Have the Good ‘Ole Boys in Blue Messed up Again?

*Edited version of previous story. Edited by Adam Siders* [brother/sister duo :-]

Nearly three years have passed since young Hardin County couple, Kristina Branum and Christopher Mittendorf, disappeared as the left behind families have unanswered questions which they believe the police are either hiding from them or are just unwilling to admit that they could have done more. Rumors still abound.

On July 27, 2006, after allegedly robbing a local drug dealer, Branum, then 17, and Mittendorf, then 21, went shopping. They brought home Wal-Mart bags filled with video games and clothes. When the couple left in their 1994 green Geo Prism, they were allegedly never seen again. Five days later, their vehicle was found abandoned in a rural area in Lawrence County, Tennessee. The keys were gone and Mittendorf’s cell phone was left behind. One eyewitness claims to have seen the couple vacate their car and get inside a white vehicle.

Branum’s mother, Paulette Harris, believes she knows what happened to her daughter and Christopher. “I got an eyewitness that told me to my face and demonstrated their murder. [The witness] said they were in a Parsons, Tennessee hotel, and the killers had them on their knees with their hands tied behind their backs. They were blindfolded and were taken to someone’s house that had pigs,” says Harris. Allegedly, the couple was then shot “and fed to the pigs,” she added.

Unbeknownst to the witness, lead Hardin County inspector, Mike Fielder, listened to her story on the phone. Fielder then went to the D.A. However, the D.A. said that there was not enough evidence to pursue the claim, according to Fielder. He will not comment.

Harris believes that the drug dealer Mittendorf and Branum robbed paid the Mexican Mafia to “off them.” However, the boy’s mother, Cheryl Flatt, said that while it’s possible the gang had killed her son and Kristina, she does not know what to believe.

Flatt said that her “anger is shifting to the police enforcement [in Hardin County]. They don’t call us when they do hear anything. They don’t call for nothing,” Flatt said, adding that she “feels like the system has failed Kristina and Christopher. I feel like they could have done more.”

John Mehr, Special Agent in charge, said that the Hardin County Police Department does everything they can do in investigating the case. “Savannah P.D. is an efficient department and they know how to handle cases,” Mehr added. The agent said that they ask others for outside help, such as the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations (TBI).

The mothers of the victims do not think that the media aided in helping find their children. One Jackson television crew did an interview with Harris and Flatt. It never aired. Cheryl Flatt is “begging someone to get involved in this [to get] answers.”

They’re not the only family members angry at the police department. Branum’s cousin, Maegan Siders, said “they don’t care.” She said that when the two vanished, an Amber Alert was not made and Agent Mehr confirmed. An alert could not be made for Mittendorf, since he was 21 at the time. However, one could have been placed for Branum. According to Amber Alert guidelines, alerts are based on police department descresion and should be made if they believe the child is in serious harm.

On July 27, 2006, law enforcement believed the two were running away because it was a possibility that Branum and Mittendorf were in legal trouble. It wasn’t until their abandoned car was found that they suspected foul play.

Other rumors have been made about the whereabouts concerning the couple. Paulette Harris said that a man called her home and said to look in Olive Hill, Tennessee. Their remains would be in the bottom of a well, where a board with an orange X would mark the spot. Harris said that they searched for the X from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m., but it was never found.

The police cannot comment on many factors surrounding the Branum-Mittendorf case, understandably. Special Agent Mehr said that the department is not allowed to tell the family members “too much”, adding “When you do, those people tell other people what they’ve been told and before long, the whole community knows and they will add to the information.”

Cheryl Flatt has found a box in her home with divorce papers and letters that belong to the drug dealer, who is allegedly behind her son’s death. Police did check into it. Harris said the police “had helicopters above his house and gave him a polygraph.” The Hardin County Police cannot comment on the results of that test.

Although three years have nearly passed since the day Kristina Branum and Christopher Mittendorf disappeared, their families still have unanswered questions. Harris said that she has a “hole in her heart,” adding “The way I feel, if I had money they’d be all over it.” She also said, “It’s as if my kid and Chris don’t matter."

*Note: Amber Alert was not made when the two disappeared. Police believed they were running away from the law. Consider this, though: Why would Branum and Mittendorf spend an excessive amount of money on clothes and video games--and leave those items behind? When I asked Special Agent John Mehr if that was suspicious to him, he could not comment any further. Think about it.