky.
On May 17, 2013 Brandon got on a Greyhound bus in Salt Lake City, UT and was headed back to Key West, FL where he lived with Charles. However, after Brandon’s disappearance, some of Charles story changes on whether Brandon was still living with him, or if he had moved into another residence. That other residence we believe was a boat owned by a mutual friend of Charles and Brandon. (See the water getting muddy?)
On May 25th, five day’s after Brandon should have arrived in Key West, Charles contacted Spencer, Brandon’s best friend. He reported to Spencer that Hoss never made it. Immediately, Spencer reached out to Brandon’s mom. I have to question, Charles had Brandon’s phone which is how we assume he got Spencer’s number to start with. Why did he 1) wait five days AFTER Brandon was due to arrive to make that call? And 2) Why did he call Spencer, instead of Brandon’s family. He clearly had their phone numbers as well. I would love to be able to ask him that question, myself. (Muddier and Muddier.)
At the time of notification, Brandon’s mom reached out to Charles to find out what is going on. Charles DID in fact stay in contact with the family, seemingly helpful, for several months after that... until he wasn't.
According to Spencer, Brandon had borrowed a phone in St. Louis and called him to state he was that far on the trip, and so far he was on schedule. That was the morning of May 18th.
Not until several weeks after Brandon’s disappearance did Charles tell the family that Brandon had borrowed a phone while in Nashville, TN to call him as well. He reported that call was the evening of the 18th.
During the initial weeks and months of Brandon’s disappearance, his family asked Charles to send his personal property to them. At that point, Charles stated he went to where Brandon was staying and “packed everything up the way it was.” The family was specifically looking for Brandon’s wallet, cell phone, and anything that may possibly have DNA on it.
The Ephraim, Utah police report oversaw the case at that time. However, it seems they did bare minimum work, once you look at the report and supplemental information. They advised Greyhound bus service stated that Brandon had used “three of his five tickets.” They believed he had made it to Atlanta, GA. For two and a half years, the family centered their search efforts there. Brandon’s sister reached out to NamUs and was assigned an advocate. After the advocate looked over everything, she found that since the last place anyone heard from Brandon was Nashville, that is where his case should be at. With a struggle, the NamUs advocate was able to get the case transferred. It took the new detective quite some time to get the original detective to call him back. At that point, the old detective told the new one “I don’t know where they got Atlanta from, I never said that.” However, if you look at the report you will see on 8/14/2013 “His ticket indicated he left St. Louis, Mo on May 18, 2013 and arrived in Atlanta, GA and Brandon did not get back on the bus.” I think that conversation was a clear case of not reading his own report, when relaying information to the next jurisdiction.
Nashville Metro Police department spread it on the news of Brandon’s disappearance. Sadly, not one single call, not one single tip came in. In my mind, that tells me Brandon did not “miss his bus” in Nashville. Either Brandon did NOT go through Nashville, as Charles stated, and he DID go through Atlanta. Or he never got off that bus, therefore did not miss his connection, as Charles claims.
Months turn into years, and a Facebook page is created to help bring awareness to Brandon’s case. Remember that mutual friend we believe Brandon moved in with? Well, he made a comment on the page stating, “he doesn’t want to be found, believe me.” Why in the world would someone say that? Are you hiding him out? Or are you hiding information? I would love to reach out to him and get his thought process.
To this day, Charles has NOT sent the family ANY of Brandon’s possessions. In fact, Charles claims he “bought that phone” so he won’t send it. Tell me sir, how much was the phone? Because it COULD hold valuable information for the family. Maybe we can all find a way to “pay you back” for it. Oh wait, I guess we can’t do that. Charles turned in Brandon’s phone for an upgrade. (Muddier and Muddier and Muddier) Well, since you can’t send the family his phone, why don’t you let us know how much it would cost to ship what little you have of Brandon’s. I will personally send you a shipping label.
So here we sit. A beloved family member still missing, a supposed “friend” suddenly not being helpful, and a sister that desperately wants answers as she is battling cancer.
We ask that you all share this story far and wide. Let’s get Hoss’s face out there in public and Help Bring Him Home!
And of course: if you have any information about Brandon "Hoss" Williams we urge you to contact the jurisdiction responsible for the case. Also, you can reach out to the family at the Facebook page linked below, or of course, reach out to us and we will get the information sent across.
Metropolitan Nashville Police Department
Det. Steve Jolley
200 James Robertson Parkway
Nashville, TN 37201
615-862-8600
Tips Line: 615-742-7463
Reference report number: 20150402073