Irene Bryant Murdered, John Bryant Missing

November 18, 2007 by Morbid  

Held off on this one, as I wasn’t sure where it was headed. But since this is now a homicide investigation, I figured we should get this posted.

HORSE SHOE — Bob Bryant alerted authorities that his parents Irene, 84, and John, 79, had not come back from a hiking trip in the Pisgah National Forest. Crews worked for three days before finding the body of Irene Bryant, 84, partially covered by leaves about 25 yards from their vehicle. A medical examiner later found Bryant had been killed from blunt force trauma to the head. The couple’s bank card had been used to withdraw $300 from an ATM in Ducktown, Tenn and photos taken from bank surveillance cameras show a person wearing a yellow rain jacket withdrawing money at 7:35 p.m. The hood of the rain jacket obscures the person’s identity. Initially thought to be a missing hikers case, the search efforts first used dogs that are not trained to search for dead bodies. Because of the three-week lag to the massive search area and the two-state crime scene authorties haven’t had any luck in the case.

Here is the timeline of events so far:

Oct. 21, 4 p.m.: Someone uses Irene Bryant’s cell phone to call 911. The signal is lost, and the call never reaches an emergency call center. The provider is unable to lock onto a position using GPS. Irene Bryant was killed that day, authorities later say.

• Oct. 22, 7:35 p.m.: Bryants’ bank card used to withdraw $300 from a machine at a Ducktown, Tenn., bank.
• Nov. 2 or 3: Bob Bryant tells the Henderson County Sheriff‘s Office his parents are missing after not being able to reach them by phone or e-mail for two weeks. Neighbors noticing newspapers piling up outside the Bryants’ home also alert authorities.
• Nov. 6: Search for John and Irene Bryant begins.
• Nov. 6, 1:45 p.m.: Bob Bryant, after traveling from home in Texas, finds his parents’ Ford Escape on the side of Yellow Gap Road in Transylvania County.
• Nov. 8: Law enforcement begins search of couple’s financial records for recent activity.
• Nov. 9: Authorities determine couple’s bank card used.
• Nov. 9: Sixty-five people join another 40 already searching for the couple. Searchers find body, which is sent for autopsy and identification.
• Nov. 12: Search for couple suspended.
• Nov. 13: Police go public with information on the bank card use, releasing photo from bank video. Medical examiner identifies body as that of Irene Bryant.