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Walter “Bo” Brawner case: Person of Interest Arrested

September 30, 2009

HCSO

Steven Ray Fester, dubbed a serial robbery suspect, has been arrested. As reported in the September 25, 2009, edition of khou.com/news, witnesses said he wore a mask and gloves, held them at gunpoint with a semi automatic, forced everyone to the back of the store, forced them to open the safe, and ordered everyone to put their cell phones into the safe. He stands accused of the armed robbery of CVS drugs stores, Shipley’s Donuts, H-E-B, and Walgreens in the Greater Huston area. His charges include three aggravated robberies and he is believed to be linked in eight more.

Myfoxhouston.com reports Steven Ray Fester is being held without bail.

Fester is already a named person of interest in last years mysterious disappearance of his neighbor, Walter David “Bo” Brawner. What does this arrest mean in connection to that case? Certainly, Fester having been found guilty of the theft of Bo’s semi automatic hand gun earlier this year in San Jacinto County, and this arrest for armed robbery while brandishing a semi automatic hand gun in neighboring Harris County, demonstrates a preference in pistols and a predilection to break the law using violence - but does it mean more? Will the San Jacinto County detectives travel to Harris County and be able to find out more about Bo Brawner’s disappearance? Does this arrest threaten to put Fester behind bars for a long period of time? Will he be able, or inclined, to plea bargin if he does have information leading to solving the mystery of what happened to Bo? Will we hear from some jailhouse snitch? Only time will tell.

In the mean time, the Brawner family has found a tiny glimmer of hope in Fester’s arrest. They patiently wait and search and hope for Bo to return to them.

Written by Linda Johnson · Filed Under Walter David "Bo" Brawner | 1 Comment

Walter David “Bo” Brawner

September 25, 2009

Walter David “Bo” Brawner, or Bo, as his family and friends know him, did not have a childhood without problems. His life is a story of illness and heartbreak. As a young child he suffered through osteomylitis, almost taking his life and leaving him to go through numerous surgeries. The operations contributed to stunting one of his legs. He continues, to this day, to have physical issues with his knees and back. He walks with a limp - growing more troublesome and noticeable as he aged. His mobility was seriously limited. He is on medication for hypertension, heart problems, angina, and panic disorder.

As a young man, he married and raised three sons before an unwanted divorce interrupted his life. The sons he was proud of; the divorce wounded him deeply, he never remarried. His son, Jesse, a victim of a tragic auto accident left him, at the age of 20, wheelchair bound and unable to speak. Jesse will spend the rest of his life in a nursing home. Bo knew pain in his body, in his heart, and in his mind. Not unlike others who have suffered in life, he became an alcoholic. He was not the friendly, comical, or the sweetly melancholic type of alcoholic, but was instead the abrasive type giving cause for others to avoid him. He became a recluse.

The Brawner family was in the business of creating hand made copper lanterns for the commercial lighting industry. It flourished and Bo’s income from this line of work supported him. He converted an addition, behind the workshop on his son’s property, into an efficiency where he lived. Lonnette Brawner, his sister-in-law, tells us Bo could be hard to get along with, but he was also a tenderhearted person who had built a wall around him. He was always good to her children. Bo taught Lonnette the copper lighting business and her daughter continues the tradition today. After Bo’s father passed away he turned to Lonnette to help him file for Social Security and Medicare.

It was not like Bo to allow anyone inside his apartment, or his life for that matter. However, everyone needs somebody sometime, as the saying goes, and Bo was no exception. When his family moved away and the business shut down Bo and the man next door became friends - or so it seemed.

His sons, Joe and Arthur, arrived for a Father’s Day visit on June 15, 2008, their 67-year-old dad’s white van was parked at his efficiency, but he was nowhere to be found. It had been two weeks since they last saw him. His sons went to the next-door neighbor to ask about their Dad. Stephen Ray Fester had the keys to Bo’s house and told them Bo had taken off on a trip. Inside the efficiency, they found keys to his van, his cigarettes, and his medications. His clothes were still in the washing machine and the last day marked on the calendar was June 10, 2008. Bo’s wallet was missing. His Trac phone (prepaid cellular phone - not traceable) was missing. There were no signs of a struggle. It just did not look right. Joe and Arthur immediately reported him missing to the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office in Texas.

