2010 Brougham, Mickey June 2010, Belchertown

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http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/local/hampshi...g-after-2-weeks

Local man still missing after 2 weeks
Updated: Saturday, 10 Jul 2010, 8:08 AM EDT
Published : Saturday, 10 Jul 2010, 8:08 AM EDT
Barry Kriger

BELCHERTOWN, Mass. (WWLP) - Mickey Brougham of Belchertown hasn't been seen in more than two weeks, but people in his home town aren't giving up on their efforts to find him.

Hundreds of people filled the Belchertown town common on Friday night in support of Brougham's family.

Some of his personal items were found at New Hampshire Raceway but his car is still in Belchertown.

His family says they have no idea what's happened to Mickey, but they won't stop searching until they find him.

"Someone like that doesn't just go away without there being a huge hole for us to try to figure this out. This is about hope. This is about faith. This is about moving forward. This is in no way a memorial service,” said Mickey’s sister, Fran Lofland.

Mickey Brougham's family believes someone must know something about his disappearance.

If you have any information, you're asked to call Belchertown Police at 413-323-6655 or the anonymous tip-line at 866 477-8237.

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Police seek help finding Michael Brougham of Belchertown, reported missing 5 days ago
Published: Wednesday, June 30, 2010, 7:01 PM
Updated: Wednesday, June 30, 2010, 7:06 PM
John Appleton, The Republican

BELCHERTOWN – Police Chief Francis R. Fox Jr. is working with New Hampshire police to try to find Michael R. Brougham, a 54-year-old Jabish Street man who has been missing since June 25.

Brougham’s wallet with credit cards and identification card still in it was found outside the main gate at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, and his cell phone was used somewhere near there Sunday, Fox said.

Brougham, who is known as Mickey, had told people he might be going to the NASCAR race in Loudon last weekend, Fox said, but his truck and motorcycle were left at home, so if he went there it was with someone else.


Michael R. Brougham

Fox also said Brougham “has some health issues, and there is reason for us to believe he does not have his medication with him.”

Fox is asking anyone with information about where Brougham might be to call the Belchertown police at (413) 323-6685.

It would be helpful to know whether Brougham did go to New Hampshire and if so, with whom, Fox said

“We want to know if anyone saw him, where, when, and under what circumstances,” Fox said. “He may be mobile with no I.D.”

Calls were made from the cell phone Sunday to people Brougham knows but no connection was made, Fox said, adding that the signal could have been dropped.

When people saw they were called by Brougham and tried to call back, those calls went directly to Brougham’s voice mail, Fox said.

Because the wallet and cell phone were in the Loudon-Laconia region of New Hampshire, police are searching there for Brougham, but there is no certainty that he went there, Fox said.

He described Brougham as white, about 5 feet, 6 inches tall weighing about 200 pounds.

“He has a tattoo of a wolf on his left shoulder and a large scar on his chest,” Fox said.

Brougham was last seen in Belchertown at 2 p.m., June 25, wearing a gold necklace with a scorpion medallion.

The Brougham family is offering a reward for information that will help find him. A woman who answered the telephone at Brougham’s address Wednesday afternoon referred all questions about the missing man to police.

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Vigil for Missing Belchertown Man, Michael R. (Mickey) Brougham Posted: Friday, July 09, 2010, 9:57 PM Inappropriate photo? Alert us.
Don Treeger, Republican staff photograph...
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7-9-10 Belchertown - Republican staff photo by Don Treeger- A vigil was held on the Belchertown Town Common for Michael R. Brougham, a Belchertown man missing since June 25. This is family friend Joyce Harrop of Granby (L) with Mickey's mother Rita Brougham.
http://photos.masslive.com/republican/2010...brougham_1.html

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http://www.gazettenet.com/2010/07/07/siste...belchertown-man

Sister: There's more than meets the eye in case of missing Belchertown man

By BEN STORROW Staff Writer Wednesday, July 7, 2010

BELCHERTOWN - The family of a missing Belchertown man now believes that he never left the area to attend a NASCAR race in New Hampshire, as had been previously thought.

