Volunteers from North Carolina traveled to Nodaway County to assist local authorities in the continuing search for local missing man Branson Perry this weekend.

The group included the Community United Effort (CUE) Center for Missing Persons of Wilmington, N.C., Sgt. Sheldon Lyon with the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.

“An area was looked at with the help of a group from North Carolina that specializes with search dogs,” Lyon said. “These dogs searched an area in western Nodaway County.”

Beyond that however, the Missouri State Highway Patrol doesn’t disclose the details of ongoing investigations, Lyon said.

Branson Perry went missing from his father’s home in Skidmore on April 11, 2001. Twenty years old at the time, Perry was cleaning the house with a friend when he took some jumper cables to his father’s shed. He hasn’t been seen since.

Neither the Missouri State Highway Patrol or Nodaway County Sheriff’s Department have been able to close the case.

“This is really unfortunate situation. A young man has been missing for so long. His family just has no closure on this at all,” Nodaway County Sheriff Darren White said. “The really sad part about it is, is as time passes it just becomes more and more difficult to resolve it.

“Here we are, all these years later, still searching.”

Anyone with any information is encouraged to call the Missouri State Highway Patrol at (816) 387-2345

Missing Skidmore Man Would Have Been 29

Wednesday, Feb 24, 2010 @11:57am CST

St Joe Channel.com

A Skidmore man missing for nearly nine years would have celebrated a birthday today. Branson Perry would have turned 29-years old. He vanished from his home on April 11, 2001.

Since then, Perry’s case has gained national attention. America’s Most Wanted featured his search in 2007. His face continues to dot billboards throughout the state and even appears on a deck of playing cards in an attempt to find clues to his whereabouts.

Most-recently, in June 2009, investigators dug up a plot of land in Quitman, Missouri, searching for Perry’s body. Investigators say leads continue to trickle in and they follow up on those tips.

“Missing Person cases are difficult for families that are left behind that deal daily with the unknown fate. I hope with our continued efforts we will be able to provide this family with some sort of resolution, that is what we truly hope for”, said Monica Caison, founder of CUE (Community United Effort) Center for Missing Persons.

Anyone who comes forth can remain anonymous. If anyone knows the whereabouts of Branson Perry or may have information concerning this case, please contact: Missouri Highway Patrol (816) 387- 2345 or the CUE Center for Missing Persons ‘ 24 hour line at (910) 232-1687 or visit Branson Perry’s personal website to submit a tip directly from that site.

All calls are kept confidential.

2/23/2010

Another Birthday Passes for Missing Missouri Man

Press Release Feb 24, 2010
Branson Perry would have turned twenty-nine years old

Skidmore, MO – On April 11th of 2001, Branson Perry disappeared under mysterious circumstances and from that point has seem too have vanished without a trace. In the past years many attempts to locate Branson have been made by law officials and search teams from the CUE Center for Missing Persons to no avail in his recovery.

Now it’s time to remind the public yet once again that those who love him and involved in the search have not given up and ask for that one person in the community who knows what happened to Branson Perry and or may know the location of his remains to please step forward. Anyone who comes forth can remain anonymous and is urged to contact local authorities or the CUE Center for Missing Persons 24 hour line at (910) 232-1687; they may also contact via email at cuecenter@aol.com or visit his personal website at www.bransonperry.com to submit a tip directly from that site.

“Missing Person cases are difficult for families that are left behind that deal daily with the unknown fate”, “I hope with our continued efforts we will be able to provide this family with some sort of resolution, that is what we truly hope for”, said Monica Caison, CUE’s founder.
In a community you will find that someone has information concerning an unsolved crime and in particular this missing person case, maybe it will finally be the right time for that someone to come forward.

Becky Klino, Branson’s mother, has cancer.

She’s been searching for her son who disappeared from Skidmore in 2001 at age 19.

Doctors removed a tumor from Becky’s brain late last month and found cancer in other parts of her body.

