He Called 911 and Then Vanished, Father of Four Still Missing After 3 Years

Brandon Lawson's family in Fort Worth says they're no closer to getting answers than the day he went missing.

"Each day they ask me why isn't my dad at my birthday party, why is my dad not here for Thanksgiving, why is my dad not going to be here for Christmas?" said Lawson's fiancee Ladessa Lofton. She choked back tears as she explained how she struggles to answer those questions her four children have been asking for years.

"My son asked santa, he wants his daddy for Christmas," she said.

Their son Nolan is five now, he was just 18 months old in 2013 when his father vanished along a desolate San Angelo highway.

A Facebook page titled "Help Find Brandon Lawson" has more than 12,000 likes but has generated few answers.

"Somebody out there has to know something, people don't just disappear it just doesn't happen," said Lofton.

The last trace of Brandon was a call to 911. At times it hard to understand, but his fiancee says there's no questioning the fear and confusion in his voice.

In the call Lawson tells the dispatcher, "Yes I'm in the middle of a field (inaudible) pushed some guys over, right here going towards Abilene, on both sides. My truck ran out of gas, there's one car here, the guy's chasing (inaudible) to the woods, please hurry!"

He also tells the 911 dispatcher, "We're not talking to him (inaudible) I told you I ran into em...that's the first guy."

When the dispatcher asked if he needed an ambulance he answered "No I need the cops." That was the last thing Lawson said to the dispatcher.

"We have no idea where he was at at that time, if you listen to that there are so many things that run through your mind why haven't we found him, what happened that night," said Lofton.

Investigators found Lawson's truck along Highway 277 that night, but he hasn't been seen or heard from since.

"There's nowhere to go out there, pitch dark 1:00 in the morning, his cell phone battery dies so he had no flashlight, it's rocky cactus terrain out there, if he had fell down or something we would have found him in a search," said his father Brad Lawson.

The disappearance has left everyone involved puzzled and desperate for answers.

Lofton wants her son to have his Christmas wish. "I promised myself I would find him, I still haven't," she said.

Brandon's father also wants closure. "Nobody has showed me Brandon, if they would I'd go get him and bring him home and I'd put him where he belongs, with his family but until that day I'm not giving up hope," said his father.

The Texas Rangers are handling Lofton's disappearance investigation.

A $1,000 reward is being offered. Anyone with information can make an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers at (325) 658-HELP.

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