Michael Brougham, 54, of 175 Jabish St., was last seen by his family around 3 p.m. on June 25. Law enforcement officials and family members initially speculated that Brougham had left town for the weekend to attend a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, after his wallet, watch and cellphone were found in the vicinity of the race track.

Frances Lofland, Brougham's sister, said the New Hampshire State Police had completed a search of a 12,000 acre area in the Louden region - using search dogs, helicopter and all-terrain vehicles - but found no signs of her brother, who is known to family and friends as "Mickey."

Lofland said the fruitless search shows that Brougham was never there.

"There is no indication of Mickey ever being at the racetrack, only his belongings," Lofland said. "No one saw him there, he had no contact with anyone there, he had not made arrangements for a hotel, tickets or for anyone to take care of his pets (while he was gone)," she said.

The family is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to his whereabouts.

Brougham usually traveled with the same group of people to attend the NASCAR races in New Hampshire each year, Lofland said, but noted that the group elected not to go to this year's race. She said her brother had mentioned going to the race, asking his father if he wanted to attend. Brougham's truck and motorcycle have been parked in the driveway at his house since the day of his disappearance, Lofland said.

"This is not just a simple missing person case; there is another element involved," Lofland said. "We do feel that there are people in this community that have information regarding his whereabouts. We are hoping they have enough of a moral compass to come forward."

Belchertown Police Chief Francis Fox said that law enforcement have not eliminated the possibility that Brougham made it to the racetrack.

"We had sightings on Sunday of someone who fit (Brougham's) description, so we are not going to rule that out yet," Fox said. Asked if those sightings had occurred at the Louden racetrack, Fox said they had.

Fox declined to comment on Lofland's belief that some area residents may have information regarding Brougham's whereabouts. He said the Belchertown Police Department has been working with the Massachusetts State Police on the case.

He declined any further comment.

Both the family and police have expressed concern about Brougham's health, noting that he has a medical condition and that he may not have access to his medication.

Lofland described her brother as a well-known member of the community. He is the owner of M. Brougham Excavating, she said, noting that he is a commonly seen working around Belchertown, where he plows the sidewalks in the winter and frequently does work for the Belchertown Water Department throughout the year.

Brougham is the brother of Belchertown Town Administrator Gary Brougham.

"He is a very caring, generous individual with a big heart and is loved by many people," Lofland said of her missing brother. "He can be pretty stubborn sometimes, but he has a soft side just as big as that.

"Emotionally it is devastating for my family," she said. "It doesn't even seem real. I keep waking up in the morning and thinking, 'Have we really been looking for a family member for over a week?'"

Brougham is not married and does not have any children, she said, but added that he is very close with his five siblings, their families and his two parents.

"Normally he is in contact with his parents every day," Lofland said. "It is highly unusual that he has not been in contact with them."

She said her brother was last seen by his nephew - a police officer in the Belchertown Police Department - as he worked a road detail around 3 p.m. Friday. According to Lofland, Brougham was driving in his truck at the time and stopped to ask his nephew if he needed anything. The nephew responded that he did not and Brougham continued on, not to be seen or heard from since, Lofland said.

A vigil for Brougham will be held this Friday at 8 p.m. on the Belchertown Common. The event will happen rain or shine and will moved to one of the nearby churches if it rains, Lofland said. A Facebook page called "Searching for Answers Bring Mickey Home" and a website, www.bringmickeyhome.com, have been established to help find Brougham.

Brougham is described as 5 feet, 6 inches tall, and weighing roughly 200 pounds. He has dark brown hair, blue eyes, a tattoo of a wolf on his shoulder and is known to wear a gold chain with a scorpion on it around his neck. He also has a scar on his chest from a past surgery.

Anyone with information regarding Brougham are asked to call the Belchertown Police Department at 323-6685.


