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Akers, Tammy L. February 7,1977; Virginia 14 YO
Topic Started: Aug 5 2006, 01:07 PM (1,119 Views)
oldies4mari2004
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http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/a/akers_tammy.html
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monkalup
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/news/story147803.html

(Wednesday, April 09, 2003)

Tammy Akers and Angela Rader are still missing; Mom remembers missing girl," by Lindsey Nair.

Earl Bramblett, who is scheduled to be executed tonight, was a suspect in the girls' disappearance. He was never charged in connection with it. Top of Form 1 Bottom of Form 1 The man Helen Akers has always suspected of killing her daughter and a friend is about to die at the hands of the state for a different crime. With him, Akers fears, will go any chance she had at knowing what really happened to Tammy Akers and Angela Rader, both 14, about 26 years ago.

"I'm glad that he will never be free to hurt someone else," she said, "but if he never says anything, I'll never find out what happened to Tammy. When he dies, it goes with him." Earl Bramblett is scheduled to be executed tonight for the 1994 killing of the Hodges family of four in Vinton. Akers has contacted one of Bramblett's lawyer and asked if his client would talk to her one last time about her daughter, but she has received no reply.

A detective with the Roanoke Police Department traveled to Sussex 1 State Prison on March 31 for a final interview with Bramblett about the Akers/Rader case, but Bramblett declined to see him. "There's one thing that he's been said to say, that he had done some things that he would never tell anybody," Akers said. "There's always that hope that his heart will be touched and he won't want to die with this on his conscience, that somewhere inside of him there's still something that's good."

On the evening of Feb. 7, 1977, Helen Akers took a trip to a drugstore. Before she left, Tammy told her that she was going out to meet her friend, Angela Rader . She was gone when her parents came home, and neither Tammy nor Angela showed up for school the next day at William Ruffner Junior High School. They were never heard from again. Tammy's mother described her as "spoiled rotten" but said she was always a good little girl until about age 12, when she started getting into trouble. She had run away with Angela a time or two before, something her family thinks kept the police from taking her disappearance seriously for several years. "She was into a lot of stuff that she shouldn't have been into," Akers said. "At that time I was trusting."

The Akers family first met Earl Bramblett in the 1970s, when they lived a block away from his silk-screening shop in Northwest Roanoke. Tammy was part of a group of young people who hung out at the shop and worked there on occasion. Bramblett's wife, Mary, had two young sisters about Tammy's age, and Tammy hung out with them and spent the night with them at Bramblett's house. "I never had any indication at all that he was anything but a nice person," Akers said. " He never talked much to adults, but there were always kids around. Not just mine, but just kids."

Several years after Tammy and Angela disappeared, Roanoke police received a clue. Two young women told a detective they had gone to a party at Bramblett's house. While there, they said, Bramblett drunkenly shot a gun and sobbed that he "wished he hadn't hurt Tammy." Police questioned Bramblett but learned nothing. They kept an eye on him for several years. In 1984, he was charged with molesting a 10-year-old girl but was acquitted. He was never charged in connection with the girls' disappearance.

Prosecutors decided not to mention the Akers/Rader case during the sentencing phase of Bramblett's 1997 trial for the Hodge family murders . Although members of the Hodges, Akers and Rader families believed Bramblett had something to do with the girls' disappearance, there was no hard proof. Prosecutors did subpoena several women to testify that Bramblett had sex with them when they were in their early teens. The judge cut them off after two testified, saying that was enough.

Tammy's older sister, Linda Owens, has said that Bramblett started molesting her at age 12, when he forced her to have sex with him. She testified at the trial, but not on the subject of molestation. Instead, she was asked to recount an incident where Bramblett became violent with her and displayed a gun. Owens believes Bramblett started molesting Tammy about age 9. "After I got older, I realized this old man always had young girls around him," Owens said. "He surrounded himself with young girls."

Eight months after Bramblett landed on death row, investigators dug around his former Bedford County home looking for clues in Tammy and Angela's disappearance. They were not given permission by current owners to dig inside the house, so the dirt basement where Owens believes the girls may be buried has never been searched. Police found nothing outside.

Bramblett might say that proves what he has always maintained: That he had nothing to do with what happened to Tammy Akers and Angela Rader. In a letter to The Roanoke Times in 1998, Bramblett confirmed that he was a suspect in the girls' disappearance but said his drunken statement at the party was misinterpreted by the two young women. "And in my 'crying in my beer sadness' I accepted blame for Tammy's fate because I had never done anything to steer her in a better direction," he wrote. "And I will again express my opinion that Tammy Akers died in a bonfire in central Florida around 1980 and the police are aware of this and have withheld it from the public." Bramblett never explained his theory and police have never mentioned any Florida connection.