The founder of a non-profit organization’s that’s helping with the search for Branson said this latest news could speed up Branson’s recovery.

“If, by some chance there was a miracle that he was alive out there, I’m sure that he would surface, y’know, knowing that his mother is very ill,” said CUE Center Founder Monica Caison. “We’re really hoping that somebody will have a heart and come forward.”

Branson Perry’s case has been highly publicized throughout the nation.

http://www.bransonperry.com

http://www.ncmissingpersons.org

Missouri State Highway Patrol 1-816-387-2345
or
CUE CENTER FOR MISSING PERSONS -24 HOUR TIP LINE- 910 -232-1687

Grisly killing adds to town’s notoriety

Theft of fetus is latest violence in Mo. community

- How, wonder the people still left in this small town getting smaller, could such horrible things happen in a place they treasure for its friendly rural charms?

Even sightseers drove through. A TV movie followed. Just months ago, an independent filmmaker from Connecticut released “Without Mercy,” a graphic dramatization of the McElroy story that won a top prize at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival.

“What’s happened now is going to be shock for them all over again,” said Harry MacLean, a Colorado author. His book “In Broad Daylight,” an account of the McElroy case, reached number two on the New York Times bestseller list.

The domestic violence that claimed Gillenwater in 2000 drew little media attention. But a year later the town was tied to another macabre mystery that remains unsolved.

Branson Perry, 20, disappeared in 2001, never to be seen again.

Branson Perry website

Branson was last seen by his friend on April 11, 2001 at approximately 3:00 p.m. They were cleaning house for his father before he came home from the hospital. He told his friend he was putting jumper cables in the shed & would be right back. He has not been seen since. He left behind his van and personal belongings. The jumper cables weren’t in the shed, but a few days later, they were placed there by an unknown person. Last seen at his home at 304 West Oak Street, Skidmore, MO.

Still, overall, crime is perennially low in Skidmore and surrounding Nodaway County. The county’s crime rate in 2003 was less than half the statewide average, according to the Missouri Department of Public Safety. Authorities recorded only 23 violent offenses, mostly for aggravated assault, in the county of nearly 22,000 people

“They’re quiet people . . . mostly farmers who all knew each other since kindergarten,” said MacLean, who while doing research for his book in the mid-1980s lived with a family outside Skidmore.

“Even then, they had sort of an ‘us vs. the world’ approach” to outsiders, he said.

“As in any rural town, I think a lot of people there feel isolated,” said Horton, Kan., Police Chief Dick Luzier, who as a Nodaway County sheriff’s deputy investigated McElroy’s killing. “When bad stuff happens, some don’t feel they have anybody they can turn to — not even to authorities — because they may feel threatened by retaliation,” as many felt when McElroy stalked the streets.

A place typical of the rural terrain of northwest Missouri, Skidmore is a town few people would move to, even though a home sells there for about $30,000, according to US Census data.

The nearest hospital is 15 miles away. Skidmore children are bused to school in either Maitland or Graham. The town’s elementary school closed three years ago.

That was about the time the bank branch closed, as did Mom’s Cafe — the place outside of which McElroy died. The cafe was converted to the Newton Hall Community Building.

This fall marked the first time anyone can remember that the fall Pumpkin Show was canceled. Not enough people were interested.

But the town still puffs up its chest about its Freedom Festival — a tribute to veterans and patriotism that draws people from 20 states every year the weekend after Labor Day. Heather French Henry, Miss America 2000, showed up in 2002. Light-heavyweight prizefighter Rob Calloway of St. Joseph came this year.

“This is a really great little town,” said Carla Wetzel, a chief organizer of the Freedom Festival and the mother of school-age girls who plans to lock her doors more often.

“We moved back here because it was a safe place. And it is a safe place.”

Wetzel got calls on Friday from Freedom Festival visitors from Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Florida, all sending condolences to the town.