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Belchertown disappearance still a mystery
By BEN STORROW
Staff Writer
Login to post commentsPrinter-friendly version..Friday, August 6, 2010

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2GORDON DANIELSThis sign on the Belchertown common seeks information about Michael Mickey Brougham who has been missing for six weeks.BELCHERTOWN The disappearance of Michael Brougham, 54, of Belchertown, remains a mystery, law enforcement officials said this week.

Today marks six weeks since Brougham was last seen on June 25, driving in his truck, by his nephew, a police officer on the Belchertown Police Department. The lifelong Belchertown residents prolonged absence has led family and friends to fear that they will never again see the man they affectionately knew as Mickey.

This week the family announced it had doubled the award to $10,000 for information leading to the discovery of Brougham.

His wallet, cell phone and watch were found at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., during the weekend of June 26 and 27. Yet neither his truck nor his motorcycle ever left his house at 175 Jabish Road that weekend, according to family and friends.

At least one investigator believes that Brougham is dead, perhaps murdered.

At this point, were looking for a body, as tough as that is to say, said Seldon Don Nason, founder of the Investigative Center for Missing Children and Cold Cases, a Concord, N.H.-based non-profit organization, which is helping to investigate the case for the Brougham family.

It is common sense to tell everyone that were at 41 days. With Mickeys character, his family, his business, he would not just take off without telling anybody, Nason said Thursday. The other question is: is this a natural thing, a suicide or a homicide?

My personal feeling is that something bad happened to him on the criminal side, said Nason, a retired police chief and former prosecutor.

There are commonly four stages to an investigation when a person is missing, Nason said. Investigators first dedicate nearly all their resources to finding the person alive, he said.

If that does not produce results, investigators begin asking if there are any health circumstances that could have contributed to the persons disappearance. Brougham had heart surgery in January and was a diabetic, Nason said. However, he noted that Brougham had lost a lot of weight and appeared in good health in recent months, with his diabetes under control.

Investigators then begin to ask if suicide could account for the persons disappearance. Interviews with Broughams family and friends suggest that he had no suicidal tendencies, Nason said.

It is only through the process of elimination that we arrive at homicide, Nason said.

If Mickey went to New Hampshire someone drove him there, somebody left him there, and did not bring him back. If he didnt go to New Hampshire, then someone knows what happened to him. Somebody knows something, they are just not saying it.

Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel said Thursday that the investigation remains classified as a missing person case.

We dont have any information to say that the case is criminal in nature, Scheibel said. It is, however, an open case and any information that comes to us will be looked into, as in any investigation.

The case is currently being investigated by Massachusetts State Police attached to Scheibels office and the Belchertown Police Department.

Anonymous tips may be made by calling the Investigative Center for Missing Children and Cold Cases at 866-477-8237.

Well-known in Belchertown

Brougham had long been a fixture in Belchertown, the town where he was born, graduated from high school and lived all his life, said his sister Fran Lofland.

The important things to him were his friends, his family and living true to himself, Lofland said Wednesday. He definitely was an independent thinker, he was an original, very outspoken. You always knew where you stood with him.

He loved nothing more than being a rescuer and helping people out, she said.

The signs of what Broughams place in town are everywhere. Bring Mickey Home lawn signs dot the roadside, blue ribbons are tied to trees on the town green and many residents wear pins adorned with his face. A July vigil on the green saw approximately 500 people turn out to pray for Broughams return.

Brougham is not married and has no children. He has four siblings and his parents live in town. He was the owner of M. Brougham Excavation, a trade he entered as an adolescent while he was working for his father.

Asked if she thought her brother was still alive, Lofland said, I dont know what to believe. In my heart Id like to believe that, but its very hard.

Ed Burton, 53, has known Brougham since the two were 15. They remained friends and were roommates for a time.

He definitely was a character, Burton said of Brougham. He was a very multifaceted person: best guy in the world, meanest guy in the world, stubborn, easygoing. You ask, How can someone be easygoing and stubborn at the same time? but he was. It just depended on what he was doing.

This thing with Mickey, Timmy (Lofland) and I lived with him, and one of the hardest things we find with him being missing is his truck and motorcycle still being home. Mickey was always the type who had to be in charge. If we were going to go somewhere, he had to drive.

