FREDERICKTOWN, Mo. – It was the summer of 1989, in a quaint, small town about an hour and half south of St. Louis. Everyone seemed to know everyone; kids could roam the streets without care, and a simple bike ride down the street was a summer nostalgia.
Monday marks 35 years since this simplicity would become a distant memory as a nightmare took hold of the picket fence town of Fredericktown, Missouri.
Gina Dawn Brooks, a girl with green eyes and blonde hair, had come home with her family after her brother’s baseball game on August 5, 1989. The 13-year-old was enjoying the last bit of summer before entering the eighth grade the following month at Fredericktown Middle School.
It was a little after 10 p.m. when they arrived home, and her mother, Cindy Box, hopped in the bath. While Box was relaxing in the tub, Brooks told her younger brother she was going to visit a friend but would be back before Box was out of the tub.
Brooks hopped on her brother’s red 10-speed bicycle and began down the road to her friend’s house.
While on her way, locals say they saw a dark-colored station wagon with Missouri license plates drive up to Brooks and stop her near a church. The driver, who was later identified by police as Bryant Squires, and a possible passenger conversed with Brooks from the car.
After they spoke, Brooks continued on her bike again and headed south on Mine La Motte Street.
It was only moments later that her friend and other witnesses heard a scream for help a few blocks away. Brooke’s bicycle was later found abandoned on a lawn on the 300 block of High Street, just five blocks from her home, with Brooke nowhere in sight.
Her family later reported her missing a few hours later. Brooks, who would be 48 years old by now, has not been found since that dreadful night 35 years ago.
Who are possible suspects?
By 1998, three men, including Squires, were accused of her kidnapping by witnesses.
Squires died of cancer and AIDS-related complications in 1996, but while on his deathbed, he allegedly shared with a nurse his involvement in Brooks’ abduction and murder.
Squires also mentioned the involvement of Nathan “Danny” Williams, whom witnesses say rode in the station wagon with Squires the night of her abduction.
Williams, who already had a record of sex offenses, was later sentenced to court and pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder for the killing of Brooks. According to The Charley Project, authorities believed Williams killed Brooks by slitting her throat, but Squires and an additional man covered up the crime.
In 2003, the murder charges against Williams were dropped. Williams still remains in prison with a life sentence for forcible rape and sodomy against another victim.
The Charley Project says Williams had also been charged with murder in 1975 for the death of another young woman, but again, those charges were dropped for lack of evidence in 1998.
The third man possibly involved, Timothy R. Bellew, was a friend of Williams and Squires. Bellew also had a record of sex offenses and additional crimes before the abduction of Brooks. Bellew was accused of covering up the crimes of Squires and Williams by lying to the FBI about where Brooks’ remains were hidden.
Bellew told the FBI her remains were in a meat freezer on his father’s 96-acre property. Despite searches of the property through 2001, no evidence surfaced of her remains there. Bellew was charged with second-degree murder for the killing of Brooks, but the charge was dropped in 1999 due to a lack of evidence.
He was instead charged with lying to FBI agents regarding the location of her remains and received 30 months in prison after pleading guilty.
According to The Charley Project, authorities still believe these three men were involved in Brooks’ presumed murder. Still, there is not enough evidence to convict them at trial.
The search for Brooks continues
Just over a week ago, on July 22, dozens of police investigators began a search operation for Brooks at a property in Bollinger, Missouri, 15 miles from Fredericktown. FOX 2 was the first to report on the search that involved heavy machinery from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Bollinger County Sheriff’s Department.
“This multi-day search was being conducted pursuant to a Bollinger County search warrant obtained by the Missouri State Highway Patrol,” the sheriff’s office told FOX 2.
After three days of digging and scouring the land behind a home, investigators did not find human remains, but police say they did come across “items of possible evidentiary value.” The items could have possible ties to the cold case and have been sent to the Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Laboratory for further analysis.
With hopes of finding Brooks, one resident of Fredericktown, Melissa Jordan, told FOX 2 she knew Brooks growing up.
“It’s been a long time; it’s a very sad situation. I actually grew up with Gina and her brothers and sister, so I do feel for them and do hope they get the answers they deserve,” Jordan said.
Monday, August 5, is the 35th anniversary since Brooks was last seen.
The video above is from July 26, 2024.
