Unforgotten · Alabama Cold Case Advocacy

Unforgotten Rewind May 2024 -Brittney Wood

·35 min·2 clips

Brittany Wood was 19, a mother, and a survivor who testified against her abuser and sent him to prison for life.

1. Unforgotten Rewind May 2024 centers on Brittany Wood, a Mobile County missing-person case revisited on the 12-year anniversary of her disappearance. 2. Hosts Sellers and Stormy speak with Stephanie Henke, Brittany Wood’s stepmother, because Stephanie has worked with them on the case and knew Brittany from age 14. 3. The episode asks what Brittany Wood’s story was, why the family still has no answers, and why the earlier two-part January 2023 episode is being replayed. 4. Stephanie says Brittany was 19 years old in 2012 and the mother of a two-year-old child. 5. Stephanie describes Brittany as a “firecracker,” “charismatic,” and “the best friend you can have,” while also saying she could be “somebody you wouldn’t want to cross.” 6. The hosts note that Brittany testified against her maternal grandmother’s boyfriend in a child sex abuse case that ended with a life prison sentence for him. 7. The discussion also says Brittany had a drug addiction, and Stephanie suggests the family may not have fully seen how severe it was. 8. Stephanie explains that Brittany had a short but memorable relationship with the family because she entered Brittany’s life when Brittany was 14. 9. The episode says Brittany’s mother, Chessie Wood, and father, Wally Hankey, were central to the family’s efforts around the case. 10. Stephanie says Brittany’s last known family contact was on Tuesday before she vanished, and that Brittany had plans for Friday, June 1 and Saturday, June 2. 11. The hosts emphasize that Brittany planned to see her younger brother at a youth center on June 2. 12. Stephanie says Brittany also planned to have her child on June 1, which is why the family did not view the disappearance as a simple runaway situation. 13. The episode revisits the report that Brittany was last seen leaving her mother’s home in Tonya on May 30, 2012, around 7:20 p.m. 14. The hosts describe how Brittany told her mother she was going to see a friend named Courtney, then left in a way that still leaves conflicting accounts about who picked her up. 15. The episode notes that former Baldwin County detective Eric Winberg believed Donnie picked Brittany up at the end of Leonard Drive and later went to Sticks River in the Wilcox area. 16. The recap points to cell phone activity, including calls, texts, voicemail checks, and a final text from Brittany’s phone before the phone was never recovered. 17. The tone is personal and investigative, with Stephanie speaking directly about Brittany while the hosts walk through dates, locations, and phone records. 18. The format mixes family testimony, case recap, and replayed highlights from the earlier two-part episode. 19. Best for listeners who follow missing-person cases, family-led investigations, and Alabama true-crime coverage. 20. Probably skip if you want a light, self-contained conversation without case details.

As heard by us

A steady missing-person rewind that keeps early assumptions, stalled searches, and unanswered questions in focus.

The episode returns Brittany's stalled missing-person case to a hard, uneasy spotlight. A guest walks through the first response after she was reported missing, including an officer's view that a 19-year-old adult could leave if she chose and the way a misdemeanor warrant became…

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Why you'd press play

You want a missing-person case where the unanswered questions keep outlasting searches that happen, stall, or get canceled.

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