Burton recalled one time when he went to the Three County Fair in Northampton with Brougham and a group of friends. The group had to pile into the back of Burtons pickup truck to get there in one vehicle.

Even though we were taking my truck, he had to drive, Burton said.
http://www.gazettenet.com/2010/08/06/belch...e-still-mystery

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http://www.gazettenet.com/2010/08/20/secon...belchertown-man


Second vigil set for missing Belchertown man
By BEN STORROW
Staff Writer
Friday, August 20, 2010

MICHAEL “MICKEY” BROUGHAMBELCHERTOWN - The family of a missing Belchertown man announced this week that it is planning a second vigil to pray for "Mickey."

That announcement came as the family of Michael "Mickey" Brougham, 54, struggled to keep the disappearance of their relative in the public eye. The week brought no new updates in the investigation into Brougham's disappearance, who was last seen driving in his truck on June 25.

"It's a way to keep things out there," said Fran Lofland, Brougham's sister, of the planned vigil.

The event will be held at the Quabbin Lookout Tower on Aug. 27 from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and will include the release of several doves into the air.

"It's symbolic of helping Mickey find his way home," Lofland said, noting that the doves always tend to find their way home no matter where their travels may take them.

The vigil would be the second such event to be held in Belchertown in as many months. A vigil on the Belchertown town green drew 500 people at the beginning of July.

Anyone with any information on Brougham's disappearance is encouraged to contact the Belchertown Police Department at 323-6685 or the anonymous tip line at 866-477-8237. The family is offering a $10,000 reward for any information that leads to him.

"We are interviewing people and trying to pinpoint his movements," Police Chief Francis Fox said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "We still encourage tips from the public; any little information could open up an avenue that we can go on."

The case is still being classified as a missing person's case and is being investigated by Massachusetts State Police and the Belchertown Police Department, Fox said.

Lofland said the family is attempting to devise a way to accept donations to increase the reward. The family has been approached by numerous individuals who have expressed a desire to contribute to the investigation financially, she said.

Brougham was last seen by his nephew, a Belchertown police officer, while driving in his truck on June 25. That weekend, Brougham's wallet, cell phone and watch were found at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H. However, neither Brougham's truck nor his motorcycle left his house during that time, according to family and friends.

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Search continues for missing man
Personal effects found at raceway
By Matthew Spolar / Monitor staff
September 18, 2010article tools
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A new search has been organized for Michael "Mickey" Brougham, the 54-year-old from Belchertown, Mass., who was declared missing three months ago after a NASCAR race at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The weekend of Oct. 1-3, volunteer search-and-rescue crews from across New England will accompany private investigators and local and state authorities to comb about 1.3 miles of wooded area near the Loudon speedway to look for Brougham's body.

Don Nason, a Concord private investigator, is organizing the search on behalf of Brougham's family. Brougham's sister, Fran Lofland, said the circumstances are different this time, compared to the ground searches in the days after Brougham's disappearance.

"I don't think he's still alive," she said. "This is about reality."

Along with the renewed search effort, family members have increased the reward for information about Brougham's disappearance from $10,000 to $50,000.

Nason said the search likely will not cover the entirety of the 1.3 miles but focus intently on the area close to where Brougham's personal items were found. Brougham's wallet was located across Route 106 from the speedway, near Sunnyside Maple Inc. His cell phone and wristwatch were about a mile away, near the northern part of the speedway complex.

Nason said the search will use cadaver dogs, which are trained to find human remains. There will also be five dive teams to search nearby bodies of water. Some of the 100-plus searchers will be on ATVs, Nason said.

Lofland said her family is reaching out to the community for donations to help the volunteer searchers pay for hotel rooms. Any hotels willing to offer discounted rates would be greatly appreciated, Lofland said.

Nason, who is investigating the case for free, said that he's still not sure Brougham ever made it up to the racetrack in June, but he would be "remiss" not to organize another search.

