'Mother's search continues' 09.20.07

Mother's search continues
By Andy Powell, Times Staff Writer
Published September 20, 2007

Daughter, 26, last seen leaving Mississippi home
A Gadsden woman whose 26-year-old daughter has been missing from her south Mississippi home is holding out hope she will be found.Brandi Rene Hawkins Laurent, 29, has been missing since Aug. 3, when she left her Kiln, Miss., home about midnight after an argument with her husband, according to a report filed Aug. 4 with the Hancock County (Miss.) Sheriff's Department. She was last seen in the Fenton-Dedeaux community of Hancock County.Laurent's mother, Anita Moody of Gadsden, said her daughter left the home, walking, without her cell phone and left her two daughters, 12 and 2.Moody said while her daughter's husband said his wife of almost 10 years had left like that in the past, Moody is certain she would have at least called her children."It's just not like my daughter to do this, something that's very, very wrong," Moody said.There have been reports of Laurent being seen in Texas, but they have been discounted.Moody said there is a chance Laurent might be coming this way to see family members. Laurent is the granddaughter of the late Howard E. Moody.Moody said Laurent lived in Gadsden for a time as a child and has relatives in the area.Laurent and her husband lost everything because of Hurricane Katrina and were living in a FEMA trailer.A spokeswoman for the Hancock County Sheriff's Department said Wednesday there are no new leads concerning her disappearance.There have been a number of news articles about Laurent's disappearance, and Moody said she went to Mississippi for a month handling out fliers and talking to anyone who might know anything about her daughter's disappearance.A billfold Laurent's husband said she had taken with her was found in the house of a friend suspected of drug activity.According to the police report, Laurent's husband, Leo, said she had been doing drugs for several days, but Moody said Laurent had called a friend earlier in the day and told her she was sick and came home from work.A candlelight vigil was Sunday night at the high school in Mississippi that Laurent attended.Moody has established a Web site, www.myspace.com/missingbrandi, that has pictures of her daughter and information about her.She also has distributed fliers in this area.Laurent is described as being about 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds, with reddish hair, green eyes and fair skin.She has a large red rose tattoo on her right calf and a small black dragon tattoo on her left calf.She has the word "Bailee" tattooed on her back just below her neck and a fairy tattooed on her lower back. She has a small mole on her left cheek below her eye.There was a posting to Laurent's MySpace Web page after she disappeared, but Moody said she did not believe her daughter posted it.People with information should call the Hancock County Sheriff's Department at 228-255-9191 or Moody at 547-8503.

http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20070920/NEWS/709200307