August 28, 2013 is a day David and Mary Dodson won’t ever forget. David was celebrating his birthday and expecting a visit from his 22-year-old daughter Brittany Stykes and his granddaughter Aubrey. Brittany and Aubrey never arrived. 
It was Wednesday evening when a passerby came across a horrific site on U.S. 68 in Brown County, Ohio. The man came across Brittany’s yellow jeep. The pregnant mother was deceased. Someone had shot Brittany to death. Fortunately, Brittany’s 14-month-old daughter Aubrey had survived. She remained strapped into her car seat. Like her mom, someone had also shot Aubrey.
The coroner confirmed someone had murdered both Brittany and her unborn child.
I spoke to David for my Catch my Killer podcast (www.catchmykiller.com). He had a close relationship with his daughter. I asked him why anyone would want to murder Brittany. David said he didn’t know because Brittany wasn’t involved in any criminal activity. Except for some traffic tickets, she had never run afoul with the law. David said Brittany often spent her free time with him and Mary.
Since Brittany died on her father’s birthday, he no longer enjoys celebrating it. He also wondered if there was something ironic about her dying on his birthday. Did the killer do this to hurt the Dodson family?
David keeps regular contact with authorities in finding Brittany’s killer. There have been several false hopes along the way. David said a potential lead took authorities to a home in Kentucky. After searching the home, the investigation didn’t lead to anything significant. David said the person who provided the tip had given false information as a revenge tactic.
I also asked David about his son-in-law Shane Stykes. Although authorities focused on him, this isn’t unusual. Whenever a homicide occurs, authorities always try to exclude spouses and significant others as suspects. Brown County authorities have since ruled out Shane as a suspect.
If you do an online search of this case, you will find several theories about Brittany’s death. However, it’s all conjecture and none of it has led to any arrests.
I asked David how his granddaughter Aubrey is handling her mother’s death. He said she is handling it as expected, but continues asking about her mother. David and Mary have regular visits with their granddaughter. They enjoy sharing stories and photos with Aubrey. It’s their way of showing her that Brittany was an amazing mother who loved her daughter.
Whenever you speak to David about Brittany, you can hear much sorrow in his voice. He’s just a father trying to find out who killed his daughter. What troubles him most is a lack of motive. He said authorities later told him that they never found anything in Brittany’s past leading to a motive for killing Brittany.
August 2020 will soon arrive. It will be seven years since someone murdered Brittany Stykes. Do you have any information about her death? If so, David Dodson and his family plead for answers. If you know anything, who are you protecting? Why would you protect someone who doesn’t deserve it? There is an evil person walking among us who killed a pregnant woman and shot a child in the head. This isn’t someone you want as a neighbor, friend, family member, or a co-worker.
A $20,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest in Brittany’s murder. Anyone with information about the murder can call 937-378-4435 ext. 130. If you can help bring closure to this case, please pick up your phone and make that call. You can also remain anonymous if you so choose. David and Mary Dodson are good people who deserve justice.
Marc is a longtime resident of Clermont County and an avid reader. Contact him through his website at www.themarcabe.com or through Facebook: www.Facebook.com/themarcabe or his Twitter account @themarcabe. Marc also has a podcast called Catch my Killer where he interviews family members seeking justice for their murdered loved ones. You can listen at www.catchmykiller.com.