Bo's apt behind the white building; Fester's trailer on the left

When Deputy’s came out to investigate they noticed Stephen Ray Fester had an electrical line snaking its way across the ground between his trailer and Bo’s apartment. It was pulling free power from Bo’s apartment to Fester’s. Police questioned him. Fester told a story about Bo’s plans to go out of town. He told them Bo was waiting for someone to pick him up. He went on to say while he showered he heard a horn honk for Bo. However, Lonnette Brawner says this completely out of character. She has known Bo for 23 years and throughout all those years had only known him to leave home over night for hospital stays, nothing else. Known to make regular trips to the grocery and to his doctor, no one could remember him ever traveling or even being out after dark.

Stephen Ray Fester

Stephen Ray Fester quickly became a person of interest. Fester, an assault charge in his history, was 39 - half Bo’s age. Fester stood 6′1″ - towering over Bo’s 5′4″ height, and weighing 230 pounds - he was almost twice Bo’s weight. Bo’s checkbook and his .380 semi-automatic pistol was in Fester’s possession. The holster for the pistol was still in Bo’s apartment. Fester explained to investigators he was given the checkbook to take care of Bo’s bills that might come up while he was away. However, Fester used the checks for more than paying bills for Bo. He was charged with four counts of forgery of checks written between June 2 and June 16, and one count of theft of a firearm. In June of 2009 he received a sentence of 5 years deferred adjudication probation, fines, and is ordered to pay restitution.

The question remains: When did Walter “Bo” Brawner vanish? The calendar was last marked off June 10. Someone reported seeing him at the grocery on May 31. Then police discovered he had missed a doctors appointment for May 25. His doctor stated Bo did not pick up his medication. Everyone agreed this was out of character for Bo. The time line narrowed to between May 25 and May 31, 2008.

Texas Equusearch and members of the Shepherd Volunteer Fire Department spent June 17 searching the vicinity of Lake Run-A-Muck, the subdivision where Bo lived, and the wooded area surrounding Bo’s home on McClain Street. In this part of Texas the landscape is swampy in some places, wooded in others, and there are many abandoned houses. It is a community of small farms. The big industry in the area is logging. According to the then Sheriff Lacy Rogers, there was no sign of Bo. Sheriff Rogers said they have reason to believe it is more than a missing person case.

The Sheriff’s investigators went over Bo’s white van with a fine toothcomb. They were looking for clues and found nothing to indicate foul play in the van. Then a break; the family told investigators they believed Bo and Fester had been partners in some sort of salvage business. They said both Fester and Bo had fallen on hard times and that drew them into talks of a junk business. They talked about running the business from their two adjoining lots.

By August 13, 2008, Texas Equusearch had completed three searches of the area. Two of the searches included cadaver dogs; a tip prompted the third search. None of the searches had positive results.

Crimestoppers offers a $1,000.00 reward and lists Bo on the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Missing Person Clearinghouse. Lonnette Brawner works hard to keep Bo in the public eye. She constantly makes phone calls, makes requests to local newspapers, television, and calls on line news organizations. She joined Help Find The Missing for support for families, to keep the conversation going, sort out clues, and to mull over ideas for additional ways to bring attention to Bo’s missing person case.

Time passes slowly and the Brawner family has suffered two bodies discovered in the vicinity and patiently waited for autopsy and test results to identify the men. The Brawner family is sad for the families of the men whose bodies were found, releived it was not Bo, and through it all remain waiting for closure.

Lonnette Brawner organized a search of the waters at Banana Bend Beach. The searched with side sonar, sent divers into the murky water, only to find nothing.

It was has been over a year since Bo vanished. The Brawner family has all but given up hope for his safe return. Lonnette tells us they are holding out hope to find Bo and lay him to rest with his parents. His family deserves closure.

Anyone with information can contact:

San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Department

Captain Carl Jones

(936) 653-4367

Walter David “Bo” Brawner

Missing: Between May 25 - May 31, 2008

Missing From: Shepherd, Texas

Description:

Date of Birth: January 26, 1941

Age at disappearance: 67

Height: 5′4″

Weight: 120 pounds

Hair Color: Gray and Balding

Eye Color: Blue

Gender: Male

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Wears Glasses

Dentures, but rarely wears them

Surgery scar on right side of neck

Surgery scars on the right leg

Right leg unerdeveloped

Brown birthmark on back of one leg

Scar on one hand

Medical Conditions:

Stroke, several years ago

Balance and walk impaired, obvious limp

Medication for heart problems, angina and panic disorder

Clothing:

Wears black velcro tennis shoes

Denim jeans

Plaid colored, short sleeves, western shirts with pearl buttons.

Jewelry:

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