I didn't mess with the "runaway bride" story at all, mainly because the evidence was too scanty. And when she turned up, I looked at my wife and commented that she had committed no crime in disappearing like that -- and held to that position until the police said that she reported a kidnapping when she did turn up.

Why talk about that now? Because of this case, which I vaguely remember from when it took place.

A Texas A&M University student who had been feared murdered after disappearing nearly seven years ago has been found alive and working in Kentucky, according to authorities.

Brandi Stahr went missing in October 1998, and police spent hours searching for her body in wooded areas. They questioned a serial rapist and murderer about her just hours before he was executed last year.

But a telephone tip led investigators to Florence, Ky., where Stahr has been working for the last five years at a Sam's Club, said Texas Ranger Frank Malinak.

"We thought we were dealing with a missing persons case," Malinak said. "But, in actuality, we were dealing with a person who did not want to be found and was in hiding."

It seems that Brandi and her family had a falling out after she did poorly in school the previous spring. Rather than continue to deal with them, she just decided to leave. As an adult, she had every right to do so. I won't judge her reasons.

Interestingly enough, Brandi has been working under her own name at a Sam's Club for five years, but there is no way for police to check IRS or Social Security records in such a case. While some folks want that changed, I don't. It would lower the wall of privacy more than I'm willing to see done. And to keep her profile low, Brandi never got a Kentucky drivers license and had her roommates' names on the utility bills, so that her family could not trace her.

And I understand why. The local paper ran an article that disclosed all sorts of personal and financial information about her, courtesy of her parents. They talked about how high her credit card bills were, and what had happened to her college grades. They even got into issues regarding a boyfriend they didn't like -- and the paper printed it all. Seems to me that the parents have a boundary/control problem, and she just wanted to get away from it all. I won't link the article that contained all that information, because I don't want to spread what is little more than gossip any further. But if you want an idea of the level of respect Brandi has been shown by her family since the anonymous tip came in, just consider this.

Relatives hope Stahr will visit with them, but she has been angered all over again in recent weeks because her family and police have told the story of her re-emergence, Dickenson said.

Stahr is so upset with media coverage of the story in Waco that she told one sister the entire family should not bother visiting. But in a trembling voice, her mother said thereÂ’s nothing thatÂ’s going to keep her from seeing her daughter after seven years.

“ I don’t give a diddly-tinker’s damn if she doesn’t want us there,” Dickenson said. “We’re going. I’m going. Even if I have to sit out in a [Sam’s Club] parking lot to see her.”

Sounds to me like Brandi needs to disappear into the woodwork again -- or maybe she just needs a restraining order.

Posted by: Greg at 10:22 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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