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(NewsNation) — When Brittany Tee left her boyfriend’s home in 2023, he thought she was going to her mother’s house but instead, the 35-year-old simply vanished. Now, police are asking the public for help finding her.
What happened to Brittany Tee?
Brittany Tee walked out the door of the Massachusetts home where she lived with her boyfriend in January 2023 and was never seen again, leaving her family wondering if her vibrant, caring personality made her a target.
Her family called her the “fun aunt”: The one who loved playing with her niece and nephew.
“She’s the one that’s getting down on the ground on her hands and knees and just being fun,” said her sister Bethany Tee.
Her mother, Susan Tee, agrees.
“Anything the kids did, she did too,” Susan Tee said.
The kids are now struggling to understand what happened to their favorite playmate. Initially, they just thought their aunt was on vacation and forgot to tell the family where she was. But as time has passed, the realization sank in that she really is missing.
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Brittany Tee disappears
Investigators said Brittany Tee left her house in Brookfield, Massachusetts, around 8:30 on the night of Jan. 10, 2023, but then just disappeared.
“Check your garages, check your sheds, anything where a person could seek to get out of the elements,” the district attorney advised in an early press conference.
Investigators released surveillance photos from days before the disappearance, showing the black jacket and hoodie Brittany Tee was believed to be wearing when she left home.
But more than a year later, she’s still missing.
“We know she left the house,” said District Attorney Joseph Early. “Where she went after that, that’s still a mystery. We don’t have the answers.”
Susan Tee spoke to her daughter on the phone just half an hour before she disappeared.
“We had a brief conversation and she started to cry. I asked what was wrong and she said, ‘Oh nothing mom, we’ll talk about it later,'” Susan Tee said.
When she couldn’t reach Brittany Tee for two days, Susan Tee got worried and texted her boyfriend.
“He called me back very shortly after saying, what do you mean, how is Brittany doing? Isn’t she with you?” Susan Tee said.
They immediately went to the house and discovered Brittany Tee’s Jeep, with her purse and keys still inside.
Her boyfriend said he thought Brittany Tee had gone to her mother’s home.
“He knew she was speaking with me and he thought she was asking me to come pick her up,” Susan Tee said.
Investigators said the boyfriend has cooperated fully and the family is not releasing his name because they said there is no evidence he did anything wrong.
“We’re getting pretty consistent stories from different people,” Early said. “As far as the boyfriend goes, he’s been very cooperative from the beginning.”
In photos taken two weeks earlier at Christmas, Brittany Tee is seen playing with her niece and nephew.
“She had more energy, she was being silly with the kids,” Bethany Tee said. “I felt like I had my sister back.”
The shift from joy to disappearance is what troubles her mother.
“We can’t imagine what could have gone wrong in two weeks and she’s gone,” Susan Tee said.
Early would not confirm whether Brittany Tee’s phone had pinged after her disappearance but said multiple searches have left no stone unturned.
“The investigators have been relentless with the searches,” he said. “Helicopters, drones, canine unit, civilian search teams.”
Did someone take advantage of Brittany Tee’s caring personality?
The Tee family is confident Brittany Tee would not have walked down the unlit road alone in the freezing cold.
“She had just spoken with my mom a half hour prior and she was clear as a bell,” Bethany Tee said. “She was not intoxicated or altered in any way.”
The family said Brittany Tee worked at the local liquor store where she became friends with the customers.
“She’s kind and loving and funny and people are drawn to her personality,” Susan Tee said. “We’re just afraid maybe the wrong person was drawn to her personality and she was too trusting. Did the wrong person come by? And she got in the wrong vehicle?”
Early said he could not speculate about possible scenarios.
“We asked for cameras to see fi there may have been another vehicle, someone might have pulled up or she might have gotten into another car,” he said. “We don’t have any definitive answers at this point.”
Her family is just hoping someone with information will come forward.
NewsNation reached out to Brittany Tee’s boyfriend through the family, but he declined to be interviewed.
The District Attorney stressed that anyone with information should call the tip line, and any bit of information could be the one that breaks the case.
“We’re still looking for information from the public,” Early said. “We’d love more information from the public, no matter how inconsequential you think it might be.”
Brittany Tee is 5’6″ tall and weighs about 120 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. Anyone who has information should call the tip line at 508-453-7589.