In 1987, She Went To Purchase Cigarettes At A Convenient Store, But What Was Supposed To Be A Short Errand Turned Into A Puzzling Mystery
Brenda Lee Alexander was born and raised by her mother, Frances, in Nicholson, Georgia. And according to Frances, her daughter quickly blossomed into an independent and responsible young woman.
“She was a very good girl growing up,” Frances said in an interview with Dateline.
Brenda was just sixteen-years-old when she welcomed her first child, Michelle, into the world in 1980. Afterward, she went on to marry Jimmy, who was Michelle’s father, before having two more sons– Kevin and Shannon.
Frances remembered how having and raising kids at that age was no easy task for Brenda.
“She had the kids when she was pretty young. She struggled for a bit,” Frances recalled.
Tragically, though, Brenda’s role as a mother was short lived– because seven years after having Michelle, she vanished.
Brenda and Jimmy, as well as the rest of Brenda’s family, had all lived in Nicholson, Georgia, together. However, once the couple eventually got divorced, Brenda ended up moving to Athens, Georgia– which was just fifteen miles away.
It was there that Brenda met and married a man named Eugene. And after tying the knot, the couple moved into a room they rented from Brenda’s uncle.
Facebook – pictured above is Brenda
Then, on January 12, 1987, Brenda– who was then in her early twenties– visited Frances’s house. Brenda had suffered from epilepsy and was just released from the hospital before she went to her mother’s home.
“She had just had a seizure and came home from the hospital with medicine,” Frances explained.
During the visit that night, Brenda also decided to run to a local convenience store in order to buy cigarettes. But, what was supposed to be a short errand turned into a puzzling mystery– because Brenda never returned home.
Eugene, Brenda’s husband, said that Brenda was last seen holding cigarettes at the convenience store. And according to Brenda’s daughter, Michelle, who was six-years-old at the time, Eugene filed a missing person’s report with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department a few days later.
Brenda’s case has not progressed much over the years, though. When interviewed in 2019, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department shared that they were working on locating Brenda’s original case files. No further updates on her disappearance or search efforts were provided.
So, it has now been thirty-seven years since Brenda’s mother, and children have seen her. And the lack of answers has been severely tolling on Frances.
“It’s been hard on me, not knowing where she’s at,” Frances said. One of the most difficult challenges for Frances is when the police call her to identify remains that could be Brenda.
“Going to see these bodies, and none of them are her. I just wish I could find her.”
Frances went on to raise Brenda’s three children while dealing with the disappearance of her daughter. And as the children grew up, they would come to join Frances in the search for Brenda.
Brenda’s eldest, Michelle, does not remember a whole lot about her mother. She recalled how they had some mother-daughter moments, like when Brenda would play with her hair or visit her and her brothers. However, that does not mean Michelle has stopped wondering about her mother or looking for answers.
And one of Michelle’s largest motivators is her goal of bringing her grandmother, Frances, peace.
“I am trying to help my Momma find some peace in her baby girl’s disappearance. To lessen any confusion, when I say help my Momma, I mean my grandmother. I grew up calling her Momma as she raised me,” Michelle wrote in one Facebook post.
Brenda had blonde-brown hair and blue eyes and would be in her late fifties today. If you have any information regarding Brenda’s disappearance or whereabouts, you are urged to contact the Athens-Clarke County Police Department at (706) 603-3330.
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