The Murder of Patricia Sue Brogan Richmond

November 8, 1973 started off as an ordinary day, but by nightfall it would be the beginning of a two week long nightmare for the Brogan/ Richmond family. Susie, the daughter of Thelma and Homer Brogan, went out to run errands that morning but never returned home.

Patricia Sue Brogan Richmond better known as Susie, was a beautiful (would have been) 1972 graduate of Shady Spring High School. She was described by friends and family as shy, quiet and introverted. During the summer of 1971, Susie became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter, Angela Arlene on March 3, 1972. She married Bruce N. Richmond, a 1970 Shady Spring graduate in Giles County, Virginia on November 3, 1971.

On the morning of November 8, 1973, Susie dropped off her 19 month old daughter at her parents house around 10:30am. Susie was a distributor for Amway, which offers products similar to Avon or Mary Kay. After dropping Angela off, she headed to Old Crow Road to distribute her products to customers and visit with a school friend. She then picked up her Grandmother and brought her to Ransom’s Market in Beaver, WV. While she was there she cashed a check. After leaving the market, it is unclear if she and her grandmother stopped at the local Amoco station or had just been witnessed driving by around 12:00 / 12:30pm. Susie then dropped her grandmother at home. This was the last time Patricia Sue Richmond would be seen alive by her family.

In Beckley, at the Plaza Mall, two men were sitting in their car when they noticed an African American male get into the driver side of an orange Volkswagen. In the car they noticed a petite woman with a familiar face. They became concerned whenever the male started to back out of the parking spot because he did not seem to know how to drive a manual car. The two men followed the Volkswagen and wrote down the license plate number 7D-2667. This encounter happened around 1:30pm. When the vehicle turned out of the parking lot, it headed north toward Mt. Hope. Around 2:10pm three coal truck drivers saw a VW speeding down Beury Mountain Road. The drivers remember very clearly that there were three people in the car, the female in the middle matching Susie’s likeness. It was even reported to police that the vehicle had been driving so recklessly that he had driven one of the coal trucks off the road.

Susie’s parents called the West Virginia State Police to report their missing daughter when she did not return home the evening of November 8th. The police did not seem very concerned and told them to wait a few days before they filed a missing persons report. We can only assume that the police believed her to be a runaway. But wouldn’t her parents know her better than them? Her family knew immediately that something was wrong. There was a $500 reward set that was eventually raised to $1000, for any information regarding Susie’s disappearance. Just for reference a $1000 reward in 1973 equates to around $6,279 in 2022. Search parties were gathered, and Bruce even borrowed a friends private plane to see if he could spot the bright orange VW for himself. The family searched from West Virginia to Tennessee.

Meanwhile in a small town in Fayette County called Minden, a local resident called the police department about black smoke coming from around the Concho Trash Dump. The police shrugged it off, assuming it to be someone burning trash. The original report came in on the evening of November 8, 1973 but police wouldn’t investigate until November 15th. Why would the police not send an officer to investigate the smoke? Once Susie’s disappearance was made public, several witnesses came forward claiming to have either seen her or the bright orange VW. One witness stated that, “He saw an orange VW going through Beaver.” Perhaps this is what led us to believe that she was at or drove by the Amoco station? No specific time was given regarding this account. Another gentlemen from Minden recalled seeing, “ two African American males walking across Arbuckle Creek at the intersection (AKA mouth of hollow).” A father and son who were heading back from the Concho Trash Dump when they saw a woman driving an orange VW. The pair claimed that, “The car ran off the road, hit a tree and burst into flames.” The pair exited their vehicle to take a closer look at the car down the hill but they did not see anybody get out of the Volkswagen. Another witness who gave multiple statements claimed to have, “seen the car burning over the hill,” when he was on his way to pick up his friend. The pair were out until 2am and claim upon returning, “the car was no longer burning when they got home.” With the remains of the burnt out Volkswagen police found a burned out wedding band with the inscription, “Gold Circle.” The wedding band did not belong to Susie or any members of her family. Notably missing from the car was the vehicle registration and Amway products. The license plate belonging to Susie’s VW (7D-2267) was also missing as well as another one which was said to have been in the back of the car at the time (this plate number read: NK-7907). Were the license plates switched to throw off police or locals who had heard of the missing girl?

