Officers have suspect, still need evidence in 21-year missing person case
Aug. 14—In 2001, then-20-year-old Branson Perry vanished from Skidmore, Missouri. Today, officers say they have a suspect in his disappearance.
On that day more than 21 years ago, Perry was cleaning up his family's home in anticipation of the return of his dad from the hospital. He went to hang some jumper cables in a shed near the home but never returned.
Three years after Perry's disappearance and with no leads, a New Jersey police officer stumbled on the case. For 18 years, Michael Kurz has spent his off-time investigating Perry's disappearance from more than 1,000 miles away.
"I started reading his case and there were so many twists and turns that didn't add up," Kurz said. "That's why I started researching the case, just out of curiosity."
Most of his work involves posting updates and information on social media in hopes that someone will comment or contact him about a new lead. He even made a trip to Skidmore for summer vacation last year.
During those 18 years of online sleuthing, he came to the same conclusion as the Nodaway County Sheriff's Office: Perry's case is drug-related.
Perry's aunt, Gail McMurray, said Perry was compassionate and loved nature but never knew he was involved in drugs.
"He kept that part of him away from me," she said. "I knew about him, going camping and all the fun stuff and about his personal life, but I did not know anything about the drug life."
She found out about Perry's addiction when he told her he wanted to get clean. He disappeared only a couple of days before he was supposed to enter a rehabilitation center.
Through years of information and leads, Nodaway County Sheriff Randy Strong and Kurz said they have found a suspect. However, there isn't enough evidence to make an arrest.
"You want to make sure you have as much evidence as you can to get probable cause to make that arrest and send a good, solid, fully investigated case up to the courts to hopefully get a conviction on that and get some justice in that case," said Nodaway County Capt. Austin Hann.
Kurz said a body likely will be needed to make an arrest, and Perry's remains have never been found.
"It's difficult to make an arrest for a situation like a homicide without a body or without Branson's remains," Kurz said.
If that's the case, someone will have to come forward and provide evidence. But McMurray said everyone is too scared.
"People don't want to come forward," she said. "Their lives are going to be in danger if they know who did it."
Even if no one comes forward, Kurz is adamant that this case, from Missouri to New Jersey, is still active.
"I'm never going to let his name die," Kurz said. "I'm going to keep it active. I refuse to quit and I want everybody to know his case."
Quinn Ritzdorf can be reached at quinn.ritzdorf@newspressnow.com
