Cassie Kay Compton was born on December 4, 1998, to Judy Compton Kimsey and Roy Compton. At the time of her disappearance, she was living with her mother and her mother’s then-fiancé, Brandon Lee Rhodes, in Stuttgart, Arkansas. Cassie’s four siblings lived in Kingston, Oklahoma, and she was said to have been especially close to her brother, Chris Newcomb.

According to reports, Roy Compton is a registered sex offender, having been charged with lewd or indecent acts toward a child. According to Kimsey, she was also placed on the sex offender registry. She claims Compton assaulted her eldest daughter, and as a result, she was charged with failure to protect a child. Kimsey says she was forced into a plea deal that required her to register as a sex offender, though she asserts she has since been removed from the registry.

Kimsey has stated that Cassie and Rhodes did not get along, but otherwise Cassie was like any other teenager. She was homeschooled and working toward her GED.

Cassie had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 13. She was prescribed antidepressants, but reportedly disliked taking them and would flush them down the toilet. She visited a doctor just a few days before her disappearance.

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Lead-Up to the Disappearance

At 1:30 p.m. on September 13, 2014, Cassie was picked up by her friend Hunter Snyder. The two, along with Snyder’s family, spent the day at a demolition derby in DeWitt, Arkansas, and she stayed at their home that night.

She spent most of the following day with the Snyders. According to Hunter’s mother, Tracey Snyder, Cassie had been unusually quiet during her visit.

Disappearance

Cassie was driven home by Hunter and another family member at around 6:05 p.m. on September 14, 2014. When she entered her home on 15th Street, she found her mother sick in bed and Rhodes present. Sometime between 6:25 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., Cassie left the house with only her black LG smartphone.

There are two accounts of what happened after Cassie arrived home that evening.

According to Kimsey, Rhodes was cooking dinner while she lay in bed, ill. Cassie reportedly said she was running to the store to grab a few things. Rhodes later brought Kimsey dinner in bed.

Rhodes, however, tells a different story. He claims he left to buy cigarettes. Around the same time, Cassie allegedly texted Kimsey to say she was going out “to get a smoke.” Rhodes reportedly took Kimsey’s car for the errand, despite not having a driver’s license, and was gone for several hours. When he returned, he vomited in the bathroom and stayed there for over an hour.

This version is partially supported by Hunter and Tracey Snyder, who say Cassie texted Hunter between 7:00 and 7:15 p.m., saying she was going to buy cigarettes. This is believed to be the last known contact she had with anyone.

At 9:14 p.m., Rhodes called Tracey Snyder to ask if Cassie was at their house — the first of three calls he made that night. Cassie was not there.

The next morning, September 15, Kimsey discovered Cassie still hadn’t returned home. She contacted Cassie’s friends and became alarmed when none of them had seen her.

Reports conflict as to who officially reported Cassie missing — some sources state Kimsey, while others say Tracey Snyder contacted authorities. Rhodes claimed he rode his bicycle to the police station on the evening of September 14 but was told he had to wait 72 hours to file a missing persons report. However, no record or confirmation of this exists.

Search Efforts

In the days after her disappearance, the Stuttgart Police Department initially believed Cassie was a runaway. As a result, no AMBER Alert was issued. A report was filed with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and officers checked with relatives in Kingston, Oklahoma.

When authorities later determined Cassie likely hadn’t run away, they requested help from the Arkansas State Police and the FBI.

Investigators seized Kimsey and Rhodes’ cell phones and searched Kimsey’s car. They also collected several items from Cassie’s bedroom.

Throughout October 2014, numerous searches were conducted by volunteers and police. These included searches of the Stuttgart Airport (based on cellphone pings), the area surrounding 15th Street, and the local cemetery — following rumors that Rhodes had been seen loitering nearby. The banks of reservoirs and local dumpsites were also searched.

