Welcome to Mysteries of the Missing, a podcast and blog about missing person's cases. 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 solely a human being that’s trying to do my part to get the message of Greg's story out there so that one day, hopefully, he may be found, and his case may be solved. Join me as I dive into the last day that people saw Greg and what happened after he was last seen.
You can find my podcast and my social media on my Linktree at: https://linktr.ee/MysteriesoftheMissing
Roy Gregory Brooks Jr. was from Casselberry, Florida. He was 21 at the time of his disappearance on January 18, 2000. I'm covering this case because a coworker of mine is the brother of "Greg" (as the family called him), and he asked me to cover his brother's case to bring awareness. Just like the other cases I've covered so far, this case hits home because it's the case of a brother of a coworker. I hope that the little bit that I have here will be enough to help bring Roy (aka Greg) home.
Greg was born on October 19, 1978. He attended Lyman High School in Orlando, where he played the drums in the band and sang in the choir. Also, Greg attended New Covenant Baptist Church in Orlando with his family and worked at the Regal Cinema in Winter Park. Regal was a new theater at the time that Greg got his concession stand job there, and it was located about 20 minutes from the Brooks' home.
FYI: I've gone to this movie theater many times! In fact, it's one of my favorites in Orlando, so...this is super creepy to me. The parking lot at the theater is on either side of the building, and the theater is a part of a huge outdoor shopping mall area. On one side of the movie theater, across from the parking lot, is a Publix. The whole area just feels too big for a woman to walk alone at night at...well, especially me. Also, there's currently construction work, and because there's not many lights, this may cause mobility issues. However, when Greg was working at this theater, it wasn't under construction.
Anyway, after Greg graduated from Lyman High School, he went on to attend Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. He dropped out after he discovered how much hazing was going on there. In addition, Greg and his longtime girlfriend broke up in 1999. From this, Greg developed depression, but his family believed it was behind him. Greg was on medication for depression but he left it at home. His mom said he would never leave without it, so that was a sign to her that something was wrong.
Greg went missing just before his brother's 16th birthday. It seemed like Greg and his brother were close, because when Greg would do snack and food runs with his friends, my coworker aka his brother, Germaine, would go with him. They'd either go to this local fast food place called Krystal or the well-known Burger King. Also, Greg would take Germaine on dates with him, and they'd play basketball together. In fact, Geraldine stated that he looked up to his older brother. It makes me think of the way I feel about my two older brothers: proud, wanting to follow in their footsteps.
In 2018, the Unfound Podcast interviewed Geraldine, Greg's mom. The following information is a combination of that interview and my own thoughts and research:
In 2018, Geraldine stated that her son was likable and he made friends easily, that he didn't have anyone who may not like him, because he was always helpful and friendly toward others. Greg liked working on his car. Florida A&M University got in trouble for hazing incidents, and Greg was apart of the Florida A&M University band. Was this a random thing or did Greg quit school due to possibly being hazed in his college band?
Geraldine says that Greg would come home a lot on the weekends from college to see his girlfriend in the Orlando area. They were a couple during junior and senior year in high school as well as through one year of college for Greg; Janet was a year younger than Greg. The breakup with his girlfriend, Janet, made life difficult for Greg. Janet stated that she was dating someone else and she broke up with Greg.
Greg's grades eventually dropped by his second semester of college and he ended up on academic suspension in January 2000, so he quit school and returned home. After moving back to Casselberry, Florida, Greg was still depressed, especially over the breakup.
On January 18, 2000, Geraldine spoke with Greg before leaving for a committee meeting at Lyman High School. Greg said he didn't know if he was on the schedule or not, so he was going to go to work to get his paycheck and check to see if he was supposed to be working. By the time Geraldine came home, Greg wasn't there. She said she had a feeling that something wasn't right, because it wasn't like him to not come home that late or on time. Geraldine knew the police wouldn't do anything, so she waited to call them. The next day, January 19, 2000, Greg's mom went to the Casselberry Police Department to fill out a Missing Person's Report for her son. Greg's license plate number was put on a BOLO in addition to information about him.
