The Tragedy
A senseless crime
In the days and weeks leading up to her death, Brandy was going on adventures with her best friend and her friend's family. She was working, making friends, and going about her life.
She had been keeping in touch with a friend of hers whom she dated about a year and a half prior. Her name was Jade. So maybe it wasn't all that odd when Brandy was invited to Cochranton, PA to visit that ex-girlfriend.
It was Thursday, May 17th when Brandy made the drive to visit that girl. Brandy texted a friend of hers that she had a bad feeling about going. However, she still made the trip, which was over an hour long. Brandy eventually texted that same friend to say that she was not feeling so well and was going to stop at Subway to get something to eat. (Brandy had diabetes, and therefore she had to be careful about her blood sugar.)
That was the last time anyone heard from her.
Waiting and Hoping
As hours turned into days without word from Brandy, her family and friends grew increasingly concerned. They filed a missing person's report, emphasizing her medical condition to expedite the search. Efforts to contact Jade were met with claims that Brandy never arrived, and Jade inquired if the police were involved, adding that local residents were unfriendly towards gay people.
Friday passed.
Saturday passed.
Sunday passed with having made a trip to Cochranton to check for signs of Brandy's car. Nothing.
On Monday, May 21, a breakthrough occurred when Brandy's cell phone pinged a tower in Meadville, Pennsylvania. Armed with this information, her loved ones canvassed the area, distributing flyers and seeking information, but to no avail. A kind woman in Meadville asked if she could pray with us. She held our hands and we bowed our heads in determination to get a sign from Brandy.
After hours passed, the group made a visit to the residence where Jade was staying. It led to a confrontation, during which Jade and her new girlfriend, Ashley Barber, asserted that Brandy had never shown up there on the 17th.
Confessions
That evening, an anonymous tip led authorities to discover Brandy's car hidden in the back garage of the residence, meticulously cleaned. Brandy's car would almost never be meticulously cleaned.
Jade and Ashley fled on foot but were soon apprehended by an officer who was on his way home from a shift. He noticed two girls matching the description he had hear about. He watched them pass, on foot, under an overpass and enter a vehicle. The officer, suspicious, pulled them over.
Under interrogation, they eventually confessed to the premeditated murder of Brandy. Investigations revealed that they had dug a grave days before Brandy's arrival, indicating the calculated nature of their plan.
Back at the Barber residence, investigators with canines eventually found the loose dirt where Brandy had been buried by the monsters who took her life. It was late Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, 5/24/2012, when Brandy's family and friends caught the harsh reality that their beloved Brandy was really gone.
The pre-trials and hearings that followed revealed gruesome facts. Words like blunt force trauma and asphyxiation stood in brutal contrast to the joy Brandy brought to her family and friends.
Both Jade Olmstead and Ashley Barber were convicted and are currently serving life sentences without the possibility of parole in Pennsylvania. The loss of Brandy, a vibrant and caring person, remains a profound tragedy for all who knew her.
A Week Later
Links
As someone who thought of Brandy as a little sister, it is hard to get into the gruesome details about what happened when she arrived at the house on Drake Hill Road in Cochranton that day. But I feel that it is important that the details are available for people who want to read them. If you are one of those people, in a solid headspace and with space to grieve, please see the links below:
Meadville Tribune - Nov 14, 2013
Podcast:
https://www.swordandscale.com/listen/episodes/Sword-and-Scale-Episode-138