Family, friends gather for candlelight vigil
It was 10 years ago on Aug. 28 when Brittany Stykes was traveling down US Highway 68 towards Ripley to celebrate her father’s birthday in her yellow Jeep with her daughter Aubree. But before arriving to her parents’ home on Ripley Road just outside of Ripley, she was gunned down in a murder case that remains unsolved. Her young daughter, Aubree, suffered a gunshot wound to the head, and Brittany Stykes was struck by two bullets, one being a fatal wound to the chest that punctured her lungs. Aubree survived after undergoing numerous brain surgeries.
The yellow Jeep Stykes was driving was found in an embankment off US Highway 68 with Aubree still in her car seat and bleeding from her wound to the head.
Each year on the day of Brittany Stykes’ death at the location where her Jeep was found, her family, friends, and other caring individuals gather for a candlelight memorial and to pray together. Ten years after her murder, her family still mourns. They are hoping that Brittany Stykes’ killer will soon be brought to justice.
There is nothing that can take away the pain of losing their daughter, but her parents David and Mary Dodson have faith that they will one day get some closure through the capture and conviction of her killer.
“Through my faith and David’s faith, we have hung on. And we know, someday, God promises we are going to see our daughter again,” said Mary Dodson.
The total reward is now $50,000 for information that leads to a successful arrest and prosecution of the offender(s) in the Brittany Stykes murder case. The $50,000 is comprised of $10,000 in total from the Brown County Prosecutors Office and the Brown County Sheriff’s Office, $10,000 from two anonymous donors, and $30,000 from Tenderfoot TV and Resident Recordings.
Anyone with information pertaining to the Brittany Stykes homicide should contact Detective Sergeant Quinn Carlson at (937) 378-4435, extension 126.