TRUE CRIMECryptic Clues and Heartbreak: Brittney Wood's Mom Holds Out for Answers in Daughter's Disappearance
Brittney Wood’s mother, Chessie Wood, is continuing to search for answers 12 years after the teen vanished.
June 20 2025, Published 7:00 p.m. ET
In May 2012, Brittney Wood disappeared from her hometown of Mobile, Ala., sparking a search that would unveil a chilling secret lurking in familiar surroundings.
As investigators intensified their efforts to locate Wood, they uncovered a shocking s-- abuse ring involving several family members, casting a dark shadow over the case.
Chessie Wood, Brittney's mother, faced serious accusations, becoming one of several family members charged in connection with the abuse ring.
Prosecutors alleged her involvement in child s-- abuse, a claim she staunchly denied.
"I didn't know any of this was going on," Chessie asserted in true crime video series, In Touch Investigates.
Chessie pled guilty to a lesser charge of reckless endangerment, believing that prison time wouldn't help her find her daughter. "I had been going through court for three and a half years, and my lawyer never wanted me to plead out," Chessie shared. "He was totally convinced with all his being that he'd beat this case with no problem. But I didn't know how much longer they were going to draw it out, and I just wanted to get to the woods with my kid. So, everything else just didn't matter. Even that at that moment, it mattered later, but at that moment, I just had to get back to find Brittney. She could be hurt; she could need help. And just every time I went to court, they'd say Reset. Reset."
Chessie Wood pleaded guilty to a lesser charge amid accusations she was part of the abuse ring linked to Brittney's disappearance.
She added, "That's all they would say. And they'd make another court date for three and a half years. So, I decided when they come to me with a plea deal, that was a misdemeanor, no probation, no fines. I walk out a free woman. I took it and I left that day, went to the gas station, put on my clothes, I went right back to the woods."
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Brittney was last seen leaving her home around 7:30 p.m., wearing blue jean shorts, a blue T-shirt and white flip-flops. Cell phone records later indicated that the 19-year-old was at the property of her uncle, Donnie Holland, identified by authorities as a ringleader of the abuse ring.
Chessie suspects that Brittney's uncle murdered her. Within a day of Brittney's disappearance, Donnie was discovered with a fatal gunshot wound to the head, and police ruled it a suicide. Inside his vehicle, authorities found Brittney's cell phone battery and her handgun.
Authorities uncovered a child s-- abuse ring tied to Brittney Wood’s extended family.
In the months following Brittney's mysterious vanishing, nearly a dozen family members faced arrest, with many prosecuted as part of the child s-- abuse ring.
Now, over a decade later, Chessie holds out hope for answers in Brittney's case. "We're still searching for her. Right now, we're setting up another search in Styx River, and I just want to tell families, I don't care if it's five months or 20 years, never give up on your loved one. I always keep looking for them. They deserve it," she emphasized.
She explained the focus on Styx River, stating, "It was the last place she was seen… I've watched many shows trying to figure out, trying to educate myself on how people, when they murder people, what do they do after the fact? And a lot of times, they're right where they were last seen. Number two, that's where her uncle was staying at the moment. He had to move out of the home when the charges came out and he was staying at a friend's house. And that house is located in Styx River."
"I used to be one of those moms. I used to believe anything that happened to them, they would come tell me because we had such an open relationship," she shared. "I put trust in family where I shouldn't have, but I was raised that family's your family and they're the number one people you can trust."
