(Publisher’s Note: A new chapter to this series of stories will publish in the near future so we believe in order to get new readers to discover the series, the best thing to do is to re-publish it beginning today and continue during this coming week. One of the main reasons why Gwen Wood, her daughters, and her friends and family agreed to tell this story was to raise more questions in hopes additional information about this accident would flow their way … and that has taken place thus far.)
His mother visits frequently so she can have conversations with her son. She updates him on her quest to find true answers, that his family hasn’t heard from any of his Marshall University friends since his funeral on Sept. 1, 2019, and she tells him about his sisters, his father, and his nephew Malcolm.
Colby Brown and Malcolm were very close, but that was two years ago. That’s how long, as of this time today, Colby Brown has been gone. Discovered 109 feet below an overpass along Interstate 64 in Huntington, investigators with the W.Va. State Police determined he took his own life. His mother, Gwen Wood, refuses to believe that for many, many reasons.
“The people with the monument company called me after it was set, but I really thought they were supposed to let me know ahead of time so we could be there,” Wood said. “I was able to get to the cemetery on August 1, and I sat with him for a while. I just talked to my son and caught him up on everything and everyone.
Wood has been chasing information from the State Police for the past two years, and she has yet to receive the statements made by Colby’s alleged friends following the incidents, and she also has requested the photos taken by the Cabell County coroner.
“I am still trying to get the materials I have been requesting since this happened because I really want to see what the statements were that those boys made after it happened. There has been so much conflicting information coming from those boys, and that’s why I want to see exactly what they said to the troopers,” Wood explained. “But I have a feeling the troopers don’t want this case looked into any more than it has been, and I am not sure I have that feeling.
“I still believe something else happened, but this pandemic made it easier for the troopers to blow me off,” she said. “I just figured out why they would want to do that because solving cases like this is supposed to be what their job is all about. If they would just listen to the reasons why I believe something else happened, maybe they would agree and look deeper into it.”
Sobering Day
Colby’s memorial marker is at the front of Highland Cemetery in Cameron, the community in which Colby was a star student-athlete the Dragon. He played basketball and baseball, but the game of football was the one he loved the most. After he was graduated from Cameron High School in 2018, he selected Marshall University and initially planned on playing for the Thundering Herd.
Instead, though, the Promise Scholarship student decided to concentrate on his academics, and that is why his mother was not surprised to learn Colby attended his first two classes of his sophomore year the day he passed away. He also went to the gym for a workout, and he made plans for the following weekend with a female friend who lived in Morgantown at the time.
More reasons why Wood remains in a state of disbelief.
“I know I am going out to the cemetery today to talk to Colby, but then I plan to stay home the rest of the day,” Wood said. “I know there’s going to be a lot of crying will take place, and one of the reasons why I’ll cry is because I know deep in my heart that my son did not take his own life. The day after the accident happened, I called and called his friend Jon, and I didn’t hear back from him for five hours. He was one of the boys Colby played video games with before the incident took place.
“When John (Crow) finally called me back, he said his phone died and that he fell asleep. I’m sorry, but if one of your best friends dies, you’re not going to fall asleep or let your phone die,” she said. “Plus, those boys changed their stories every time I talked with them, and that’s when I really started to get suspicious. That’s also why I hired the private investigator, and he concluded that it was accidental, but nothing was explained as far as how the accident happened. That’s why today is just so unbelievable to me and to the people in our family.”
Each time Wood has spoken publicly about her doubts with the investigation conducted by the State Police, others have reached out to her with their thoughts and opinions, and some who have made contact have revealed what they have heard on the rumor mill on the Marshall campus. Plus, most people who knew Colby well agree with his mother, but no one has admitted anything that would reveal the true story about the death of Colby Brown.
“I know I may never find out what really happened to Colby. It’s been two years, and I am still told a story that I just can’t believe because of how close we were. Sure, Colby had bad days, but never that bad,” Wood said. “At this point, I just have to hope that someone comes forward. If someone does, maybe that would give us some peace of mind.
“I feel this case has not been handled the way it should have been handled, and I’m not sure why,” she said. “But if someone knows something, maybe it’s been eating at them during these two years. And maybe he or she won’t be able to keep what they know to themselves anymore. That’s what I pray for anyway.”