The next day, January 20, 2000, Geraldine was notified that Greg's car was found with a broken down sticker on it. A highway patrol man tagged the car as an abandoned vehicle, too. That's something that happens here in Florida: If your car is left for a period of time, an orange sticker is left on it. This tells me that the Casselberry police were only looking for Greg in their area. No one was thinking of looking for him in another Floridian city. The car would need to be moved in 24 hours or it would be towed. After the police ran the license plate number, they realized the car was missing. Germaine Brooks Sr. drove the car back to Casselberry. The location the car was at was a very visible place, right next to Denny's on the Interstate 75 median in Sun City (which is near Tampa) in Hillsborough County at 4:30 AM. His car was a black 1992 Honda Accord. The police stated that there was no sign of foul play at the scene and the vehicle was in working condition.
Geraldine and Roy Brooks Sr. went to the location of the car and handed out missing person's posters. They also talked to the waitress of the restaurant and she said she remembered seeing the car in front of the restaurant but she didn't remember seeing Greg.
Geraldine said she and Greg's dad never found Greg's keys to the car, but they were able to drive the car back because the parents had an extra set of keys. If Greg ever had a car problem, he would always reach out to his parents for help with it, so Geraldine was weirded out by the car being left by itself. Nothing was missing from the car, except for the key.
Geraldine went to the Regal Cinema Theater on January 19, 2000 to ask if anyone had seen Greg that night. All his coworkers mentioned is that he came in by himself, picked up his check, and left. Greg's mom said that he always had his work clothes in his car, just in case he found out he was working, so he could change into his work clothes right there.
The cashier from Winn Dixie remembers seeing Greg come in and cashing his check. Since Winn Dixie is only 3-4 miles from where the Brooks' lived, Greg often came there to cash his checks. Greg DID have a checking and savings account, but the bank was closed that day, so Greg went to Winn Dixie to cash the check. Also, Greg's ex, Janet, was working at Winn Dixie at the time. Was Greg going to Winn Dixie to possibly run into Janet? At Winn Dixie that day, Greg's mom says that Janet did see and speak with Greg, but Geraldine wasn't sure what they talked about, and Janet said she didn't know anything.
The police requested Winn Dixie's security tape to see if Greg was alone. Unfortunately, the tape had been taped over. Did someone at the store watch the tape at all? Did security notice something strange? If they did, why didn't they say anything? Do the tapes at Winn Dixie get watched in order to monitor safety? If someone, maybe a security guard, was watching the video live at the time of Greg's disappearance, surely they would've ran outside to try to stop a possible abduction or attack, right? I didn't find evidence in my research that the tape was watched all the way through or that security saw any strange things on the video.
After Winn Dixie, Greg went to Krystal, which was close to the Brooks' home. Geraldine went to Krystal's and one of the workers (whom Geraldine cannot remember the name of) saw Greg at Krystal's that night in the drive through. The time on the Krystal's receipt was a little after 7 PM on January 18, 2000. Geraldine doesn't recall asking if Greg was alone, just if Greg was at the restaurant or not. Nothing from Krystal's was left over in the car...but...a cigar wrapper was found in the car.
Geraldine said that Greg did smoke cigars, whenever he got upset especially. Greg usually kept his car in pristine condition, but Geraldine didn't think anything about Greg's cigar wrapper being in the car at the time.
Something of importance to note is that the $200 that Greg had on him was never found. It wasn't located in the car, only the receipt was found in the trunk. Could have
Besides the Winn Dixie receipt found in the trunk of the car, there was a receipt for a gun purchased at a pawn shop found in the car. Geraldine never knew her son had a gun, nor did she see it. The Casselberry Police took the receipt to the pawn shop and the worker they spoke to said that Greg tried to bring the gun back because it didn't work. Greg had gone to get the gun within a month before he disappeared. Geraldine thought Greg might have been afraid because he was getting off so early morning/so late and he had to walk to his car on his own. However, Greg never expressed concern to his mom that someone was after him.
Was someone harassing Greg and he didn't tell anyone about it? Was it someone he knew or a stranger? Most crimes are committed by people who know the victims.
Greg had one college friend who lived in Tampa, but when Geraldine called that person, they said they didn't know anything about Greg's disappearance and that they hadn't seen him.
Geraldine ran into a psychic who said that he had worked with police before. The psychic contacted Geraldine because he said he wanted to help out, and he didn't charge her anything. He stated that that Greg had another friend with him when he saw Greg, that Greg wasn't in the car by himself. The Brooks' drove the car to the psychic, and the psychic walked around the car and looked at it, and he deducted that someone was in the passenger side of the car. This man was older and shortly after this encounter that Geraldine had with him, he had surgery, so he wasn't able to help the family further. The family never heard from this man again and Geraldine says that she let the situation go after that, even though she was wondering if this was true. She thought any little bit was helpful, though.
