Roy Gregory Brooks Jr. was a young man with a promising future in early 2000. He had just moved back home with his family in Casselberry, Florida, and he had just started a new job at the Regal Movie Theater.
Roy, who prefers to be called Greg so that’s what I’ll refer to him as here, also had a close-knit family network and was especially close to his younger brother, Germaine.
Greg also enjoyed spending time with his friends, usually, Greg would drive and they would hit up some local hangouts, often fast food restaurants like Burger King or Krystal, two of his favorites.
In high school, Greg spent time in the school band as a drummer and sang in the choir. Music seemed to be a passion of his.
On January 18, 2000, Greg went to the Winn Dixie in Casselberry, Florida, where he was from. He went in to cash his $200 paycheck from the movie theatre around 6:00 p.m.
The next morning, Greg’s mother woke up around 3:00 a.m., with a terrible feeling that something was wrong. She checked to find that Greg wasn’t home yet, and her mother’s intuition was telling her something wasn’t right.
The next day, with still no sign of Greg, his mother reported him missing.
At first, authorities thought he was just a 21-year-old young man out with friends or perhaps even just wanted some time alone. They said it wasn’t unusual for a 21-year-old to take off for a day or two- sometimes longer.
But Greg’s family knew that wasn’t the case. Greg wasn’t like that, and would never worry his mother.
Greg has disappeared into thin air.
Where is Roy Gregory Brooks Jr.?
Roy Gregory Brooks Jr. was born October 19, 1978, and lived with his family in Casselberry, Florida.
He grew up very close to his family, especially his mother, Geraldine, and his younger brother, Germaine.
His family and friends all called him ‘Greg’, so that’s what I’m going to refer to him as here.
Greg attended high school in Florida and was known for playing the drums in the high school band as well as singing in the choir. He attended church with his family and was described as a likable, respectable, and very kind child as he was growing up.
These traits are also used to describe him as a young man as well.
Greg also enjoyed working on his car, he absolutely loved his 1992 Honda
Greg had the same girlfriend for a while in High school and even as he went off to college, in 1999 they broke up.
Around this same time, Greg dropped out of college at Florida A&M University, because he didn't like things that were going on there. Specifically, Greg wanted to be in the band there, but hazing at the University was extreme, and Greg didn’t want any part of that.
Interestingly, this was in 1999, but in 2014, Florida A&M made national headlines when hazing there resulted in a death, specifically a band member-related hazing. A young man would be convicted and sentenced to 77 months in prison for this hazing incident.
He moved back home to Casselberry, Florida with his family in December of 1999.
While there, he got a job at a newly opened movie theatre. He was enjoying being home with his family where he could spend time with his brother also.
They enjoyed going out and playing basketball together, and just hanging out on his days off.
THE DISAPPEARANCE.,
On Tuesday, January 18, 2000, Greg was preparing for an evening at work.
On his way to work that evening, he stopped at the Winn Dixie in Casselberry, Florida to cash his $200 paycheck.
He was on his way to his evening shift at the theater that night.
Meanwhile, that evening, his mother Geraldine, went to bed as normal. However, at 3:00 a.m. she woke up in a panic. Something felt wrong and she had a bad feeling. She got up to check on everyone and noted that Greg wasn’t home yet. She thought that was odd, but sometimes he did stay out late so she went back to bed.
Mother’s intuition is a real thing.
When she woke up the next morning and learned that Greg had never come home the night before, she knew something was wrong.
She learned he hadn’t shown up for work the evening prior, and was convinced something had happened to Greg. It wasn’t like him to not show up for work and not keep in contact with his mom.
She called the local Casselberry police to report her son missing.
However, Greg was a 21-year-old young man. Authorities told her that young guys do this all the time and not to worry, he’d be back soon.
But Geraldine knew this wasn’t the case with her son.
Greg Brooks Jr. had disappeared.
THE SEARCH.
As stated, authorities weren’t too worried about Greg’s disappearance, despite his family’s insistence that something was wrong. Greg hadn’t taken any clothing, any of his items, or even his medication with him.
Meanwhile, law enforcement near Sun City, Florida, just outside of Tampa, found an abandoned car off the side of the highway. It was 4:30 a.m. on the morning of January 19th. They tagged it, and as is their procedure, they would follow up with it in a day or two to see if the owner removed it.
When they ran the license plates, it didn’t alert in their system that there was a problem- because there wasn’t yet.
However, this was Greg’s car, and on the next day, January 20th, when authorities went to the car again to tow it off the highway, it came back as belonging to a missing person.
Greg’s family was contacted, and they would go retrieve the car.
A couple of things to note about this:
- The car was in the Sun City, Florida area, about a two-hour drive from Casselberry, Florida. Why was the car so far away?
- Authorities would let Greg’s father get in and drive the car home. This will come again later, so remember this detail
There wasn’t much to do at this point, and law enforcement wasn’t exactly trying too hard. There was no paper trail, no cell data, or online information to follow, it was just as if Greg vanished into thin air.
Greg’s mom worked tirelessly to search for her son and started a notebook to keep track of every detail of the investigation.
