Brandon Lee Helms was 42 when he was last seen at a friend’s residence on Teeterville Road in Lakeland, Georgia, in the winter of 2015. He had been separated from his wife Misty and was staying with the friend after moving out of the family home in Thomasville. The friend saw him at the house in the morning and, after leaving for work, returned to find Brandon gone.

Brandon’s red pickup remained in the driveway and inside the home were his cell phone, coat, and cigarettes. Only his wallet and keys were missing. That day a series of troubling text messages from Brandon’s phone to his estranged wife said he wouldn’t be present for Christmas, and his calls went unanswered. He’d been reportedly depressed after a job layoff, though a recent conversation with his father suggested he would not take his own life because of his daughters.

The friend’s home was not forensically examined until 2017; that examination reportedly produced things of concern, but lab results have not been released publicly. Tracking dogs searched the property and surrounding area soon after he was reported missing without finding a trace. The case remains open with the Lanier County Sheriff’s Office.

Did anyone in Lakeland or Thomasville know Brandon’s routine or see his red pickup around the time he vanished?