Casselberry Police Department only got fingerprints from the car off of the cigar wrapper, and they belonged to Greg. Nothing else had fingerprints according to the police -- the windows, doors, steering wheel, etc. When Geraldine asked the PD about this, they stated that they didn't feel like the car had been wiped down because it isn't easy to get fingerprints off a car just by wiping them down.
Whatever information Geraldine found out, she would give it to the Casselberry Police, to see if they could use it to help the investigation. It took some coercion for the police department to go to Winn Dixie to get the tape. Also, the local PD treated the case like a runaway situation, not like a missing person's case. They thought he would be home at any time. If the police had gone to Winn Dixie right away, they might have gotten the tape and discovered if Greg was alone at Winn Dixie or with someone, or if he was followed from there to Krystal's.
Geraldine stated in 2018 that she went every six months to CPD to ask about Greg. They always tell her that there's nothing to go on in the case, that it's a dead end, and that he is still in the missing person's database.
None of Greg's friends called Geraldine or said that they had seen Greg, which was strange to Geraldine. Mike was a very close friend of Greg, and he never contacted her about Greg missing, even though they were always together. Geraldine didn't contact Mike either, FYI. In fact, Mike and Greg called themselves "cousins." Even until 2018, Mike never reached out to Geraldine about Greg's missing case. To me, that's verrrrrrry strange. If I had a best friend, and I found out they were missing, I would check up on the family and try to help find my friend and their family. Mike didn't do these things. He just disappeared from the Brooks' life after Greg went missing.
Angel was the brother of Marlene, Greg's friend, and he often played video games with Greg. Geraldine suspected Greg had gone to Marlene's house, because she lived close to Winn Dixie. When the CPD detective went to Angel and Marlene's house, he was told that Angel had gone to Atlanta and that Greg was not allowed in the house, that he had to stay outside. Was the mom covering for her son? How did she not know that her kids played video games with Greg? Geraldine hasn't made any contact from 2000-2018 with Angel, Marlene or their mother. Shortly after Greg's disappearance, she DID ask Marlene if she saw Greg when he disappeared, and she said no. When police questioned Marlene about Angel and Greg's relationship, she stated that they "were cool."
Greg and Michael Johnson were high school classmates and friends. Michael would go to Greg's house when he had problems at home, which happened a lot. Michael was always with Greg. A teacher even erroneously referred to Michael as Greg's cousin. After Greg disappeared, from January 18, 2000 to February 15, 2018, Michael hadn't said one word to Geraldine. In 2014, Geraldine asked Michael's brother if HE knew anything about Greg's disappearance, of which he said no. Angel and Michael were good friends as well, by the way. The Casselberry Police asked Michael if Angel and Greg were okay, and he stated that they got along okay.
Neither Angel nor Michael have expressed concern or sympathy over Greg's disappearance or contacted Geraldine ever again, after Greg went missing.
Germaine (Greg's younger brother) also felt it was strange that Angel and Michael haven't reached out to the family since his brother's disappearance. In about 2011, Janet came by to express her sympathy and request updates on Greg's case. She was with her fiance, who wasn't the person that she broke up with Greg for.
After Greg disappeared, Geraldine talked to Greg's counselor, who thought that other things besides the breakup with Janet were causing Greg's depression. The counselor never stated that he felt Greg would harm himself though.
Geraldine gave the local officers the benefit of the doubt: She told herself that because it is a small department, they "didn't know what to do." Detective Thomas Graffy of the CPD said that there is only one other missing person that he knew of from Casselberry, Florida: Nam Simran Singh Kalsa. (Side note: Both Nam and Greg's case information are available on The Charley Project's website.)
Flash forward to 2023 -- I spoke with Germaine, Greg's younger brother, on September 28, 2023. He updated me on the case. Here's what he had to say:
Michael Johnson and Angel have not spoken with Geraldine since Greg disappeared. Germaine messages with Michael from time to time on Facebook Messenger today, but when he brings up Michael's lack of contact with the family, Michael shies away. Some of the things that Germaine believes are that the eyewitnesses who said they saw his brother in other states did not really see his brother. The Casselberry Police DID look for Greg in homeless shelters but nothing turned up.
