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Thursday, July 24
Updated: July 25, 11:39 PM ET
 
Family looking for 'some kind of closure'

Associated Press

WACO, Texas -- In a rental truck filled with Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy's clothes and furniture, his dejected family left Waco on Friday with few answers about his mid-June disappearance.

His mother and stepfather, Valorie and Brian Brabazon, appeared tired and sad as they walked out of the Waco Police Department after a three-hour meeting with a detective Friday before driving back to their Carson City, Nev., home. They said the meeting went well but would not discuss specifics about the investigation.

"He just clarified more that they are doing their jobs, and they are still on the case and for us not to be worried about it," Valorie Brabazon said. "... We still have hope our son is out there alive. We're not going to give up hope ever."

Carlton Dotson, who played basketball at Baylor last season, has been charged with murdering Dennehy, 21. Dotson, also 21, remained jailed without bond in his home state of Maryland. An extradition hearing is set for Aug. 19.

Dennehy's mother, stepfather and sister toured the Baylor campus and athletic facilities for the first time Friday morning.

"It was a little emotional seeing Patrick's locker," said Brian Brabazon, Dennehy's stepfather, said after the family walked throughout the arena and onto the basketball court with Baylor Athletic Director Tom Stanton.

Later Friday morning, Baylor announced that it had activated a three-member NCAA compliance investigation committee to look into allegations that Baylor coaches made improper payments to Dennehy. The standing committee, all Baylor Law School professors, also has hired former Austin Mayor Kirk Watson to assist in determining whether the men's basketball program violated NCAA rules.

"We're going to be looking into every allegation that has been reported in the press and may be reported in the press ... as well as looking into other issues that we may encounter on our own," committee member Bill Underwood told reporters at a news conference.

Brabazon said the family planned to return to their Carson City, Nev., home Friday afternoon, driving a truck with Dennehy's belongings. Before leaving Waco, the family plans to talk with police about any new developments in the case.

"We were hoping for some type of closure, but we knew there would be some loose ends. We were hoping for the best but we weren't expecting it," Brabazon said.

Brabazon said earlier that relatives wanted to tour the Baptist-affiliated Baylor campus because "it's become his stomping grounds."

Dennehy's family on Thursday visited 52 acres in nearby Hill County where he and Dotson fired guns and where police have searched for his body at least twice.

"We just kind of talked about Patrick, how he was a real polite, respectful boy," said Tammy Cox, whose property is about 20 miles northeast of Waco amid cow pastures and cornfields. "They didn't ask me anything about Carlton."

Dotson, 21, who played basketball at Baylor last season, remained jailed without bond in his home state of Maryland. An extradition hearing is set for Aug. 19.

Waco police have called off the search for Dennehy until Dotson can return to Texas and lead them to the body, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported in its Friday editions, citing an unidentified police source.

Cox and her husband, Darren, met Dotson in the spring when he answered their newspaper ad selling pit bull puppies.

Dotson and Dennehy then started visiting them -- sometimes as often as four times a week -- to hang out, fish or play basketball with their three teenage children, Tammy Cox said. The two players were most recently at the property June 10 when they shot guns at trees, she said.

Cox told Dennehy's family Thursday that the two told her husband they bought weapons because they had been threatened with a gun by their teammate Harvey Thomas and one of his friends, after Dotson and Dennehy accused them of stealing money.

Dennehy's girlfriend told police that he was recently threatened by a man named Harvey, according to documents filed in the case. Thomas, who recently transferred from Fredericksburg, Va., to play basketball for Baylor this season, has denied any involvement in Dennehy's disappearance.

Valorie Brabazon, Dennehy's mother, told the Star-Telegram on Thursday that Baylor assistant basketball coach Rodney Belcher advised Dennehy not to file a police report about money stolen from his apartment, but to let coaches handle it. She said Belcher told her June 20 that he had questioned Thomas about the theft but that the player denied it.

Scott Stricklin, a Baylor spokesman, told the newspaper that Belcher was out of town on a recruiting trip.

Dennehy was last seen on campus June 12; his family reported him missing June 19. The next day, Delaware police told Waco authorities that an informant said Dotson told someone he shot Dennehy in the head after the two argued.

Dennehy's vehicle was found without license plates in a Virginia Beach, Va., mall parking lot June 25.

Since Dotson returned home to Maryland in June, he has called the Coxes several times, but he never discussed Dennehy's disappearance, Tammy Cox said. He last called Darren Cox on Saturday but only talked a few minutes and seemed "stressed out," Tammy Cox said.

Dotson was arrested two days later while talking to authorities after he called 911 and said he needed help because he was hearing voices.

Dotson's personality suddenly changed in November, and at times he described himself as a prophet, his estranged wife told the Star-Telegram in Friday's editions. Melissa Kethley said her mother was so concerned about Dotson's mental state that she wrote a letter to a Baylor coach in early June.

Baylor coaches knew about Dotson's increasing mental troubles because they arranged for him to see a therapist this spring, Kethley told The Dallas Morning News for a story in its Saturday editions.

Between January and March, Dotson went three or four times, Kethley said. She said Dotson liked his therapist but never told him about the voices that he heard, his visions or his fears that his wife was unfaithful.

"I used to say, 'You just need some kind of help,' because he could go from nice to outrageously mad in a matter of seconds for no reason at all," said Kethley, who separated from Dotson in April.

Dennehy's family has been in Waco since Tuesday night, also meeting with police.

A police affidavit released Thursday to The Dallas Morning News indicates that someone used Dennehy's cellular phone June 18 -- a day later than previously made public. Brabazon told the newspaper Thursday that the phone's billing records show the call was made to a Waco number he didn't recognize.




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