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A Texas mother of four children has been missing for nearly three weeks following a fight with her husband, whom investigators are calling uncooperative.
Authorities in the San Antonio region have been looking for Suzanne Clark Simpson, a real estate agent who police say was last seen outside her home in the suburb of Olmos Park on Oct. 6 and was reported missing the next day.
“We’re very concerned,” Olmos Park Police Chief Fidel Villegas said at a news conference earlier this month.
A neighbor reported seeing an argument between Simpson and her husband Brad become physical after they returned from a party near their home on Oct. 6, according to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by KSAT-TV. The neighbor reported hearing two or three screams a short time later, the affidavit says.
“We are devastated by the loss of my sister,” Simpson’s sister, Teresa Clark, told WOAI-TV. “The search will continue and we will not stop until we find her. We are going to bring Suzanne home because Suzanne was an incredible mother, daughter, sister. And she was a beloved person of the San Antonio community.”
She continued by telling the station that Simpson “has a large tribe and a large family because we are determined to find her … We are going to bring her home.”
Here’s what to know about the case.
Husband, business partner arrested as search continues
In the midst of searching for Simpson, authorities have arrested her husband, Brad Simpson, and his business partner, James Vallee Cotter. According to the arrest affidavit obtained by KSAT-TV, Brad Simpson was “uncooperative” with the investigation and did not show up to a follow-up interview.
Brad Simpson, according KSAT’s copy of the arrest affidavit, “appeared to be separating himself from his family” and had sought refuge at his Bandera County ranch. He was arrested on Oct. 9, three days after his wife was last seen, according to reporting by the Austin American Statesman, part of the USA TODAY Network.
He was charged with unlawful restraint, assault causing bodily injury to a family member, prohibited weapon possession and tampering with evidence, court records show. A federal complaint was also filed against him alleging that he was in possession of a rifle not registered to him.
The Department of Public Safety announced the arrest of his business partner, James Vallee Cotter, on Tuesday. Cotter was charged with prohibited weapon possession. No attorney was listed for Cotter.
Cotter is accused of hiding an AK-47 in the wall of his home because Brad Simpson asked him to, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by KENS-TV.
Charges filed against husband are ‘ludicrous,’ lawyer says
Steven Gilmore, Brad Simpson’s court-appointed attorney, did not respond to USA TODAY’s requests for comment.
In a Thursday interview with the San Antonio Express-News, Gilmore called the charges against Brad Simpson “ludicrous” and said the case was “theater to incapacitate him, to keep him in custody.”
“It’s ludicrous that he’s being held on the $2 million bond for misdemeanor cases that the state knows it can’t and isn’t even going to try to prove,” Gilmore told the newspaper. “They’re not even going to file these cases. And they don’t want to file these cases, because if they file these cases, then all of his rights kick in. As long as these cases are unfiled, we can’t urge a speedy trial.”
Gilmore said that Brad Simpson is currently being held in administrative segregation and is confined to his cell at least 23 hours a day. He said Simpson will plead not guilty to the charges filed against him.
“All this is kind of a shock to him and his family,” Gilmore said.
Police have searched landfill, other sites for Suzanne Simpson
Authorities have conducted sweeps at a number of locations, including a local basin and a landfill in the area, to no avail.
Simpson’s sudden disappearance was “highly unusual,” Villegas said at the news conference.
“Suzanne was known and is known as a very loving and reliable person, especially with her children and her work. She hasn’t been to work, and she hasn’t contacted her children,” Villegas said.
Simpson, whose children are between the ages of 5 and 20, worked as a realtor Nix Realty Company and was “very involved in the school and sports activities of (her) children,” according to an online biography accessed by the Statesman.
Simpson’s children and her family are still holding out hope that she will be found, Clark told WOAI-TV about her sister.
“One of the reasons why this is so crucial is because when a mother goes missing, they don’t go missing by accident,” Clark said. “Children need their mothers the most and that is the reason we have been able to get so many people involved in this situation is because Suzanne was a beloved mother, she was an incredible person, and she just had the sweetest disposition.”
The public has also been urged to contact the Olmos Park Police Department at 210-822-2000 with any relevant information.