There was a security guard in the Denny's parking lot that saw Greg's car sitting on the side of the road at 11:20 pm. Germaine stated that there was a two hour window after his brother went to Winn Dixie and Krystal's, where Greg was not accounted for, until 9 pm the night he went missing. Germaine believes something happened to Greg during that time, and that it didn't happen in the car, but that someone drove the car to Tampa and dropped it off after an incident happened with his brother.
Six months after Greg went missing, Dr. Julius Irving of the Orlando Magic's son went missing, so Greg's story was able to gain some traction because of that, but now it's come to a halt.
However, there's a new detective on the case at Casselberry PD, and he's been there for about two years (since 2021). Germaine said he seems more committed to his brother's case than the previous detective looking for Greg. For one, he sent new evidence to the crime lab to be tested.
However, the CPD Chief told the family that they had dropped the ball on Greg's case. Drop the ball, they did. That's an understatement.
Germaine stated that his family is encouraged by technology and social media, as this is helping to bring out more awareness today than it did back in the year 2000.
Greg's brother is also making a documentary about him, since he's an actor and a rapper. He created a song about his brother called "Dear Greg," and now, he's trying to make a documentary about Greg and his disappearance based on the same title. Be on the lookout for the documentary and the song to come out in the future.
Today, the Casselberry Police Department considers Greg's case a cold one, since there have not been any developments since 2000. Geraldine insists that Greg did not run away, despite CPD believing he did so.
Greg's parents haven't given up. Since his disappearance in 2000, they paid PI's to look for their son and distributed flyers all over Casselberry and Orlando area towns. There have been reported sightings in Gainesville and Tallahassee, Florida as well as Atlanta and Montgomery, Alabama
Sadly, after Greg went missing, his brother Germaine started flunking his classes. Before his brother's disappearance, Germaine was an excellent student. Geraldine struggles with depressive thoughts about her son, and a feeling of hopelessness because the case is not moving along. I feel horrible for the family and I do hope they find closure one day, hopefully soon.
At the time of his disappearance, Greg was described as an African American male with brown eyes, weighing 130 pounds and his height was 5'9". Greg has two chicken pox scars on the back of his head, which causes hair to not grow there. Also, Greg was wearing a white t-shirt with the Regal Cinema logo imprinted on the left pocket area, black jean shorts and black tennis shoes. He may be armed.
Today, Greg would be 41 years old.
Greg, if you're listening to this podcast or reading my blog, please let your family know you are okay. They haven't stopped searching for you. If you aren't okay, I hope that you can find your way to peace and to a safe place.
My thoughts and questions are as follows: Did someone attack Greg for his money? Did they watch him cash his check then follow him to his car and force him into it, take him somewhere, and murder him? I hope that we can find out, even though it's been 23 years since Greg went missing and no one was able to get to the Winn Dixie video. The best way to solve this case may be for an eye witness to come forward. Don't let the time go by -- if you saw something, say something.
What do you think happened to Roy Gregory Brooks Jr?
Until next time, stay safe....
If you have any information on the whereabouts of Roy “Greg” Brooks, please call the Casselberry Police Department at 407-262-7616. Or, if you wish to share some information with me about this case, you can email me at mysteriesofthemissing2023@gmail.com.
You can listen to another podcast about Roy Gregory Brooks here https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/unfound/episode-345-the-J5DtdcAhl_g/ or by Googling "Unfound: Gregory Brooks."
You can watch a map analysis of Greg's disappearance here, courtesy of the Unfound Channel on Youtube: https://youtu.be/W4Ap90lgWKM?si=lQcgC7zFaxulJ9TM.
National Missing Person's Directory on Greg: http://www.missingin.org/reg7372/roy_gregory_brooks.htm
If you would like to help find missing people in Florida, please check out the Florida Themis Project on Facebook and Instagram, as well as at this link: https://floridathemisproject.org/
If you would like to help find missing people of color, please check out Untold Stories: Black and Missing on their Facebook page, as well as at this link: https://bamfienterprises.com/untold-stories/
This has been another episode/blog post of Mysteries of the Missing. Until next time, stay safe.
Map of Casselberry, Florida:
Map of the drive Greg, someone else, and/or Greg and someone else may have taken from Krystal in Casselberry/Fern Park, Florida to Denny's in Tampa, Florida
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