Do you know who killed 19 year old Stacey Brooke Holsonback in 1997? In the winter of 1997, the promising life of 19-year-old Stacey Brooke Holsonback, a female freshman at Clemson University, was tragically cut short. Known as Brooke to her family and friends, she was pursuing a degree in biochemistry with aspirations of a career in cancer research.
On the evening of February 19, 1997, Holsonback joined two male friends and fellow Clemson students, Bryant Gallup and Jeff Dubnansky, for an activity known as 'mud-bogging' near Seneca.
The trio was in a vehicle, racing through muddy pits, when their truck became stuck. According to Gallup and Dubnansky, an argument ensued between them, and Holsonback reportedly walked off into the woods alone. The two men claimed they were unable to find her and returned to their dorm. The following day, February 20, Holsonback's roommate reported her missing.
Later that day, a construction worker made a grim discovery in a small cove of Lake Hartwell, not far from the university campus. It was the body of Stacey Holsonback. An autopsy later confirmed the cause of death to be homicide by manual strangulation. The location where her body was found was over two miles from where she was last seen alive.
Bryant Gallup and Jeff Dubnansky were identified as persons of interest in the case, but no charges have ever been filed against them. Investigators have publicly expressed skepticism about their account of Holsonback simply wandering off. One theory posed by law enforcement was that the story of the vehicle getting stuck may have been an alibi and that Holsonback might have been harmed after rejecting sexual advances, as the autopsy revealed potential evidence of sexual assault. However, a lack of sufficient evidence, partly due to heavy rains that night and the body being found in water, has hampered the investigation. Both Gallup and Dubnansky later moved out of South Carolina and retained legal counsel. Despite the passage of time and the formation of a dedicated task force involving local and federal agencies, the murder of Stacey Holsonback remains an unsolved case that continues to haunt Oconee County.
