Later, there were unconfirmed reports of sightings, and a phone call claiming one of the girls was safe. The girls knew Earl Bramblett, a family friend, and worked for him. Bramblett was a suspicious figure; he had a history of being around children and lacked adult friends. He was quoted saying he wished he hadn’t “hurt Tammy,” and was later convicted of murdering a family in 1994. A jailhouse informant (who later retracted) claimed Bramblett confessed to the murders after molesting one of the children.

Tammy’s sister and others accused Bramblett of molesting them. Though acquitted of molestation charges in 1984, Bramblett was executed in 2003 for the family murders. Despite this, some believe he was wrongly convicted and that Tammy and Angela ran away willingly. Police searched the yard of Bramblett’s old house but didn’t find anything, and couldn’t search inside. Bramblett always denied involvement in the girls’ disappearance, offering unsubstantiated claims about Tammy’s death in Florida.

Although investigators suspected Bramblett, he was never charged with their disappearance. The case remains unsolved, with Angela’s mother (now deceased) believing her daughter was still alive, and Tammy’s family believing she’s dead and Bramblett was responsible.