A few years ago, police took samples of blood from Akers and Angela's mother, Dorothy Rader, so the girls' remains could be identified if they were ever found and their mothers were no longer living. Dorothy Rader, who always believed Angela was alive, died without ever knowing the truth. So did Tammy's older brother, Patrick, who spent much of his life trying to solve the mystery himself.

Akers said she would like to believe Tammy is still alive, but she does not. "I'm not basing anything on false hopes," she said. "The only thing I wish is that I knew where Tammy was so that I could bring her home" for a proper burial.

TheDeathHouse.Com

Earl Conrad Bramblett

Bramblett is scheduled for execution in the electric chair Wednesday for murdering a family of four, including children ages 11 and 3. A former private investigator who has worked on Bramblett's case told The Roanoke Times that Bramblett choose the electric chair as "revenge" on the investigators who he claims have framed him for the murders.

The key evidence directly linking Bramblett, 61, to the murders was the testimony of a jailhouse snitch who initially claimed Bramblett told him he murdered the family. That snitch has since recanted his testimony. The case against Bramblett is mostly based on circumstantial evidence, but evidence that court documents say is "powerful."

Investigators believe that Bramblett murdered the family fearing that the father of the children was going to tell police that Bramblett had molested his oldest daughter. The bodies of the were found in their burning house on August 29, 1994. The children and their father were shot in the head. The mother had been strangled. The victims were identified as Blaine and Teresa Hodges and their two children, Anah, 3, and Winter, 11. Bramblett was arrested and charged with the slayings about two years after the murders. Bramblett was a family friend. Bramblett was convicted and sentenced to death in 1997. Bramblett’s appeals lawyers have tried to link the murder to a now dead Vietnam veteran who had an argument with Blaine Hodges at work and had talked of killing women and children.

The circumstantial evidence, mostly disputed, linking Bramblett to the murders included: testimony that Bramblett was with the Hodges family just prior to the murders; a truck closely resembling Bramblett's seen leaving the scene when the fire was discovered; bullet, shell casings and cartridges found in Bramblett's possession matched similar items found in the home; accelerates used to start the fire at the Hodges home discovered on Bramblett’s clothing; a public hair found in the bed of the children; and audiotapes sent by Bramblett to his sister that prosecutors said demonstrated a "motive" for the slayings. About a year before the murders, Bramblett had sent his sister photographs of the Hodges children and 62 audiotapes, court documents stated. On the tapes, Bramblett expressed a sexual interest in one of the children and believed her parents were trying to "set him up" or entrap him in a sexual act with her. The audiotapes and package was opened after police started their investigation. But the key evidence came from Tracy Turner, a convicted felon who was with Bramblett in jail while he was awaiting trial.

Turner testified that Bramblett told him he was "addicted to young girls." They discussed the charges the two men faced. Bramblett "said that he had been caught with one of the children by her mother. Turner testified that Bramblett told him he choked her. After that, Turner claimed, Bramblett said he killed the rest of the family. Turner also claimed that Bramblett told him that he had read in a book that burning the crime scene destroyed forensic evidence and that was why he set fire to the Hodges’ home. Turner said that Bramblett told him his defense at trial would be that the Hodges’ were killed in a drug hit.

Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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oldies4mari2004
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Tammy Lynn Akers


Left: Akers, circa 1977;
Right: Age-progression at an unknown age


Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

Missing Since: February 7, 1977 from Roanoke, Virginia
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: June 28, 1962
Age: 14 years old
Height and Weight: 5'4, 82 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Red hair, blue eyes. Akers has a protruding navel and a black-colored mark on her cheek. Her earlobes are scarred.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A green short-sleeved sweater, jeans, suede shoes and a suede jacket.


Details of Disappearance

Akers and her friend, Angela Rader, were dropped off at William Ruffner Junior High School by one of the girls' relatives on February 7, 1977 in Roanoke, Virginia. The girls did not attend classes that day and were last seen hitchhiking in the city. Neither girl has been heard from again.
Akers is described by her family as a spoiled child. She began to get into trouble at age twelve and had run away with Rader several times before their disappearances in 1977. The police originally did not take their disappearances seriously as a result. Several months after their disappearances, one of the girls's mothers got a phone call from someone saying she was her daughter and was all right. Akers and Rader were also allegedly seen in a grocery store in the months after they vanished but that sighting was never confirmed.

