Welcome to Mysteries of the Missing, a podcast and blog about missing person's cases. You can find my podcast, my blog, and my social media pages on my Linktree at: https://linktr.ee/MysteriesoftheMissing.
Keep in mind that I am only reporting the events of what have happened, per my research through various media outlets. I’m not trained in any way in true crime. Instead, I'm a published author who loves to blog. Also, I’m solely a human being that’s trying to do my part to get the message of the story of Brooke Allensworth out there so that one day, hopefully, she may be found, and her case may be solved. Join me as I dive into the last day that people saw Brooke, and what happened after she was last seen.
Brooke Allensworth - Alias: Hightower/Durham (Married names)
Let's start with information about the town: "Oil Trough is a town in Independence County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 260 at the 2010 census.[3] The town is believed to have acquired its name in the early 19th century from a trough used to render bear fat, which was sold to customers in New Orleans." - Wikipedia According to Areavibes.com, Oil Trough has a higher crime rate than Arkansas and the United States at a 4,094 per every 100,000 people versus 3,097 for Arkansas and 2,324 for the United States. However, the majority of the crime in Oil Trough is property crime, with about 3,241 per 100,000 people, and only 853 violent crimes (which is still one too many).
So this town is small and rural, according to my findings, but it still has a high crime rate.
I first heard about Brooke Allensworth at the 2023 CrimeCon in Orlando, Florida. Her poster was on a table and I snapped a photo, sure I was going to come back to her story eventually. Well, here I am taking a swing at this case with my podcast and blog.
Brooke is from Arkansas. In 2012, she graduated from the University of Arkansas Community College with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Nursing.
At the time of her disappearance, Brooke was 37 and had three kids. Also, she was a nurse at the Newark Medical Clinic. This tells me that she had a good heart -- most nurses I meet want to help people and have a spirit of gold.
She had just gone through a divorce, so her maiden name was Durham. The day she was last seen was July 12, 2018. It was a hot and muggy day, according to the forecast, so it was a perfect day to stay indoors. That's just what Brooke did: She went to get a mani/pedi and a hair cut, a sort of self-care day, in Independence County, Arkansas.
Her hair is normally dark brown and that day, she dyed her hair blond. This is strange, since she disappeared after dying her hair.
Something strange is that Brooke was wearing two shoes on the day she went missing: A wedge shoe and a flip flop. First of all, no woman purposely wears a shoe similar to a heel and a flat shoe together, unless they are in a hurry. Did Brooke put on two different shoes when she was in a rush, or was she forced to put shoes on by someone at her house and she grabbed the first ones she could find? I know that when I am going to get a pedicure, I prefer open-toed shoes, so the flip flops make sense, but unless the wedges are open-toed, there's no reason Brooke would wear them. Also, I don't normally wear heels of any kind when I'm going to get a pedicure: I generally opt for comfortable shoes that are quick to get on and off. Aaaand...the shoes she was wearing were two left shoes. Who wears two left shoes on purpose? No one. Oddly enough, the pairs to the shoes Brooke was wearing hasn't been mentioned by the local sheriff's department.
That same day, Brooke and her ex-husband had a disagreement. This stands out to me as well. Everyone knows the first person police suspect is the significant other or former lover. Could Brooke's husband be involved in her disappearance? He hasn't been charged or mentioned as a suspect as of this year, 2024.
Unfortunately, no one reported Brooke missing for another two weeks, until July 24, 2018. That was Brooke's dad, and he let the Searcy County Police Department know that his daughter had disappeared. Searcy County was where Brooke was currently living at the time she went missing. There were no mentions by the police department of Brooke being reported missing later rather than sooner being odd.
Three days later, on July 27, 2018, someone called the Searcy County Police Department to inform them that a black, four door 2007 Toyota was parked under a bridge near the White River in Oil Trough. This is strange to me - I don't call the police department about cars parked under bridges. It is an everyday thing for my city and most cities I've lived in (side note: I've lived in Springfield, Illinois, many Texas cities, New Delhi, India, Seoul, South Korea, and now, Orlando, Florida). Maybe in a small, rural town, a car parked underneath a bridge or on the side of the road without someone in it would signal that something is wrong.
In fact, Sheriff Shawn Stephens was quoted as saying, "It was like Brooke parked her car there and walked away."
Side note: Brooke's ex-husband, Brad, lived a mile from where Brooke's car was found. I don't know if he is considered a suspect in her disappearance, but this is very alarming information.
The car was locked (but the keys weren't inside) and had a flat tire. Cigarettes and Brooke's cell phone were found inside the car. A smoker won't go far without their nicotine, and why would someone leave a cell phone behind? This tells me that Brooke most likely didn't leave by choice, or she left and planned to come back. Again, why would someone leave without their cell phone, though? If I was by myself in the middle of nowhere, I would want my cell phone to be with me for safety.
This is just speculation here: Could Brooke have gotten a flat tire as she was driving, then stopped under the bridge and walked somewhere to get help? Could someone have forced their way into the car, and as Brooke fought them, the car lost control and they ran over something and got a flat tire, then they disposed of her body and drove the car to the bridge, locking it before they left? The reasons for the locked car with the flat tire are endless.