According to an insider, the FBI, Stuttgart Police Department, and Arkansas Game and Fish officers also searched the railroad tracks behind R.W. Manufacturing and a wooded area two blocks from 15th Street, based on a theory that Cassie’s remains may have been moved by someone on foot or bicycle.

That same month, a community member encouraged locals to turn on their porch lights one Sunday evening to remind others that Cassie was still missing.

On October 4, 2014, several potential items of interest were discovered beneath the Bayou Meto Bridge, about 15 miles from Casscoe, Arkansas. The items included a half-full bottle of Gatorade, two men’s shirts, a teddy bear, a girl’s “Hugs and Kisses” sweater, men’s toiletries, two carrying bags, and two folded drapes. It was later determined these items had been deliberately placed there on the night of October 3.

Kimsey offered a $1,000 reward for information.

On November 6, 2014, a teenage boy falsely claimed to be Cassie.

There were also unconfirmed reports of Cassie being spotted at Walmart and local convenience stores.

Cassie’s Facebook account was accessed multiple times after her disappearance, though it remains unclear whether this was done by someone connected to the case or by investigators.

In March 2015, Kimsey held a balloon release in the Ponder Auction parking lot at 1504 South Leslie Street.

Private investigator Tina Storz of Halos Investigations, Inc., a Mississippi-based firm specializing in missing and trafficked children, began working the case in 2015.

In September 2019, KATV reported that Rhodes had sent them a letter expressing a desire to help bring closure to Kimsey. However, he later denied any involvement in Cassie’s disappearance.

In January 2021, the FBI reopened the investigation after social media users circulated a TikTok video featuring a girl who resembled Cassie. The video, later traced to Haley Grace Phillips of Los Angeles, California, showed her with bruised eyes sitting in a car while two men spoke off camera. Phillips later confirmed her identity via Instagram, explaining she had been robbed before the video was filmed.

Although the video did not lead to Cassie, it renewed public attention on her case.

At present, no one has been ruled out as a suspect. Rhodes remains the primary person of interest. Since Cassie’s disappearance, he has been arrested multiple times, including in 2015 (drug charges) and 2019 (theft, firearm possession, and driving with a suspended license).

Investigators have not disclosed what, if any, evidence connects him to the case. In 2019, Rhodes stated that he never saw Cassie again after she arrived home on September 14 and denied involvement. Cassie’s brother believes he was somehow involved, though Kimsey has since said she no longer believes Rhodes was responsible.

The Stuttgart Police Department reports that the case remains active and that leads continue to come in, though none have yet revealed what happened to Cassie.

Aftermath

Rhodes and Kimsey ended their relationship in the weeks following Cassie’s disappearance. Kimsey later remarried. In an interview after the breakup, she described Rhodes as “controlling.”

In September 2020, over 100 people gathered in front of the Stuttgart Police Department for a candlelight vigil honoring Cassie and another missing woman, Miranda Michelle Owens, age 40, who disappeared in 2015 from a car wash in Stuttgart.

The Find Cassie Compton Facebook page and the @FindCassie Twitter account were created to raise awareness about the case, though the latter has been inactive since 2016.

Cassie’s story has been featured on several podcasts and true-crime programs.

Case Information

• Name: Cassie Kay Compton
• Missing Since: September 14, 2014
• Location: 15th Street, Stuttgart, Arkansas County, Arkansas
• Age at Disappearance: 15
• Height: 5’3″
• Weight: ~100 lbs
• Hair: Dyed strawberry blonde
• Eyes: Blue
• Clothing: Blue spaghetti-strap top, black-and-white plaid shorts, blue and gray cowboy boots (2″–3″ heel)
• Distinguishing Features: Sideways heart-shaped birthmark on upper left arm; scar on the left side of her face (cheek near nose); pierced ears.
• Case Classification: Endangered Missing
• Age If Alive Today: 22

Anyone with information is urged to contact:

• Stuttgart Police Department: 870-673-1414
• Arkansas State Police: 870-850-8630
• FBI Little Rock Office: 501-221-9100