8 replies to this topic

[Denise]

http://jacksonsun.co...EWS01/805110315

http://cmsimg.jackso...xW=180&Border=0

Missing couple's parents want answers

By STANLEY DUNLAP
sdunlap@jacksonsun.com
• May 11, 2008

Police and the parents of a young Hardin County couple continue to look for answers almost two years after they disappeared. They fear foul play was involved.

Family members and friends have been putting out fliers around Savannah asking people for any information that would help them find Kristina Branum and Christopher Mittendorf. Branum was 17 and Mittendorf was 21 when they were last seen on July 27, 2006.

"We figured by now since it's been such a long time, then maybe someone would step up and say they've seen or heard something," said Mittendorf's mother, Cheryl Flatt.

For William Branum, it's been especially tough not being able to make up with his daughter Kristina; they hadn't spoken for about six months before she went missing. He said she was a "happy-go-lucky" girl who he would clash with because they were just alike.

"It just feels like that's my baby girl and she's gone and missing," he said. "It's about to drive me and my wife crazy."

Kristina Branum and Mittendorf had been dating for six months when she moved in with him and Flatt, who lives just outside Savannah in Hardin County. Another six months later, the two had disappeared.

Clothes they had just bought on a shopping trip were left lying on a bed. The green Geo Prism they were traveling in was found abandoned about 40 or 50 miles away in a rural part of Lawrence County in Middle Tennessee.

Hardin County Sheriff Samuel Davidson said authorities have gotten calls about sightings of the missing couple, but none of the leads has checked out. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is helping Hardin County with the ongoing investigation.

Authorities have stayed open to any possibilities, but they think foul play was involved in their disappearance.

"We've always felt that in our minds but have had hopes that they maybe just left," Davidson said. "We've had leads all the way from Atlanta, Knoxville and Oklahoma from people thinking they had seen them."

Davidson said investigators have interviewed people, but no suspects have been identified. The case remains a missing persons investigation.

"It's a situation where we don't know what happened," he said. "The unknown is what's so tragic for the family and everyone else," he said.

On the day they went missing, Mittendorf and Branum had been out shopping. When Flatt arrived home, she didn't notice anything was wrong.

"I had pulled a rough day that evening and thought maybe they had went over somewhere else," she said.

Flatt became worried when her ex-husband, Mittendorf's father, called and said he had been expecting the couple to come visit him on July 27 but that they hadn't stopped by.

Calls to their cell phones went unanswered.

Mittendorf was an outgoing guy who wasn't the type to leave without speaking to his family, his mother said.

Flatt has quit her job and stays close to the phone in case someone calls. She has trouble sleeping at night.

"I've just devoted my time to finding out anything I can about my son and Kristina," she said.

[Denise]

http://www.newschann...tType=Printable

Authorities Search For Missing Couple

Updated: Aug 4, 2007  

HARDIN COUNTY, Tenn.- The search is on for a Tennessee couple who has been missing for more than a week. Their car was found, but they haven't been seen in days.

Their parents reported Kristina Branum, 17, and Christopher Mittendorf, 21, missing on July 28th.  They were last seen in Hardin County, where they live.

Four days later the green geo prism they were driving was discovered in Lawrence County.

Although there were no obvious signs of foul play, neither of the two have answered their cell phones in more than a week. Investigators are concerned they could be in danger.

The TBI has asked anyone with information about the couple's whereabouts to contact them at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

[Denise]

Kristina and Christopher have now been missing for 2 years.  Our thoughts and prayers are with their families for their safe return.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.charleypr...m_kristina.html
Charley Project profile for Kristina Branum


http://www.charleypr...hristopher.html
Charley Project profile for Christopher Mittendorf

[Lori Davis]

Endangered Missing
KRISTINA BRANUM

DOB:  Dec 30, 1988
Missing:  Jul 27, 2006
Age at time of disappearance: 17
Sex:  Female
Race:  White
Hair:  Brown
Eyes:  Brown
Height:  5'2" (157 cm)
Weight:  150 lbs (68 kg)
Missing From:
SAVANNAH
TN
United States
 
Kristina's photo is shown age-progressed to 21 years. She was last seen on July 27, 2006. Kristina may be in the company of an adult male. Her navel is pierced. Kristina may go by the nickname Kris.