No one who knew Greg had seen him, and his mom remained troubled by the fact that she woke up hours before his car was found with that ominous feeling in the pit of her stomach.
So far, no one could come up with any reason why Greg was even that far from home, and why he didn’t go to work. Greg, who was very close to his family, never mentioned anything and didn’t take any belongings with him.
Everyone was puzzled.
His family pushed for an investigation into the car. This could hold the key. Why was the car there? Who had left it there?
Authorities finally took the car in to test for fingerprints. It was noted in the file when the car was found, there was nothing unusual discovered. No signs of a struggle.
The car was also in working order and had plenty of gas. It was simply just parked on the side of the highway.
When they tested for fingerprints, the only prints they would identify were Greg’s. But right away, his family questioned this.
First of all, the last person to drive the car was Greg’s dad when he drove it home after it was found.
Why weren’t his prints found?
Second, Greg was known for having his friends and his brother in the car with him all the time. If they all went anywhere, it was Greg who usually drove.
The car should have had their prints found in the vehicle as well.
My first thought is- those prints were found, but detectives just discounted them and didn’t mention it.
My second thought is- that the car wasn’t actually tested for prints after all.
I’d love to hear from law enforcement on this one.
As the years went on, the family had hired a few different private investigators. While some tips and potential reports of sightings would come in, none would lead them to Greg.
Greg’s brother Germaine took his brother’s disappearance hard. They had been so close.
Today, Germane is a father now, and still thinks about his brother every day and wishes his kids would know their uncle.
CASSELBERRY, FLORIDA AND SUN CITY, FLORIDA.
This case is tricky because we have a few different points of interest. We know that Greg was from Casselberry, and we know he was last seen at the Winn Dixie in Casselberry.
His job at the movie theatre was about 15 minutes away.
And then his car was found two hours away near Sun City, Florida, which is a Tampa suburb.
Casselberry, Florida is considered part of the Orlando Metropolitan area, and has it’s own population of just over 28,000 residents.
Casselberry is known for being hot and humid, as is much of Florida, and is surrounded by lots of lakes and ponds. Inside the city limits, Casselberry has a total of 17 parks.
But we have to travel across the state to the west and take a look at the Sun City area, where Greg’s car was found.
Sun City is a city just south of Tampa. The city has a population of just around 20,000 residents and is considered a popular retirement area. It’s also pretty close to the Tampa Bay coastline.
From what we know, the car was found on Sun City Center Blvd close to Interstate 75.
What is Greg’s connection to Sun City? We don’t know.
It’s interesting that while Casselberry is on the east side of the state, and his car was found two hours away on the west side.
The randomness of his disappearance and the mystery of where is car was found in relation to where he lived and where he should have been that night, continue to raise more questions.
THE QUESTIONS.
There are so many unknowns, it’s almost hard to know what questions to ask.
But I have a few.
First, did any of Greg’s friends have any insight as to what he was thinking/doing that day- the day he vanished? Had he talked to anyone that day?
Second- did Greg have any connection to Sun City, Florida? Would there be any reason for him to travel to that area?
I know it was said Winn Dixie had recorded over their surveillance, but was there any surveillance video in the parking lot? Possibly to see if he was followed there, or if someone followed him out. He did just cash a check, could someone have wanted to rob him for the money?
Why did he cash his check at Winn Dixie? He did have a bank account and usually put his check in his account. It was after hours so he might have needed the cash, or, as his mother suggested, Greg’s ex-girlfriend worked at this Winn Dixie and she thought it was possibly an excuse for Greg to see her.
During an interview with the Unfound Podcast in 2018, Greg’s mother Geraldine said there was one friend of Greg’s who was very close to the family. However, when Greg disappeared, the family never heard from this friend again. He never called to check in and never called to get updates on Greg.
Geraldine said this specifically saddened her because they considered this friend part of their family.
Is it suspicious that he also just seemed to vanish from their lives?
Greg disappeared the day before his brother Germaine’s birthday, something that Germaine has had to live with for 24 years. Something that should be a special occasion, and an occasion to celebrate, is often wrought with bad memories of a time tragic time in their family.
Greg’s mother spent years following the case and doing what she could to keep Greg’s name front and center not only in law enforcement but in the media as well.
She kept a detailed journal documenting every conversation she had, contact information of anyone who ever assisted in the investigation and notes on every step of the investigation.
Several years ago she had to step back from being so active and relentless because it was taking a toll on her mental health, which is completely understandable.
Something happened on the evening of January 18, 2000, to a young 21-year-old Greg Brooks Jr.
Did he decide to leave town? To walk away from his life?
Or, did something bad happen to him? Was he involved in something no one knew about, or is this a case of wrong place, wrong time?
We have so little to go on, I think any theory is possible.
What do you think happened to Roy Gregory Brooks Jr.?
Greg Brooks Jr. is described as a black male, standing 5’11” tall and weighing around 140 pounds when he was last seen, in January 2000 near Casselberry, Florida.
He had black hair that was styled in an afro and brown eyes.
Greg was 21 years old when he vanished, and would today be 45 years old.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Casselberry Police Department at 407-262-7606.
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