Vigil in memory of Travelers Rest woman missing for 25 years

TRAVELERS REST, SC (WSPA) — A vigil was held Thursday for Brooke Henson, a Travelers Rest woman who disappeared in July 1999.

“[Exactly] “25 years ago today, Brooke Henson was at her home on Henderson Drive behind the park and had a few friends over for a get-together,” Travelers Rest Police Chief Benjamin Ford said. “They were watching the race. They were making food. They were having a good time. Sometime later that night and the next morning, Brooke Henson disappeared.”

Henson was 20 years old when she disappeared. Since her disappearance, investigators from the Travelers Rest Police Department, the Greenville County Sheriff's Office and the South Carolina Department of Homeland Security's Law Enforcement Division have attempted to locate her, but she has not been found.

“We've interviewed hundreds and hundreds of people over 25 years,” Ford said.

“Over the last few years, we’ve had so many leads that never came to fruition,” said Christi Metcalf, Henson’s aunt. “His mother and father are deceased. We would really like to have some closure.”

Metcalf said it's been difficult not having answers for the past 25 years.

“It’s been a roller coaster of ups and downs,” she described. “It’s heartbreaking.”

Since Henson's disappearance, Travelers Rest police have continued to review the case. Ford said it is the department's only unsolved case.

“We're doing new interviews, taking new statements, trying to find out if people remember anything differently, trying to find out if they were afraid to talk,” Ford said. “Whatever new information we can get, we're still going to try to get it.”

Ford said his team would not abandon its investigation.

“As long as I am with the Travelers Rest Police Department, we will never forget his memory,” he said.

“I feel like somebody knows something,” Metcalf said. “Everybody knew everybody at the time this happened. I feel like somebody knows something. It’s time to do the right thing. Help our family get closure.”

Anyone with information about the investigation can call the Travelers Rest Police Department or Crime Stoppers at 864-23-CRIME.