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| The Post and Courier Nov 17, 2005 |
| Few leads in case of Brandy Hanna after six-month search. Vigil marks missing woman's birthday. |
There were a million places they would have preferred to sing "Happy Birthday," far smaller
candles they would have rather lit.
But on Wednesday night, nearly 60 members of Brandy Renee Hanna's
family and circle of friends marked the 33rd anniversary of her birth in the parking lot of the
North Charleston apartment where she was last seen nearly six months ago.
They had hoped a party would have been possible by now, but the closest they could come was
a candlelight vigil.
"We love you and can only hope that wherever you are you know that we miss you terribly and
are desperately looking for you daily," Lynn Waldroup said, speaking for the family after the
group sang a melancholy version of "Happy Birthday."
On May 20, Brandy -- a waitress at Alex's Restaurant on Dorchester Road -- served Waldroup
lunch. She was happy, excited to have the entire weekend off and before her. That afternoon,
she caught a ride home with a customer and later talked to her mother, Donna Parent, by phone.
Sometime that night, she disappeared from her Florida Avenue apartment, leaving behind all
her belongings, her money and no clue as to what had happened.
It is a mystery that has tormented her mother. Along with Brandy's stepfather, Gary Dillon,
Parent has gotten her daughter's picture and story on television and in newspaper, on "missing"
posters across the country.
She will be featured on Channel 4's Crime Stoppers at 7 tonight.
"Your mother is using every avenue available to find you," Waldroup said at the service. "She is
leaving no stone unturned to bring you home to all of us."
North Charleston police have looked for clues, Alex's owner Carol Billips has established a
reward fund and the rest of the city has sat trying to solve a frustrating puzzle.
"We talk about it every morning at Pappy's," said Charlie Stephens, who knew Brandy from her
time waitressing there. "It's a mystery to me."
Parent, her sons Michael and Shane, and Dillon stood silent as the crowd lit candles and prayed
for Brandy.
Parent said she appreciated the outpouring of support and hoped that someone could give her
the answer that keeps her up nights and fills her thoughts every day.
"If you know anything, please tell me," she said. "All we need is one person to tell us."
Contact Brian Hicks at 937-5561 or bhicks@postandcourier.com
TO OFFER TIPS Anyone with information about Brandy Hanna can contact North Charleston
police at 554-5700 or Crime Stoppers at 554-1111.
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