The 1991 Brenda Condon Disappearance

In my latest update, I proclaimed to reduce time spent on the most foul cases, so what is this new thread all about? Well, I've just vented my frustration¹ with former detective Steve Thomas' book JonBenét, Inside the Ramsey Murder Investigation, specifically the apparent lack of methodology when the case was investigated. I'm aware that his main objective was likely to expose how the DA's office befriended the Ramsey lawyers and actively disrupted the investigation.

Steve Thomas got himself into trouble when claiming that Patsy Ramsey had killed Jonbenet in a fit of rage, the reason being a bed wetting incident. A libel lawsuit ensued, which ended in some kind of settlement. I don't know the details of the settlement, and it doesn't really interest me. What annoys me the most is that there was no need to accuse Patsy of killing her daughter with so little evidence to support his claim.

While finishing the Steve Thomas book, Ken Mains, a cold case investigator whom I've referred to several times, was looking into yet another cold case involving Brenda Condon, a mother of two kids, who went missing on February 27, 1991, from Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. From what I understand, he's doing pro-bono work for the family in an attempt to get to the bottom of why and how Brenda disappeared. 

What impresses me about the Ken Mains approach can be summed up in one word: methodology. As I'm writing this post, he's into the victimology part of the investigation, where he tries to uncover the personality of Brenda Condon by interviewing friends and family. Anything that could explain her behavioral patterns, her proclivities, e.t.c. In the footnotes, I'll link to the playlist² of episodes, which hopefully will expand as he dives deeper into the case. 

Surprisingly, both Steve Thomas and Ken Mains worked in narcotics and did undercover work. However, Ken Mains seems to be at a different level when it comes to problem solving. Steve Thomas was part of the 1997 Ramsey interviews and must have had access to the June 1998 transcripts before he quit in August of 1998. I suspect he also saw The Death of Innosense before his own book went into print, but even if he didn't, given his inside knowledge and access to the videotaped interviews, he should have been able to pick the Ramsey narrative apart in the framework of his book. It just isn't there.

So, to summarize, the purpose of this thread is not to discuss the Brenda Condon case as such but to show how Ken Mains applies his methodology to get to the bottom of an unsolved case. By watching/listening to him interview people related to the victim (which she most likely is), I realized how little we actually know about the Ramseys, especially Jonbenet. Given that Steve Thomas was the lead investigator of the case, I was very surprised at how little new information he had to offer that was not already in the public domain, especially since his book was titled Inside the Ramsey Murder Investigation.

¹ Jonbenet Ramsey, timeline analysis: LINK

² Playlist, Ken Mains investigating the Brenda Condon disappearance: LINK