The day should have started as a normal day for Brian Wehrle on September 24, 2009 in Carrollton, Georgia. He was supposed to be headed to a probate court hearing, in the midst of flooding conditions, for his mother, who suffered from Alzheimers. He never showed up in the courtroom. Brian was 39 years old, and he had power of attorney for his mother and managed her affairs. Before the day of this court session for which he was supposed to appear, he spent part of the previous night with his sister Anita and her family so that he could use their computer, and that was the last that was seen of Brian, as he went back to his mother's home on Crescent Drive. While he was with his sister's family, he expressed some concern about getting home amidst the flooding and bad shape that the flooding had left the roadways and highways. He even mentioned going to the local WalMart in town to buy a topographical map. To the best of his sister's knowledge, he went back to their mother's home and that is where his family thought he remained for the night. A neighbor mentioned seeing a light on in the garage of that home around 2:00 AM; however, that neighbor did not specifically know if Brian was the one in the garage. They only assumed it was him, as Brian had been there earlier in the day.
His partner Jeff and his family were left dumbfounded by his disappearance. The last they had heard from him was a voicemail he had left for Amanda, his niece, and a phone call made to Jeff around 9:00 PM the evening before his disappearance. Brian drove a 1992 Buick LeSabre, one belonging to his mother, but it, too, was missing. He left behind all his medication, some of which was for his heart condition. This was particularly alarming, as Brian was not remiss in taking his medication nor taking care of his health. He also suffered from narcolepsy and insomnia. Those medications were also left behind. Among so many other things, this greatly perplexed his family and partner. Brian and Jeff had been together for about 13 years, and the two were close. Brian would never just abandon Jeff, nor would he have abandoned his family. All of them felt there must be something wrong.
In the days before his disappearance, Brian had gone to the home of his mother to mow grass and check on the property at Crescent Drive in Carrollton. Brian, as his mother's conservator and guardian, took the lead in helping take care of the property, but often tasks were performed along with help from his siblings and various members of the family. Brian took his role as his mother's guardian quite seriously, and did so up to the day he disappeared. Brian appeared to be a very stable and productive citizen and family member. He graduated from Carrollton High School and then went to what is now The University of West Georgia, a regional university in Georgia also located in Carrollton. Before long, he had become close to the family of his sister, Anita Gay, particularly her husband, Spencer, who owned a surveying company called Due West Surveying. Spencer offered him an opportunity to work with him as a surveyer, so Brian left college and went to work with his brother-in-law. He remained there until his father passed and he was charged with taking care of his mother. Soon enough, the family decided to place their mother in a personal care home. By that time, Brian had met Jeff and begun a life with him. Jeff worked with Bellsouth, which eventually became AT&T. Jeff was well-received by Brian's family, and the two lived in a cottage on Morningside Drive in Virginia Highlands, a middle-class neighborhood considered to be a safe and family-friendly one in Atlanta. Brian, having left Spencer's company, spent most of his time taking care of his mother and her property, all the while commuting between his home in Virginia Highlands and his hometown in Carrollton.
One of the first thoughts about Brian's sudden disappearance was that he had possibly had been a victim of the weather and flooding that had gone on in the last few days around Carrollton. In fact, the dam at Lake Carroll, which was near the home of Brian's mother where he had been, was breeched. Although his family contended that weather had nothing to do with his disappearance, some in the community were not so sure. Three months later, the family's assertion was pretty much justified when Brian's car was found in Chattanooga, Tennessee with a stolen Tennessee tag. The Georgia tags that belonged to the car were nowhere to be found.
Authorities stated that nothing seemed disturbed inside the car. Brian had a bowl full of change in the car; it was still there when they found it, as was the receipt from Taco Bell where he ate in Carrollton the night before his disappearance. Although finding the car was a breakthrough, there were no usable fingerprints found in or on the car that could help investigators learn who had been in or around the car other than Brian. Investigators said that the car find, while good, did not lead to much more than they already knew other than what happened to the car and that it could have been stolen from Brian due to the stolen Tennessee car tag on it. Brian did not live in Tennessee, and there was no reason for Tennessee tags to be on the car.
Other things done by investigators included analyzing cell phone data and home phone records, providing Brian's information to the FBI, and sending information to the Georgia missing persons system. A thorough search of the home at Crescent Drive further perplexed investigators and family, as the bed Brian slept in while he was there was turned down but not slept in. The house did not show any signs of forced entry, but investigators know that someone was there the night before he disappeared, as neighbors reported seeing a light on in the garage and someone there at the house, but again, they could not be sure it was Brian. Wherever they looked, investigators hit dead ends. Although unsure if this was significant, investigators did find out that Brian's brother Terry had been to the house cleaning up the yard. Although it is unclear as to when he was there exactly, it was reported that he had consumed a few beers while there. Brian did not drink, so the consumption of any alcohol on the premises was assumed not to have been at the hand of Brian Wehrle. Because Terry was the only other person at the home near that time, it was concluded that Terry was indeed the one who drank the beer while there.