There are two stories surrounding the first time Brooke's tire went flat: a passersby helped her with the fix-a-flat and the second story is that a family friend helped her at their house, but both stories always end up with Brooke pulling into the Oil Trough park, under the bridge, where it was located later.
In order to see where Brooke's car was, you had to go to the bridge. You couldn't see it straight from the road.
The river that Brooke's car was parked near is perfect for parking boats temporarily but those who are fishing don't keep their boats there for long. Could Brooke have taken a boat or gotten onto a boat to go somewhere?
In addition, the river varies in its depth from very deep to shallow -- the area Brooke's car was found in was standing water.
Now, I know that when I see a car with a flat tire or busted up, I just assume a car accident happened and that someone will come get it later. I don't call the cops. Could the caller have been someone who took Brooke?
So is the search for Brooke. The car was there, but Brooke was not.
A BOLO (Be on the Lookout) was put out for Brooke when she was reported missing. Before the BOLO, a local police officer made a note that there was an abandoned car under the bridge. That's how Brooke's car was found in the first place.
A good point was made by Latresha Woodruff, a Police and Communications Expert: "If someone is going to disappear on their own accord, they would have transportation."
The police officers did a ground search around the river and through the park, a police diving team swam in the river, and an outside dog investigating team looked around. Nothing turned up from these searches.
The police took DNA swabs from the car and sent them to the Arkansas Crime Lab. Family members were swabbed as well. As of 2021, nothing had come through from the DNA swab, but the Sheriff said that there had been no evidence of foul play.
NAMUS helped out by creating a page for Brooke as well.
In 2020, another woman, Sydney Sutherland, was jogging in the same area that Brooke went missing in when she was murdered by a man who was known to stalk other women. Sydney's murderer, Quake Lewellyn, was questioned, but he said he wasn't involved in Brooke's disappearance. Sydney had blond hair, just like Brooke. Even though the authorities were questioning this man still in 2020, his DNA wasn't found inside Brooke's car. I have no updates as of 2024 about Quake and his possible involvement in Brooke's disappearance.
The local police officers looked into Brooke's social media, but nothing was found. In addition, her cell phone was found in the car and in 2021, the police did execute a search warrant on the phone. According to the sheriff at that time, his police department didn't have the technology capability to dump the cell phone. How convenient. Also, why would the sheriff's office take three years to search the cell phone? I would be pissed, if I were one of Brooke's family members or friends!
Since the salon was in another county, the state police had to look into what happened there. This points to a problem with police officers in various counties and the breakdown of communication due to detectives being located apart from each other. It's reminiscent of The Golden State Killer case: Joseph DeAngelo committed crimes in different cities throughout California, which allowed him to get away with his crimes for so long, because the detectives in each city didn't work together to find him, since they didn't know he was committing crimes elsewhere and/or didn't pursue leads in places besides their own city. Surely, there has to be a way for police officials in different areas to communicate better with each other if a crime takes place in several places, not just in their jurisdiction, right? This is 2024.
On December 22, 2022, an underwater search and recovery dive team called Adventures with Purpose decided to act on a tip and they searched Four Ponds in Jackson County and Bergen Lake to see if Brooke Allensworth was in a barrel. According to a video I found, their search used high tech gear, like infrared sonar. Unfortunately, nothing turned up in their search.
As of 2023, the DNA results came back. Some of the prints were from Brooke, some of them were other people (unnamed), but no suspects were pulled from the batch taken from Brooke's car. Brooke's cell phone was given to the state police for analyzing in 2018 but there have been no updates on that piece of evidence thus far.
Flash forward to 2024: there has been no update on Brooke's case. Five years without any movement on the case? If I was the family, I would be raising Hell every single day. My butt would be parked in the seats of the police department, all in the grill of the detectives, until they did something.
I don't want to say what I think happened to Brooke because it could mess up the investigation, but I do have my own theories...message me sometime if you wanna hear them.
Brooke's friends say she would never leave her children voluntarily.
"Brooke, we need you to come home" her sister Kelly Avants told KARK. "I know that in my heart she would not hurt herself. And she has never gone this long without having contact."
Every single search in this missing person's case has turned up nothing, but there is someone out there that knows something. Someone must've seen something.
Brooke, if you're out there, you are missed. Your sister is looking for you, I don't know you but I'm worried about you. I hope and pray that you are at peace.
At the time of her disappearance, Brooke was five foot eight, weighed between 170 and 185 pounds, and had brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing blue denim shorts and two left shoes – one a wedge sandal and the other a flip-flop. Brooke has a tattoo on the left side of her abdomen of the GPS coordinates “35°06’95.07″N” and “89°97’67.37″W” for a location near Newport, Arkansas. Her ears are pierced.
If you have any information on the circumstances surrounding Brooke's disappearance, please call the Arkansas State Police at (501) 618-8000, The Independence County Sheriff’s Department at (807) 793-8838, or you may email me at mysteriesofthemissing2023@gmail.com.
What do you think happened to Brooke Allensworth? Let me know by reaching out to me on all of my social media pages.
This has been another episode of Mysteries of the Missing. Until next time, stay safe.
Sources:
1. Monday Night Mystery: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=206103661270426
2. Justice for Brooke: https://www.facebook.com/people/Justice-For-Brooke-Allensworth/100063556554994/ 3.
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