Case Review Series: Brittney Wood
Part 4: The Days After Brittney Disappeared
Published 5/26/26
Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Download the Wood family tree. Download the public timeline. Download the revised timeline.
Editor’s Note: Readers should note that the downloadable timeline PDF distinguishes between entries supported by official documentation and entries derived from public statements, media reporting, social media activity, or later interviews. Highlighted entries reflect events we’ve been able to corroborate through records currently available to us. As with many long-running investigations, portions of the timeline remain incomplete due to deleted social media activity, unavailable records, conflicting public statements, and information that’s never been publicly released.
After Brittney Wood‘s phone activity stopped during the early morning hours of May 31, 2012, Donnie Holland didn’t remain near Styx River.
His phone records show continued movement across Baldwin and Mobile Counties in the hours leading up to his death the following afternoon.
More than a decade later, much of the public narrative surrounding Brittney’s disappearance has remained centered on the Waterworld Road property near Styx River. But the records didn’t stop there.
They trace a timeline that continued moving through Daphne, Spanish Fort, Theodore, Tillman’s Corner, and toward Grand Bay as investigators later attempted to reconstruct Donnie’s movements, communications, and actions in the hours before his death.
Leaving Styx River
At 12:27 AM on May 31, twenty minutes after Brittney’s voicemail was accessed from her phone near the Forest View Estates tower in Robertsdale, Donnie’s phone was moving away from the Styx River area.
Donnie’s phone utilized towers near Stuart Street in Daphne and School Road in Spanish Fort as he exchanged messages with a Pinger/TextFree number—numbers believed to be used by Jennifer Moore—and spoke with his wife Wendy.
Donnie’s cellphone tower activity was provided to us by the family. Certain coordinates, tower identifiers, and street numbers have been redacted or generalized. Cellphone tower data reflects approximate coverage areas rather than precise GPS locations.
Cellphone tower data does not place a phone at an exact address or pinpoint location. A device only needs to be within the coverage area, or “radius,” of a particular tower to connect to it.
According to mapping estimates included in the timeline analysis, the drive from the Waterworld Road residence to the general Stuart Street area would’ve taken roughly 20 minutes—placing Donnie’s departure from the Styx River area at or near the same timeframe Brittney’s voicemail was accessed.
Between approximately 1:08 AM and 1:10 AM, Donnie’s phone pinged towers associated with Sharon Way in Theodore, Lenardo Drive, and Highway 90 W in Mobile.
The route reflected in the tower activity tracks closely with a westbound drive across I-10 and into Mobile County before continuing toward Theodore and Grand Bay.
Those locations were areas familiar to Donnie and connected with multiple relatives and associates later publicly tied to the investigation, including: Chessie Wood, Mendy and Dustin Kent, Billy Brownlee and others.
At 1:28 AM, Donnie called Wendy again. The call lasted 3 minutes and 11 seconds while his phone utilized the Lenardo Drive Tower.
At 1:47 AM—approximately 19 minutes after Donnie’s final recorded phone activity—Brittney’s phone registered its final outgoing activity near Exit 4 in Grand Bay.
According to mapping estimates included in the timeline analysis, travel west from the Highway 90 area toward Grand Bay would’ve placed Donnie moving back through the Lenardo Drive area before potentially reaching the Grand Bay area around the same timeframe as Brittney’s final known phone activity.
May 31: The Day After Brittney Disappeared
As May 31 progressed, Donnie’s phone activity reflected continued movement and repeated communication with family members and associates. Throughout the day, Donnie remained in contact with Wendy, Jennifer and Will Moore, the Pinger/TextFree number believed to be used by Jennifer, and several other individuals.
Throughout much of the morning and afternoon, Donnie’s phone repeatedly used a tower near McCoy Lane in Magnolia Springs, suggesting he remained in that general area for extended periods of time.
The records also show repeated attempts by Donnie to contact Brittney throughout the day: 8:33 AM, 8:58 AM, 9:30 AM, 11:59 AM, 12:17 PM, 3:42 PM, and 7:06 PM.
Particularly notable is the volume of repeated Pinger/TextFree activity occurring between approximately 12:18 PM and 1:10 PM while Donnie’s phone was in the area of the McCoy Lane tower in Magnolia Springs.
By that evening, Donnie’s phone activity reflected movement back toward the Forest View Estates tower near the Styx River property.
At 9:39 PM, Donnie placed a 7-minute call to Wendy’s twin sister, Mendy, and tower data placed in the areas of Flowerwood Road in Loxley and Forest View Estates in Robertsdale.
Additional communication involving Will Moore and the Pinger/TextFree number continued from the Forest View Estates area between approximately 10:02 PM and 10:08 PM.
In a February 23, 2026, interview with the Unforbidden Truth Podcast, Wendy stated that she and Donnie were living in separate residences during the investigation—a decision she claims to have made due to the pending investigation related to the claims made by their daughter. According to Wendy, Donnie had been staying at the Styx River homes, a property records reflect was owned by Will and Jennifer.
However, our understanding is that the separation was not a decision independently made by Wendy or Donnie, but instead stemmed from law enforcement instructing Donnie that he was not permitted to be around children while the investigation remained ongoing.
