BY BRIAN K. FINNICUM, EDITOR Friday, December 21, 2007 1:42 PM
A photo from the security camera at People’s Bank in Ducktown shows the hooded figure of the person who used John and Irene Bryant’s ATM card.
Officials believe establishing this person’s identity is key to solving Irene’s murder and John’s disappearance.
The son of a North Carolina couple whose bank ATM card was used to withdraw money at a Ducktown bank visited the Copper Basin area last week to try to draw out information that might help solve the crime against his parents.
“Why Ducktown?” wondered Bob Bryant Thursday. “Was it on the way to somewhere, or was it somebody from here?”
Bryant’s parents, John and Irene Bryant of Hendersonville, N.C., disappeared after going on a day hike in the Pisgah National Forest on Oct. 21 near the Cradle of Forestry and Pink Beds in Transylvania County near Brevard, N.C.
Later that day, a 911 call was attempted from the couple’s cell phone, but the call was dropped by the tower because of a weak signal and never reached the 911 dispatch office.Bryant said his parents were in the habit of taking hikes of two or three hours a few times a week, and would often go on short trips at the drop of a hat, but “when we hadn’t heard from them for a week, we got concerned.”
Bryant said when he also confirmed with his mother’s sister that she hadn’t heard from them either, even though Irene was in the habit of talking to her sister several times a week, and neighbors told him newspapers were piling up at their house, he flew from his home in Austin, Texas, to Hendersonville, and broke into his parents house.
He said everything appeared normal, but their packs were gone and he assumed they had gone hiking.Bryant then notified authorities that his parents were missing, and the sheriff’s department started an investigation, he said. That was when the dropped cell phone call was discovered, and that gave them a location in the Pisgah Forest where to start their search.
The next day, two weeks after their presumed disappearance, the couple’s truck was found parked at a trailhead, Bryant said. Almost as soon as the car was located, aircraft were overhead searching, and a large search party fanned out along the trail and vicinity, presumably looking for lost hikers, he said.
But, after a few days, it was realized that they were no longer looking for lost hikers, and the search was scaled back to mostly law enforcement, who began a thorough grid search, Bryant said. Soon, Irene’s body was found. She had been bludgeoned to death.
At the same time, officials learned that someone had used the couple’s bank card to withdraw $300 from the People’s Bank ATM on Five Points Drive in Ducktown the day after the couple went missing.
Since then, Bryant said he has been searching on his own in the Pisgah Forest, walking roads and bridges. “I’ve walked a lot,” he said, including seven miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Last week, he came to Ducktown. He said he came for a couple of reasons - to see the place and ATM that was used and to talk to local law enforcement officials about his parents; and to talk to the news media to plead with anyone who might have seen anything to come forward.
Bank security cameras show a figure walked up to the ATM on Oct. 22 at 7:35 p.m., wearing a yellow parka with the hood up. A distinctive band of what appears to be gray duct tape rings the waist of the parka. Cars can be seen passing on the street in the background.Bryant said he doesn’t know for sure, but the parka “certainly looked like something Dad would have. It certainly looks like it could be.”
John Bryant remains missing. Also missing is his backpack, a blue pack with an Appalachian Trail “End To End” patch on it. Bob Bryant said his dad had hiked the entire Appalachian Trail in sections.
“I just don’t understand how this would have turned into a murder,” Bryant said. His mother Irene was 84 and his father John was just a week shy of his 80th birthday. He said they wouldn’t have posed a physical threat and would have just handed over their wallets if someone had demanded them. He said neither would have offered any resistance unless the other had been physically assaulted.
Despite an intensive investigation not only by the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Department, but also the U.S. Forest Service and Park Service, the FBI, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Polk County Sheriff’s Department, Bryant said no further clues about his father’s whereabouts have been found.
He said the presumption is that his father was taken against his will, and the presumption is that he is no longer alive.“They need a lead,” Bryant said. He said he came here hoping that someone might have seen the person in the yellow parka, or have heard something about the case.
“Please come forward,” he pleaded.A $10,000 reward has been offered for the right information, Bryant said. Anyone with any information can call the Polk County Sheriff’s Department at 423-496-3301.
A short, preliminary timeline :
Oct 21, 4 pm: An unsuccessful call to 911 from Irene Bryant’s cell phone. The signal is lost and the call never reaches an emergency call center. The provider is unable to lock onto a position using GPS. Authorities suspect Irene Bryant was killed that day.
Oct 22, 7:35 pm: Bryants’ bank card used to withdraw $300 from an ATM at a Ducktown, Tenn., bank. Suspect is on surveillance tape, but not a good shot.
Nov 2 or 3: Bob Bryant reports to the Henderson County Sheriff‘s Office that his parents are missing after not being able to reach them by phone or e-mail for two weeks, and hearing from neighbors that newspapers were piling up outside the Bryants’ home.
Nov 6: Search for John and Irene Bryant begins.
Nov 6, 1:45 pm: 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.
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