"My gut tells me that something happened in Massachusetts and somebody used his effects to throw people off the scent in Belchertown," Nason said.

Brougham is diabetic, and Lofland originally thought her brother may have been disoriented from his medical condition. At this point, she has ruled out that theory.

"I truly believe that there's a crime involved," she said. "Someone has done something to harm my brother."
http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/2168...for-missing-man

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http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hamps...or_missing_man/

Volunteers search near NH speedway for missing man
October 3, 2010

LOUDON, N.H.—More than 100 volunteers are continuing their search in New Hampshire for a 54-year-old Massachusetts man who went missing in June.

Volunteers on foot, horseback and all-terrain vehicles searched a wooded area Saturday around the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. They didn't find anything but were planning to resume the search on Sunday.

According to the Concord Monitor, the search included a team of 10 dogs trained to find human remains.

Michael Brougham was last seen in his hometown of Belchertown, Mass., on June 25. His wallet was found two days later outside the speedway, but his motorcycle and truck were still at his house, where he lived alone.

The search is being organized by the Investigative Center for Missing Children and Cold Cases, a nonprofit based in New Hampshire.

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http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/crime_...tinues-20101003
Search for Mickey Brougham continues
Updated: Monday, 04 Oct 2010, 1:29 PM EDT
Published : Sunday, 03 Oct 2010, 9:54 PM EDT

LOUDON, NH (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - A major search for a Massachusetts man who went missing after the June races at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway took place this weekend.

Mickey Brougham left his car and diabetes medication at his home in Belchertown. His wallet, watch and cell phone were found outside the track in Loudon, N.H.

Brougham told his family he wanted to go to the races, but never came back.

A private investigator working with the family suspects foul play was involved in Brougham's disappearance.

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http://www.gazettenet.com/2011/06/24/one-y...-in-belchertown

One year later a homicide and a disappearance still unsolved in Belchertown
By BEN STORROW
Staff Writer

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Friday, June 24, 2011

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Photo: One year later a homicide and a disappearance still unsolved in Belchertown
Mickey Brougham vanished one year ago.

BELCHERTOWN - Early one morning last June, tenants at the Lord Jeffery Apartment Complex heard a commotion in the parking lot. Rushing outside they found a man bleeding on the pavement. His name was Kelly DeMarco, but he went by Dino, and he had just moved to Belchertown to live with his mother following a stay at a hospital while awaiting a liver transplant. But now he was on the ground fighting for his life, a fight he would lose that day at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.

The cause of death, the state medical examiner's office said, was "blunt force injury" to the head. He was 44.

A week later, Michael Brougham was driving in his truck when he stopped to talk to his nephew, a Belchertown police officer working a road detail. Known as Mickey to family and friends, Brougham, 54, was a familiar figure about town. He had been raised in a well-known Belchertown family. His brother was the town administrator, his sisters serve on the committee that puts on the annual town fair and he ran an excavating business that worked on homes in town.

On the roadside that day, Brougham asked the nephew if he needed anything. The nephew said he did not and Brougham continued on his way.

No one has seen him since.

That weekend, Brougham's wallet, watch and cell phone were found near a race track in Loudon, N.H.

Community response

One year later, neither case has been solved, though Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan said both cases are being actively investigated. The lack of resolution has left the community in limbo, residents say, as family and friends search for answers. Despite its growth in recent years, Belchertown is still a small community and both cases have shaken townspeople.

"Folks have said to me, 'I can't believe something bad like this could happen here," the Rev. Todd Farnsworth, pastor at the Belchertown United Church of Christ, said in an interview this week. "At the same time, there is a little bit of fear. This is a very unusual thing to happen in a community like this."

DeMarco's murder was particularly jarring for residents of his apartment complex, some of whom came to the church in search of counsel following his death, Farnsworth said. A domestic violence incident in November, in which a woman was badly injured after police said her boyfriend ran her over with his car, added to anxiety there, he said.

"People live very close to each other at the Lord Jeff, so when people are hurting it has a domino effect," he said.

In response, the church is establishing a support group this summer and reaching out to members of the apartment complex, Farnsworth said.

