x
Breaking News
More () »

Cults, controversy and kidnapping: The Kelly Wilson case

Over 26 years ago, Kelly Dae Wilson vanished outside of North East Texas video - till this day it remains Gilmer's greatest unsolved mystery.

GILMER — It's a mystery that shook the town of Gilmer and Upshur County.

January 5th, 1992, 17-year-old Kelly Wilson walked out of her job at Northeast Texas Video with manager Joe Henry, got into her car to make the nightly deposit and was never seen again at least in person.

There was surveillance video that questions who actually made the deposit as the video was so grainy that nothing could be sure.

That's not the only mysterious event in the case, not even the most controversial.

It was the next day, Joe Henry would know something was wrong when he received a call from Kelly's mother.

"I didn’t hear anything further about that until in the morning around 6 a.m., she had asked if she had said anything about going somewhere the night before, she was supposed to go to a friends house but I don’t know anything about that," said Joe Henry.

After realizing Kelly was no where to be found, the hunt was on to find her.

The investigation was led by Sgt. James Brown with the Gilmer Police Department who spent hours, upon days, upon years searching for Kelly.

The case would take a turn two years later when the man who led the case would be arrested along with seven others and charged with Kelly's disappearance and murder assumed to have happened during a satanic ritual.

A conviction made that would turn the town of Gilmer upside down.

"The town was divided between people who thought the police sergeant Brown was as guilty as Charles Manson and those who thought he was as innocent as Snow White,” said Phillip Williams, a journalist at the time of Kelly's disappearance.

The case brought national unwanted attention to the East Texas town - attention that geared more toward the controversy, cults and cops being convicted and less on Kelly Wilson.

The case is still open and active but has gone cold - if you have any information on her contact the Gilmer Police Department.

Before You Leave, Check This Out