On KMBZ radio in Kansas City, drive-time talk-show host Russ Johnson wondered aloud, “Maybe there’s something in the water there in Skidmore.”

But residents rejected the idea that anything more than coincidence explained Skidmore’s violent history.

“It’s not a matter of where they lived,” said JoAnn Stinnett, Branson Perry’s grandmother and a distant relative of Bobbi Jo Stinnett. “All this just happened to hit here. It could have happened anywhere.”

By Kenny Larabee
Maryville Daily Forum
Tue May 19, 2009

Investigators from North Carolina traveled to Nodaway County to assist local authorities in the continuing search for local missing man Branson Perry this weekend.

The group included the Community United Effort (CUE) Center for Missing Persons of Wilmington, N.C., Sgt. Sheldon Lyon with the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.

“An area was looked at with the help of a group from North Carolina that specializes with search dogs,” Lyon said. “These dogs searched an area in western Nodaway County.”

Beyond that however, the Missouri State Highway Patrol doesn’t disclose the details of ongoing investigations, Lyon said.

Branson Perry went missing from his father’s home in Skidmore on April 11, 2001. Twenty years old at the time, Perry was cleaning the house with a friend when he took some jumper cables to his father’s shed. He hasn’t been seen since.

Neither the Missouri State Highway Patrol or Nodaway County Sheriff’s Department have been able to close the case.

“This is really unfortunate situation. A young man has been missing for so long. His family just has no closure on this at all,” Nodaway County Sheriff Darren White said. “The really sad part about it is, is as time passes it just becomes more and more difficult to resolve it.

“Here we are, all these years later, still searching.”

Anyone with any information is encouraged to call the Missouri State Highway Patrol at (816) 387-2345 or the Nodaway County Sheriff’s Department at (660) 582-7451.

http://www.maryvilledailyforum.com/news/x1194180278/Search-for-Skidmore-man-continues

Tuesday, Jun 9, 2009

Authorities believe they are closer to finding the remains of a missing Skidmore man.

Investigators from the Missouri Highway Patrol and the Nodaway County Sheriff’s Department are in Quitman at this hour.

They say a tip led them to property where they believe Branson Perry’s remains might be buried.

Crews have dug a hole where a vacant house used to be. That’s where they say they found items they believed are linked to Perry’s disappearance.

Perry was last seen leaving his Skidmore home in 2001. His disapperance has gained national attention. His search was featured on America’s Most Wanted, a national cold case tour and billboards throughout the state.

Perry’s mom, Becky Klino, told KQ2 late Tuesday afternoon she has not been contacted regarding the search.

The northwest Missouri teenager vanished in 2001. He left his home on foot and indicated he was taking a pair of jumper cables to a shed that sat on a lot adjacent to the residence. It is unknown if he ever arrived.

The Highway Patrol in St. Joseph isn’t commenting on what led to Sunday’s search or whether new evidence may have surfaced in the long unsolved case.

Witnesses tell NBC Action News that a canine search team was also involved in the search of an area off Road 240 in Nodaway County.

MARYVILLE, Mo. — A team of searchers from the North Carolina based organization, CUE Center For Missing Persons were brought into western Nodaway County to use specialized equipment and dogs as part of a two-day search for Branson Perry.

Mr. Perry was reported missing April 11, 2001. He was last seen at his home in Skidmore, Mo. There is a $20,000 reward for information leading to the whereabouts of Mr. Perry and/or the arrest and conviction of the person and/or persons responsible for his disappearance.

This is an ongoing investigation for the Nodaway County Sheriff’s Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol who have never closed the books on this case, said Sgt. Sheldon Lyon, a spokesman for Troop H.

Investigators were believed to be searching an area in and around Missouri Highway 113 and 240th Road in western Nodaway County on Saturday and Sunday. Mr. Lyon declined to comment on the results of the investigation. Anyone having information concerning this case, please contact the Highway Patrol at 816-387-2345.