In Brougham's case, the minister said, there is a sense in the community that "somebody knows something about where he is."

He noted that Brougham was a man of daily habits, one who called his parents the same time every day, making it unlikely that he would walk away from the only place he ever lived without a word.

This weekend the church is spearheading a memorial in which residents are asked to leave a light on overnight or put an electric candle in the window. The idea is to signal "that we want Mickey home as a community," Farnsworth said.

Information lacking

Family members of both men say the lack of information is difficult to bear.

"I am so confused," said Almerina DeMarco, Kelly's mother. "I can't see him getting in a fight, to be honest. He would help anybody if somebody needed it. No one is saying anything so we just don't know what happened. It makes it so much harder to accept the whole thing."

Fran Lofland, Brougham's sister, says she feels the same way.

"It's been devastating to the town, but crippling to my family," she said of her brother's disappearance. "My parents' health is failing from the daily stress of not knowing."

As for herself, Lofland said, "there are days where I wake up and say, "Do I really have a brother who has been missing for a year?' It's like an open wound."

The Brougham family is offering a $50,000 reward to anyone with information leading to Michael Brougham's discovery.

Both DeMarco and Lofland said they have had little contact with law enforcement over the last year. In DeMarco's case, she said she hasn't spoken to police since the day after her son's murder. Lofland said she had one casual conversation with a state trooper investigating the case.

Sullivan said the amount of contact between investigators and family members varies from case to case, he said. In these instances, he added, he was certain investigators had interviewed family members, but perhaps had not gotten back in touch with them.

"Its a tough thing for a family to be waiting in limbo to find out about a loved one," Sullivan acknowledged in an interview Tuesday. "We want to solve the disappearance and the death of Mr. DeMarco for the communities and the families."

Parking lot altercation

In both cases, details remain murky. In DeMarco's death, neighbors' accounts provide an outline of what happened in the Lord Jeffrey Apartments parking lot June 17, 2010.

What they reported at the time was this: Around 1:30 a.m., loud yelling that sounded like an altercation was heard in the area between apartment blocks P and O. Almerina DeMarco said she was awoken by a neighbor who heard the commotion and she rushed outside to find her injured son lying on the ground. The police and an ambulance arrived shortly and DeMarco was taken to Baystate, where he died at 6:14 p.m.

According to his death certificate, he suffered cranial-cerebral trauma. It listed his manner of death as a homicide.

Sullivan said investigators have identified "persons of interest" in the case. People were interviewed at the crime scene and individuals were brought in for questioning, he said, but investigators have not determined what sparked the incident.

"I think the players knew each other," he said. "What happened there didn't just happen out of the blue. There was some affiliation of the people who were involved. But as far as the actual death of Kelly DeMarco, it wasn't planned."

The investigation was hindered by a delay in receiving autopsy results from the state medical examiner's office, Sullivan said. He noted that the Holyoke office, which oversees all of western Massachusetts, has seen its staff cut from three medical examiners to one in recent years, lengthening the time it takes police to such reports.

"State police investigators have put a lot of time into the case and will continue to work on it until we are ready to determine criminal charges," he said.

Few clues

The circumstances surrounding Brougham's disappearance are even more mysterious.

After speaking to his nephew on the afternoon of June 25, 2010, the only sign of Brougham has been the personal items found in the vicinity of the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon following a June 26 NASCAR race.

Brougham had gone to NASCAR races with a group of friends in past years, but this time the friends decided not to go, Lofland has said. Brougham had asked his father if he wanted to go, but his dad said no, Lofland said. She noted that her brother did not make hotel reservations or arrange for his cat to be taken care of in his absence.

Most disturbing, she said, is the fact that neither his truck nor his motorcycle left the driveway of his 175 Jabish Street home during the weekend in question. A 12,000-acre search of the Loudon area by New Hampshire State Police in the weeks following his disappearance produced no additional clues. In October, an expansive search of the same area conducted by over 100 volunteers from across New England also failed to produce evidence.

