In the 48 Hours episode “Missing Marsha,” CBS news correspondent Peter Van Sant investigates the disappearance of 51-year-old Marsha Rader-Brantley. The resident of Cleveland, Tennessee went missing either in May or June 2009. She was not reported missing by her husband Donnie Brantley. When questioned, he told police she had left him and they planned to get a divorce. Van Sant interviews Brantley’s hairdresser Kelly DeLude, who inquired about Marsha after she stopped coming to the salon. Van Sant also interviews Donnie Brantley’s daughter Elise, Marsha’s stepdaughter, who claims Marsha was a “loner.” While the perceptions of Marsha vary greatly from the hairdresser to the stepdaughter, you can hear Marsha’s own voice on her blog, Magpie’s Nest. Her last post was dated May 10, 2009. “Donnie and I saw the new Star Trek last night. WOW! What a ride!” she wrote.
In 2013, Marsha’s husband Donnie Brantley was charged with premeditated first-degree murder — although there is no blood, no fingerprints, no DNA, no body, and no crime scene linking him to her death. As Donnie Brantley’s lawyer Lee Davis points out, “There is no proof that Marsha Brantley is dead.” Charges were dropped for lack of evidence in 2014, but he was charged again with murder in December 2016. Prosecution again dropped the case in February 2018. Donnie Brantley could be charged a third time if more evidence surfaces. New episodes of 48 Hours air Saturdays at 10pm on CBS.
