More than 37 years have passed since Leesville resident Bambi Brantley disappeared.
Bambi Brantley was 26 years old when she was last seen on Wednesday, October 22, 1986, as she was walking westbound on Highway 8 towards Tower Trailer Park on the west side of Leesville. Investigators believe that she did make it to her home in the trailer park and then disappeared from there.
It has been confirmed that Bambi used the pay phone at the convenience store, which would currently be Leebo’s, at the entrance to the West Louisiana Forestry Festival Fairgrounds on Texas Highway. Bambi purchased a fountain drink while at the store, and it is believed that she walked back to her residence from the store. The drink container located inside her residence was from the purchase she made on the night she disappeared.
Bambi was employed as a salesperson at Pynes Chrysler auto dealership in Leesville at the time of her disappearance. Bambi was a social person and had many friends and acquaintances with whom she would spend time at various social clubs in Leesville.
Bambi has been described as being 5’7”, weighing 110 pounds, with hazel eyes and wavy shoulder-length light brown/auburn hair, which she parted in the middle.
At the time of the initial investigation into Bambi’s disappearance, numerous rumors circulated regarding the discovery of her body. These rumors were all fictitious. Bambi Brantley has not been heard from since the night of her disappearance, and law enforcement has never located any human remains suspected to be those of Bambi.
Bambi’s family traveled back to Vernon Parish in 2018 to participate in a press conference where they asked the public for assistance in the case. Bambi’s nephew, Pen Brantley, was 8 years old when Bambi went missing, and he said the questions that linger make it difficult for the family to find closure. “Her memory is perpetually suspended in limbo. She’s not alive and she’s not dead; she’s just ‘missing’,” he said. “The grief that this has brought to our family is beyond belief.”
Bambi’s youngest sister, Randi Sarsfield, said the family hopes someone can come forward to provide information that will allow them to at last lay her sister’s remains to rest. “She deserves that, and we feel like we deserve that, too,” she said.
Family members encouraged anyone who has any memory of the night of Bambi’s disappearance to come forward, even if they were somehow involved. “We will find it in our hearts to forgive them, because without a doubt Bambi would have forgiven them,” Bambi’s sister, Vicki Brantley, said. “That is how unconditionally loving she was.”
Detective Rhonda Jordan is asking for anyone who has any information about her disappearance to call her at 337-238-7248, or any local law enforcement agency. You do not have to give your name.