Lofland suspects foul play.

"My brother would never stay gone, never separate from our parents," she said. "This wasn't done out of choice. There was some involvement from other people. It's clear."

Still, she said, she did not know why anyone would want to harm her brother.

Sullivan said the Brougham disappearance is still classified a missing person's case, but added that investigators are treating it as a criminal investigation due to the unusual circumstances.

"People don't just disappear," he said. "Speaking with witnesses and following law enforcement leads, it just doesn't add up that he took a vacation or left without telling anybody," Sullivan said. "We've got to view this as a criminal investigation and that's the way we are conducting it."

He said there are no suspects or persons of interest in the case and declined comment on whether investigators have promising leads. And while he noted that Massachusetts and New Hampshire State Police conducted searches in the Loudon area, he said he couldn't say for sure what the search for Brougham in the Belchertown area entailed.

"Certainly many witnesses, residents from the Belchertown area, were questioned and those leads were followed," he said. "We haven't given up hope."

Back in Belchertown, people are still trying to make sense of it all.

In Almerina DeMarco's case, her son's death was the fourth for her family in eight months. Her eldest son James died in October 2009, his wife Mary soon after that, followed by Almerina's sister, Wanda. All but Kelly died of natural causes, she said.

"I just said, 'I just can't do this anymore,'" DeMarco said. "It was one after another. Of course, he was my baby boy."

Farnsworth, of the Belchertown United Church of Christ, said the community is working to heal from the wounds inflicted by the death, injury and disappearance.

"Kelly's death was an act of violence, the (domestic violence) run-over was an act of violence, and while we don't know if Mickey's disappearance was an act of violence, we need to stem the violence in Belchertown," he said. "We need to come together and deal with these things in a constructive manner."

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http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/brougham_michael.html

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Family of missing Belchertown resident Michael Brougham working around the clock to find him
Published: Monday, July 05, 2010, 12:23 PM Updated: Friday, July 09, 2010, 10:28 PM
George Graham, The Republican By George Graham, The Republican
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BELCHERTOWN – Family members of a prominent city man, missing since June 25, say they are working around the clock in an effort to find him.

Michael R. Brougham’s wallet with credit cards and identification was found outside the main gate at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon and his cell phone was used somewhere near there on June 27, Police Chief Francis R. Fox said.
MichaelBrougham630.jpgView full sizeMichael R. Brougham

“We want to bring him home and we are not going to stop him until we find him,” said Brougham’s sister, Frances A. Lofland.

Brougham’s family is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to whereabouts, Lofland said. “We are desperately trying to find Mickey,” she said. “We are desperate to get any information that will lead to his location.”

Brougham, who lives on Jabish Street, had told people he might be going to the NASCAR races in Loudon, Fox said, adding that his truck and motorcycle were left at home, so if he went there it was with someone else.

“We truly believe that somebody knows something and they just need to come forward and they need to talk,” Lofland said.

Fox also said Brougham “has some health issues, and there is reason for us to believe he does not have his medication with him.”

Family and friends have been posting flyers of Brougham, contacted and visited New Hampshire hospitals and enlisted the aid of the National Registry for Missing Persons, the Investigative Center for Missing Children and Cold Cases and the Bish Foundation in an effort to find him.

“We are just trying to keep his face in everybody’s minds,” said Lofland.

It’s not like Brougham to drop out of sight. “He was always, always, always in contact,” she said, adding that her brother, when he typically leaves town, contacts his parents every day.
The family will hold a vigil for Brougham Friday night, if he is still missing, on the town common. It will begin at 7:30 p.m.

“The whole town is heartsick about this and we are getting flooded with phone calls,” Lofland said.

Brougham is white, about 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs about 200 pounds. He has a tattoo of a wolf on his left shoulder and a large scar on his chest. He was last seen in Belchertown about 2 p.m. on June 25, wearing a gold necklace with a scorpion medallion.