There were many reports made but none of them were very consistent. So, which theory or story are we going to go with? Did Susie take her grandmother to the market or was Susie in Beaver with the two African American men in her car? Were the suspicious guys walking through Minden even associated with the missing woman and the burning Volkswagen? Why exactly was Susie’s vehicle in Fayette County?

Susie’s body was found at Plum Orchard Lake on November 23, 1973, two weeks after she disappeared. Two weeks of pure hell for her family members. It is unknown how long her body had been at the lake. Her body was left badly decomposed and her face beaten unrecognizable or ravaged by animals. With the body officers found a partial dental plate, a button chain with the imprint of a sailing ship and a red scarf that did not belong to Susie. That’s how the story ends. No one was ever prosecuted. No closure for her family. A mother, wife, daughter and friend gone too soon. Now 48 (49 years this November) years later, we have researched this case as much as we possibly can. We have so many unanswered questions. We have concerns. We want to know why the case was handled in the manner it was. Why certain things were not done. If this happened now, would the murderer be found? Listen to the Cold Case Crew’s first episode and let us know your theory!

Here’s what we know (Share your theories, thoughts, impressions below):

• 10:30am: Drops off Angy

• 1:30pm: Spotted in the parking lot of GC Murphy in Beckley Plaza (car turns North on 19 towards Mt. Hope/ Oak Hill)

• 2:00/2:30pm: Spotted by 3 Coal Truck Drivers on Beury Mountain Road

• Evening of November 8, 1973: Smoke Reported at Concho Dump; Thelma Brogan calls state police to report Susie missing; African American men reported walking up road away from the burning Volkswagen.

• November 11, 1973: Susie’s family places an ad in the Raleigh Register and offers a $500 reward for any information regarding Susie’s disappearance.

• November 15, 1973: The Orange VW is found at the Concho Trash Dump and is identified as Patricia Sue Richmond’s. Susie’s license plates are missing (and has not been located).

• November 18, 1973: The family raises the reward to $1,000 following the discovery of the Volkswagen.

• November 23, 1973: Two raccoon hunters discover Susie’s body on the Scarbro side of Plum Orchard Lake.

QUESTIONS WE WOULD LIKE TO RAISE:

**Was the built up sole of the man’s shoe due to an injury from his time in the Army? Vietnam was still going on in 1973. It’s unlikely that someone would have been drafted if they had a congenital defect.

**Did she knock the dental plate out her her assailant’s mouth? Partial dental plates at the time did not have a serial number so it could not be tracked via a number. However, given the ruralness of the area, there couldn’t have been very many local dentists. Were Dentists ever contacted in order to match the missing partial to its owner?

**What happened to her boots and her license plates?

**Did she meet up with her assailants at the Long John Silvers in Beckley? Or did she run into them much earlier in Beaver?

** What is the size of the Gold Circle ring?

** Were fingerprints taken of the car, the ring, etc?

If you or anyone you know has any information regarding the murder of Patricia Sue Richmond, please call Crime Stoppers at (304) 255- STOP. You can even submit a tip online at www.crimestoppersofraleighcounty.org . You are not required to give your name and are able to submit anonymously.

References:

Books:

“West Virginia Unsolved Murders” by George and Melody Bragg. Brutal Plum Orchard Murder Still Unsolved. Pages 70-73. 1992.

“West Virginia Cold Case Homicides” by George Bragg. Death on Thurmond Mountain. Pages 85-86. 2007.

Newspapers:

The Raleigh Register

The Beckley Post Herald

Blogs:

http://darkmatter69.blogspot.com/2019/10/can-you-help-solve-murder-of-patricia.html

Special Thank You:

Several Reliable Anonymous Sources