Rumor mill working overtime as police put in long hours searching for missing Olmos Park woman

Oct 14, 2024

Katrina Webber, Reporter

Robert Samarron, Photojournalist

SAN ANTONIO – As police in Olmos Park put in long hours searching for missing mom, Suzanne Simpson, the rumor mill also seems to be working overtime.

In the neighborhood and across social media, stories about the search for the 51-year-old, at times, have been filled with false information.

“We had heard yesterday twice that they had found some remains and they thought it was the lady,” said Epitacio Resendez, as he walked past the crime scene tape Thursday morning.

As of Thursday afternoon, Simpson’s whereabouts remained unknown.

The stories circulating about her body being found were inaccurate.

Simpson was last seen near her home in the 500 block of E. Olmos Drive on Sunday night.

A neighbor later told police he heard her arguing outside with her husband, Brad Simpson, 53, and then saw the couple fighting.

At some point after that, the neighbor said, he heard screams coming from a nearby wooded area and noticed Brad Simpson returning to his home alone.

Suzanne Simpson was reported missing by her husband about 24 hours later, police said.

Brad Simpson was arrested Wednesday morning in Kendall County on charges related to family violence.

Police say he has not been cooperating with the investigation into his wife’s disappearance.

“And that he posted bond and was out,” Resendez said, repeating another rumor he has heard in the neighborhood.

However, as of Thursday afternoon, Brad Simpson remained in custody with bonds set at $2 million.

KSAT 12 News requested an update on the case Thursday morning from the Olmos Park Police Department, but no new information was released.

The search parties of volunteers, and the crime scene tape that had surrounded the Simpsons’ home earlier in the week, are gone now.

Police, using a mobile command post, maintained a smaller presence in the area Thursday.

The apparent lack of developments in the case seems to be allowing the rumor mill to thrive, and Resendez is not happy about that.

He says it has left him on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster.

“You have hope at one moment and you realize, ‘Oh now they found her,’ so there’s no hope,” Resendez said. “And then, ‘Well no, actually, it wasn’t her.’ So yes, it is frustrating.”

Like those who are close to Suzanne Simpson, neighbors say they want the truth but are holding out hope for good news about her.

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