The girls' mothers told authorities that Akers and Rader worked for a friend of their families, Earl Conrad Bramblett, in 1977. A photo of Bramblett is posted below this case summary. Akers's mother stated that her daughter was friends with Bramblett and his wife at the time, frequently spending time at their home. He did not seem to have any adult friends, just children. Investigators believe that Bramblett may have been involved in Akers and Rader's disappearances. He reportedly told friends at a party in 1980 that he wished he did not "hurt Tammy" back in 1977.

Bramblett was charged with molesting a ten-year-old girl in 1984 but acquitted. Akers's older sister says he molested her when she was twelve years old and she believes he molested Akers as well. Bramblett convicted of murdering a Virginia family of four, Blaine and Teresa Hodges and their two children, in 1994 and sentenced to death. He was living with the Hodgeses at the time of their homicides. A jailhouse informant told police that Bramblett had told him that he killed the Hodges family after being caught molesting one of the children. The informant later recanted his statements but Bramblett was executed in April 2003, still maintaining his innocence. It is worth noting that Bramblett has many supporters (particularly on-line) who believe he was wrongly accused. The same people maintain that both Akers and Rader ran away from Roanoke voluntarily in 1977.

Eight months after Bramblett was sent to death row, authorities dug up the yard of the house he had been living in when Akers and Rader disappeared. They found nothing and the residence's current owners did not give them permission to search inside the house, so they never had the opportunity to look in the basement where they believe Akers and Rader may be buried.
Bramblett always maintained his innocence in the missing girls' cases. He said he was drunk when he made the statement about "hurting Tammy" in 1980 and his comment was misinterpreted. He said he believes Akers died in a bonfire in central Florida in 1980 and the police know about it and have tried to cover it up. There is no evidence to support Bramblett's theory, however.

Authorities never charged Bramblett in connection with the girls' disappearances. They have taken blood samples from the girls' mothers so if their bodies are found and their family members are all dead, the bodies can still be identified from DNA. Rader's mother has since died; she believed her daughter was still alive. Akers's family believes she is deceased and Bramblett was connected to her disappearance.
Akers's and Rader's cases remain open and unsolved.



Above: Bramblett


Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Roanoke City Police Department
703-981-2874



Source Information
Child Protection Education Of America
The Roanoke Times
WDBJ-7
The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
Office of the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney
The Doe Network



Updated 1 time since October 12, 2004.

Last updated March 30, 2005.

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oldies4mari2004
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Tammy Lynn Akers
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oldies4mari2004
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Bramblett
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monkalup
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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http://z13.invisionfree.com/PorchlightUSA/...opic=4847&st=0&
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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~*Mia*~
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NCMEC Poster for Akers

http://missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet...earchLang=en_US
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mimi
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age progressed to 45 YO
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monkalup
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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http://www.nampn.org/cases/akers_tammy.html

Tammy Lynn Akers

11
Above Images: Akers, circa 1977: Age progressed to 45

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

# Missing Since: February 7, 1977 from Roanoke, Virginia
# Classification: Endangered Missing
# Date Of Birth: June 28, 1962
# Age: 14
# Height: 5'2"
# Weight: 100 lbs
# Hair Color: Reddish blonde
# Eye Color: Blue
# Race: White
# Gender: Female
# Distinguishing Characteristics: Protruding navel, black mark on cheek
scarred earlobes
# Medical Conditions: At time of disappearance known to use drugs and alcohol
# Clothing: Green short sleeved sweater, jeans, suede shoes and suede jacket
# Case Number: 77-15971
# NCIC Number: M016024786

Details of Disappearance
On 02/07/1977 TAmmy Akers and her friend, Angela Rader, were dropped off at their Junior High School in Roanoke, Virginia. The girls did not attend classes that day, and were last seen hitchhiking in the city.
Neither girl has been heard from since. A known pedophile, Earl Conrad Bramblett, was a known associate of Tammy Akers. Earl Bramblett denied any involvement in the disappearance of Tammy Akers
and was executed for the murder of a family in Vinton, Virginia in 2003.
DNA profile has been obtained by the family and entered into CODIS by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Roanoke Police Department
Det. L.P. Manning
(540) 853-5305
or
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST)
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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