Source: Unforbidden Truth Podcast
A review of Baldwin County property records indicate that Will and Jennifer were listed as the owners of the Waterworld Rd. residence near Styx River in 2012.
June 1: The Search for Donnie
Wendy later stated that she, Donnie, and two of their children had dinner with the Moores Thursday evening and that she and the children stayed with Donnie at the Styx River property that night.
In the same Unforbidden Truth Podcast interview, Wendy said that she and the boys had spent the night with Donnie; based on Wendy’s later statements and the associated tower activity, they stayed at the Styx River property. The following morning, after they woke up, an investigator called Donnie and asked Donnie to meet at 2:00 pm. Wendy stated Donnie was helping Will work on the new house, so he dropped Wendy and the kids off and told them he had to make a quick run home but never came back.
Records from the morning of June 1 show Donnie’s phone in the area of the Forest View Estates tower, near the Styx River property. Between 8:21 AM and 9:41 AM, Donnie communicated with Mendy, Jennifer, Medicare, and attempted to contact Brittney twice.
Shortly afterward, the records show communication patterns changing significantly.
Beginning around 10:41 AM, repeated calls were received from Wendy, Will, Donald M., the City of Fairhope, and others, which were routed to his voicemail.
At 10:54 AM, however, Donnie’s phone briefly became active again and indicated he was near McCoy Lane in Magnolia Springs. At that same time, multiple incoming calls from Wendy and Will were continuing to forward to voicemail while Donnie placed a 7-minute call to Donald M.
Between approximately 11:20 AM and 12:28 PM, Donnie’s records reflect continued activity moving between towers located on Karin Court in Summerdale, County Road 32 in Fairhope, and State Highway 181.
According to records received from Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office (“BCSO”), BCSO issued a BOLO alert advising that Donnie was wanted for questioning, believed to be suicidal, and was possibly in the Fish River/County Road 32 area. An updated BOLO was also issued specifically stating “Wife advises he does not possess any guns.” It’s unknown what time either of the BOLOs were issued.
During that same period, Donnie exchanged multiple calls with Wendy, Donald M., and Will Moore while other incoming calls while additional incoming calls continued routing to voicemail.
In the Unforbidden Truth interview, Wendy recalled Donnie telling her in one call that he loved her and the kids and asking for Jennifer and Will to take care of her and the kids.
Source: Unforbidden Truth Podcast
At 12:02 PM — more than two hours before the documented 911 call reporting Donnie with a gunshot wound to the head — a Fairhope Police Department incident report was created listing the incident type as “possible suicide.”
At 12:28 PM, Wendy calls Donnie, marking the final communication between her phone and Donnie’s phone prior to the 2:15 PM 911 call.
In a Facebook post dated June 8, 2012, Mendy stated that Wendy found Donnie approximately “an hour and a half” after Donnie had dropped Wendy and the kids off.
Based on Donnie’s phone records, the first incoming call from Wendy that morning occurred at approximately 10:46 AM, placing the estimated timeframe around 12:16 PM.
This timeframe also generally aligns with later discussions we had with Chessie Wood, during which she stated Donnie was shot right after lunch at approximately 12:30 PM.
However, portions of the Florida Medical Examiner’s records later referenced additional conversations allegedly occurring between Wendy and Donnie after 12:30 PM—including statements that Donnie called Wendy at 1:00 PM and told her he was not going to the interview with BCSO and was instead “going to jump off a bridge.”
Another summary within the records referenced a later conversation in which Donnie allegedly told Wendy he was “coming home.”
Those reported conversations present a notable discrepancy within the available records. Based on the AT&T records reviewed as part of this timeline analysis, the final reflected communication between Wendy’s phone and Donnie’s phone occurred at 12:28 PM. Additionally, the last outgoing communication reflected from Donnie’s phone prior to the 2:15 PM 911 call was an 11:27 AM phone call from Donnie to Wendy.
In the Unforbidden Truth interview, Wendy was asked how long it had been between their final phone conversation and Donnie being found. Wendy responded, “I mean, it was, like, 3 or 4 hours before we even saw him, so — before we even found him.”
Source: Unforbidden Truth Podcast
If measured from the final reflected call at 12:28 PM, a window of “3 or 4 hours” would place discovery sometime between approximately 3:28 PM and 4:28 PM.
That time frame does not appear to align with the documented emergency response timeline, which reflects that a Fairhope PD “possible suicide” incident report had already been created by 12:02 PM, radio traffic regarding Donnie being located was broadcast around 2:10 PM, and a 911 call reporting Donnie with a gunshot wound to the head was logged at approximately 2:15 PM.
The 911 Call
At approximately 2:15 PM on June 1, a 911 call was placed reporting Donnie had been located inside his vehicle with a gunshot wound to the head.
According to later public statements, Wendy and Jennifer were together when Donnie was located.
CAD records associated with the 911 call contain dispatcher notes indicating that multiple individuals were already present at the scene when the call came in.
However, at approximately the same time those events were unfolding, phone records reflect that an outgoing call was initiated from Donnie’s phone to Jennifer’s phone.
The events that unfolded at the scene—including the handling of Donnie’s phone, deleted messages, and questions surrounding the timeline—would later become some of the most heavily scrutinized aspects of Donnie’s death.
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