Those with information regarding Brougham are urged to call Belchertown Police at (413) 323-6685. Those preferring to pass on information anonymously may do so through the Investigative Center for Missing Children and Cold Cases at (866) 477-8237.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/201...elchertown.html

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Family of missing Belchertown man Michael 'Mickey' Brougham asks public's help

Published: Sunday, June 24, 2012, 6:22 AM Updated: Sunday, June 24, 2012, 6:23 AM

By Jim Russell
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Submitted photoMichael Brougham

BELCHERTOWN – Despite anguish and grief, the family of a popular Belchertown man – now missing for two years – continues to believe there are people who know what happened and urge them to share that information with the authorities, family members said in recent interviews.

In addition, the sense of hope amid the gloom prompted a younger member of the family to organize a blood drive Monday, the second anniversary of Michael “Mickey” Brougham’s puzzling disappearance, which has perplexed law enforcement officials who suspect foul play and characterize it as a missing person case.

“What really gave me the idea for the blood drive was that close to Mickey’s disappearance, there was a memory I had of him when he saved a woman’s life by giving blood,” said his 21-year old-niece, Molly Brougham.

“He saved her during childbirth by giving his blood,” she said. “Donating blood is a very good cause.”

Today’s blood drive, conducted by the Red Cross in Brougham’s name, is at the Masonic Lodge, 1 Main St. from 1 to 6:30 p.m.

Brougham was last seen in Belchertown Friday afternoon, June 25, 2010. While driving that day, he exchanged a wave with his nephew Adam Brougham, a police officer in town.

Some of Brougham’s personal items, including his watch, wallet and cell phone, were discovered two days later at an automobile race track in Loudon, N.H.

Jim Russell photoBelchertown Town Administrator Gary Brougham said he believes his brother, Michael, missing for two years, is still alive.
Evidence of Brougham’s attendance at the New Hampshire International Motor Speedway in Loudon, which hosted a NASCAR event that weekend, is questionable as track officials told investigators they do not use surveillance cameras.
Family members believe there are people in the community who have information useful to investigators.

Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan is urging anyone with information to use a new, anonymous tip gathering service which accepts information by cell phone text message.

“The new Text-a-Tip program allows citizens to text tips to area law enforcement agencies by typing PROTECT plus a message and text it to 274637,” said a statement from Sullivan released on Thursday. “The sender remains completely anonymous and may choose to opt out at any time.”

Anyone with information can also call the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit at (413) 586-5150.

“We have faith that this will come to an end someday,” Brougham’s sister Cindy Brown said.

“It will come to an end when the people who know something come forward or give the information we need to get him back and to hold somebody accountable,” she said. “I have two elderly parents that have struggled every day with this.”

Harry Brougham, 80, and his wife, Rita, 77, have six children.

“We are sure that people in the community have information that can be very useful to law enforcement; if they could share that, that would be invaluable,” said Brougham’s sister Carla Chaisson.

She urged people to use the new anonymous tip line to share information about Brougham’s disappearance.

“I think it is a tremendous resource to add to the case,” Chaisson said.

Her sister, Fran Lofland, who divides her time between Maine and Belchertown, said the episode has been heart-wrenching.

“It is a huge black hole. There is a lot of heartache and headache. There is no new information. It is surprisingly difficult to get information,” she said.

Shortly after Brougham went missing, a private investigator in the Loudon area, Seldon Nason, volunteered his time and effort, but also came up with nothing, Chaisson said.

Gary Brougham, the Belchertown town administrator, said he believes his brother is still alive, that people have information to share and that justice will eventually be served.

“I know there are people who know what happened to my brother,” he said. “I have full confidence in the justice system – and I am absolutely confident that sooner or later, they will find him.” Noting that Brougham did not inform the family about going away and that all his vehicles were parked in his driveway two years ago, Gary said: “Rarely did he go somewhere without his vehicles; never did he go without telling his family.”

In an interview, Belchertown Police Chief Francis Fox said: “I, like members of the family, believe that someone knows something that they can provide to the authorities. Cases are solved by getting information from the community.” A 27-year veteran of the force, he has been chief since 2002.
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/201...chertown_1.html

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