ANYONE HAVING INFORMATION SHOULD CONTACT
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hardin County Sheriff's Office (Tennessee) 1-731-925-9007

View Poster

[Lori Davis]

http://www.jacksonsu...-four-years-ago

Life on hold for moms of missing couple - Hardin County duo vanished four years ago

October 11, 2010

More than four years after their children disappeared, two mothers in Hardin County spend their lives waiting for a phone call and looking out the window, hoping against hope for news of their loved ones.

"I can't move on — my age has changed, but my life has stopped," Cheryl Flatt said in an interview. "It's like walking a tightrope — you hope they are still alive, but knowing anything would be better than this."Kristina Branum and Christopher Mittendorf were living with Flatt, Mittendorf's mother, when they were last seen on July 27, 2006. Branum was 17, and Mittendorf was 21.

The couple had come home from a shopping trip that day, Flatt said. Clothes they bought were left lying on a bed, and the two did not leave any note or message.

Several days later, the couple's green Geo Prism was found abandoned about 40 or 50 miles away in a rural part of Lawrence County in Middle Tennessee.

Hardin County Sheriff Sammy Davidson has said foul play may be involved in the disappearance.

Since then, both families and the Hardin County Sheriff's Department have received reported sightings of the couple in Knoxville, Chattanooga and as far away as Oklahoma. None of the leads panned out.

"If they were dead, I think their bodies would have been found," Flatt said. "It's so frustrating for me. This has made me a hermit — I've quit my job and I stay close to the phone all day."

Branum's mother, Paulette Harris, shares a similar story of desperation and waiting. Since her daughter's disappearance, Harris also has lost a son. Charles Garrard, 27, was shot by his employer in a Savannah parking lot in July 2008. Charles "Ken" Qualls pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the death in 2009.

"It's been a living hell," Harris said. "You spend your time walking the floors and looking out the windows, hoping they will come back, but in your heart you know they're not."

Harris remembered happier days before Branum disappeared — Christmas and Thanksgiving with the family, swimming at a nearby creek and playing with neighborhood children. Her daughter planned to join the Army after she graduated from high school, Harris said.

"I know she wouldn't have run off," Harris said. "The hardest is wondering if she is still alive."

Both women expressed frustration by the lack of communication from the Hardin County Sheriff's Department about the case. Harris said she follows up on every lead she hears about and reports it to investigators in the case, but it is difficult to get information from investigators."There are two kids missing off the face of the earth, and nobody is saying nothing," Harris said.


Flatt agrees. "I don't know if they are working on the case or not," she said. "They won't contact me and won't talk to me."

Sheriff Davidson did not return several phone messages requesting information about the status of the case. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation also is involved in the case and has released an age-progression photo of Branum.

Flatt and Harris said they have always believed a Hardin County man who was killed this spring, George "Eddie" Baugus, may have had information about Branum and Mittendorf.

Baugus' wife, Shannon Baugus, has been charged with first-degree murder in her husband's death.

Eddie Baugus also was known as "Bad Egg" Baugus, according to court documents. He had a prior criminal record of theft and drug charges.
Flatt said she has been told Mittendorf and Branum may have been involved in a robbery or burglary of Baugus in the days before their disappearance. She found a lock box in her home that contained items belonging to Baugus, she said.

"We haven't heard anything new for three and a half years," Flatt said. "It's hard to go through a day-to-day routine."

Harris added, "All I want is if anybody knows anything, please come forward."

[Jenn]

NamUs Profile for Kristina: https://www.findthem...g/cases/5874/0/

[Deborah]

Christopher & Kristina are still missing.

NamUs Profile
https://www.findthem.../cases/10779/0/

[Deborah]

Christopher & Kristina are still missing.

 

Hardin County Sheriff's Office (Tennessee) 1-731-925-9007