Thirteen years after someone found Brittany Stykes shot to death in Brown County, her family returned to the roadside cross marking where her Jeep veered off the road to hold another memorial vigil on what would have been her 35th birthday.
Her family still has no answers in her killing.
“It’s frustrating, 13 years later, the sheriff’s are no farther today than they were the day it happened,” said David Dodson, Stykes’ father.
Stykes was killed on a night in August 2013 when police initially believed they were responding to a routine crash, but instead discovered a crime scene. Stykes sat in her Jeep, shot to death. Her daughter, Aubree, just over a year old at the time, was also wounded but survived.
Stykes was pregnant with a baby boy when she was shot, and for 12 years, her family has returned to the site to honor both of them.
Mary Dodson, Stykes’ mother, read scripture as community members gathered in remembrance.
“The only way we survived that, losing her the way we did, is our faith,” said Mary Dodson. “That is my place of comfort. Yes, I know that even if I may not get my answers here on earth, the person that has done this will have to stand before the Lord someday and answer for what they’ve done.”
The Brown County Sheriff’s Office has carried out more than 75 interviews and spent around $1 million pursuing leads that ultimately led to dead ends. Stykes’ parents said they are unsure whether the case is still actively being investigated and voiced frustration over communication from the sheriff’s office.
“I hope the sheriff’s department is truly working it, but we’re not being informed on it if they are,” said David Dodson. “There’s been more than one sheriff, and I guess the frustrating part is if there was a little more transparency with the sheriff’s department. You know, just a little more talking. Tell us where the investigation is, not exclude us from it.”
Thirteen years after Brittany Stykes was found shot to death in Brown County, her family returned to the roadside cross marking where her Jeep went off the road to hold another memorial vigil on what would have been her 35th birthday. (Provided)
The Ohio Bureau of Investigation was not involved at the start of the case, and Stykes’ parents said BCI investigators only worked on it for a couple of years.
“It took us three years, and we fought and fought and fought, and finally we had to go to the prosecutor’s office to get BCI brought in because the sheriff kept it in their house,” said David Dodson.
Aubree will turn 14 years old in June, and her grandparents say they want to give her answers but still have none.
“We have saved every newspaper,” said Mary Dodson. “We’ve done told her we’ve got it, and when she’s ready, it’s there for her. And then she can read herself, but as far as having the answer, until we have an official answer that this is who did it and they’re in jail, we can’t tell her. We can’t give her those answers.”
Her parents said this marked the first time no one from the Brown County Sheriff’s Office attended the memorial.
“They felt that the comments and stuff lately have made the sheriff’s department look bad, and it’s not that I’m trying to make the sheriff’s look bad, but I am trying to pressure them. I want answers,” said David Dodson. “I got on the sheriff’s the other day, and they kind of got a little upset with me. I said, ‘It seems like every time we do one of the memorials, there’s always a new lead, always a new lead, and it goes away.’ This time when I talked to him, well, ‘we have a new lead again,’ and I’m goin’, it’s funny, it happens every year.”
“We don’t go out of our way to make them look bad. We are a family that needs answers. We need it. It’s 13 years,” said Mary Dodson.
They said they remain grateful for the community that has supported them through the years.
A $50,000 reward is still available for information that leads to an arrest and conviction. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (513)-352-3040.
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