The case seemed to reach a dead-end every time it got moving. Jeff, Brian's partner, visited police in Carrollton to provide information, inquire about the status of the case, and to be as helpful as he could. So, too, did Anita and Spencer Gay, Brian's sister and brother-in-law. Other family members did all they could in cooperation with the police and on their own to try and figure out where Brian was or what had happened to him. In 2015, at the request of The Carrollton Police Department, Trace Sargent brought her dogs to the home of the Wehrle's parents to see if there were any clues that could possibly provide additional direction. Specifically trained to pick up on the scent of human remains, the dogs not only made a tour of the home and yards, but they also checked out the boat house. Officials from the Georgia Bureau of Investigations had already been there with cadaver dogs, but Trace Sargent's dogs were definitely worth a try. This time, something new emerged. The dogs picked up on a scent at the same spot right outside the boat house as well as one inside the boat house. After securing an additional search warrant, police were able to dig up the flooring inside the boat house. Unfortunately, they found nothing. The location of the spot right outside the boat house that drew the attention of the dogs was in the back near the spigot. However, authorities found no human remains nor anything that would give them another lead, but Sargent did state that the fact that the dogs did alert near the same spot was "intriguing." So far, no other major clues or leads have been released by the GBI or the Carrollton Police Department. Sadly,Jeff Rolsten, Brian's partner, passed away on August 9, 2017. He was 62 years old and died without ever knowing what happened to Brian. In addition, Brian's mother, Rhoda Florence Krouth Wehrle, died on November 18, 2014, just five years after Brian disappeared. She was 84 years old. Brian is listed as a surviving child in her obituary. At that time, the family had not given up hope of finding Brian alive. Brian's father died in 2007. The home on Crescent Drive in Carrollton has been sold, and another family lives there.
So what happened to Brian Wehrle? Did he decide to leave his life behind and start anew somewhere else? It is so difficult to do that in the modern age. The fact that Brian suffered from several possibly deadly issues including narcolepsy and heart issues, would have made it more difficult to just walk away and start over. His health issues would have caught up with him soon enough, particularly since those conditions would have to be treated by physicians and prescription medication. While it is possible to buy drugs on the black market, over time, Brian would have to seek the help of a medical professional. It might be difficult to hide his true identity at that point. So, perhaps Brian underwent a cardiac event or fell asleep as a result of his narcolepsy and drowned. This is plausible, but more than likely, a body or some remains would have turned up. The explanation that many put forward is that Brian was murdered by whomever stole his car and replaced the Georgia tag with a stolen Tennessee tag. If this were the case, then it would not be hard to explain why the car turned up in Tennessee, as this is not far from the Atlanta area where Brian lived and where his parent's home was in Carrollton. If Brian were murdered then where are his remains and who murdered him? Unfortunately, the fingerprints found on the car were insufficient to add to fingerprint databases that might have led to the identification of people who were in his car. Of course, simply because someone was in his car with him during the time he went missing does not mean that those people to which the prints belong murdered him nor know who did if indeed he were murdered, but they know something about his whereabouts or could provide extra information about the car, who was driving it, and where it was when they were in it or near it. Because those prints are unusable, perhaps we may never know. No update has been given if there was usable DNA found in the car besides Brian's. That too could help generate a lead and possibly provide more information on what happened to him and why his car was in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Perhaps weather did play a part in his disappearace, but surely a body would have been found had he fallen into Lake Carroll or was whisked away by flood waters. Brian would be 54 now. He was 39 at the time of his disappearance in 2009. He was 5'7, had blonde hair and blue eyes, and weighed about 140 pounds. He is a narcoleptic, suffers from insomnia, and has a heart condition. His family continues to seek answers to what happened. If anyone has any information that might help investigators solve this case and possibly find Brian, please contact the Carrollton Police Department at 770-834-4451.
References:
Alcorn, C. "An Atlanta man left his home to drive to Carrollton to secure his parent's estate in 2009. He has never been seen since." 11ALIVE. available online:https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/missing-in-georgia/atlanta-man-brian-wehrle-still-missing-14-years-mysterious-disappearance-carrollton-parents-estate/85-550d4143-a208-441d-a068-953a8259d8c5, Retrieved: 21 February 2025.
DuBose, R. "Cold Case Project/What happened to Brian Wehrle?" WJBF. available online:https://www.wjbf.com/coldcase/cold-case-project-what-happened-to-brian-wehrle/. Retrieved: 22 February 2025
"John Louis Wehrle Obituary," Hightower Family Funeral Homes. available online: https://www.hightowersmemorial.com/obituaries/John-Louis-Wehrle?obId=935352. Retrieved: 22 February 2025.
"Rhoda Florence Krouth Wehrle," Find a Grave. available online: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/138931742/rhoda-florence-wehrle. Retrieved: 23 February 2025.
