If you only Google the name “Brittney Nicole Wood” you will find a story that is too hard to believe. It involves multiple family members, some mature adults and some juveniles, engaged in consensual and non-consensual group sex with or without drugs involved. It involves rape, sodomy, and other forms of sexually deprived behaviour that went supposedly unnoticed for years by Child Protective Services and other Mandatory Reporters (such as teachers and general practitioners).
In between the sex stories, the gross details, and the trials, there is always the risk of some aspects getting snowed under, not receiving enough attention or, the attention fades fast. That is happening to Brittney’s disappearance now. I fear that we can scratch “disappearance” and replace it with “murder.” Of course I hope that one day we will find Brittney, and that she is well. However, I am afraid that one day all we find is her remains.
In 2012, Brittney disappeared from Mobile, Alabama, under more than peculiar and suspicious circumstances. I don’t want to highlight those because that takes away the attention from Brittney.
It is highly likely that Brittney had to disappear because she knew too much. She knew the players, the game, and how they made sure that nobody talked.
She is only nineteen years old. She should be enjoying life. Instead, she lived with the nightmares of being exposed to sexual abuse by a step-grandfather. Brittney was only nine years old at that time. This man was sentenced to life. This means that she was on Child Protective Services’ radar. Did they continue to monitor her at all?
At seventeen, Brittney became a mother. She gave birth to a little baby girl called Payton. After Brittney disappeared, a judge ordered the little one to be cared for by Brittney’s paternal grandparents. Payton is the reason I think that Brittney is dead. If she had plans to run she would have taken her baby girl with her. Knowing her family, she would not have left her behind.
In all the stories, we cannot find anything about Brittney’s hobbies, her high school clubs, and her favourite music. What were her favorite subjects in school? What dreams did she have for herself and later for Payton? Maybe she never expressed any as she lived in an unreal world of horror.
But one day Payton will ask about her mom. I can only hope that the relatives caring for her know these positive details to personalize Brittney. Payton will hardly remember her mom when she gets to the age of asking questions about her parents and other relatives.
Nobody has been arrest or charged with Brittney’s disappearance. The authorities have DNA on file for when they find a Jane Doe that could match her description. But so far, they have not found Brittney.
If you knew Brittney Nicole Wood and you have memories to share, please contact me so we can update this post. Brittney deserves to be remembered. Maybe one day Payton Googles her mom’s name. Then she will find your kind words about her mom. Those kind words just might help to cushion the pain when she reads about the rest of her family.
If you have any information about this case contact the Mobile County Sheriff’s Department at 251-574-8633.