The husband of a missing Texas mom of four and relator was arrested Wednesday after police learned a neighbor had seen the couple engaged in a violent altercation and then heard screams on the night she went missing.
Brad Simpson, 53, was charged with assault causing bodily injury – family violence and unlawful restraint for the Sunday night incident with his wife of 22 years, Suzanne Simpson, according to police.
Suzanne, a 51-year-old real estate agent, has not been seen or heard from since Sunday night when she attended a party at The Argyle in the Alamo Heights neighborhood of San Antonio, officials said.
Family and friends said it’s unlike her to just disappear.
“Suzzane was known and is known as a very loving and reliable person, especially with her children and her work. She hasn’t been to work and she hasn’t contacted her children so [it’s] highly unusual,” Olmos Park Police Chief Fidel Villegas said at a press conference broadcast by WOAI News 4.
After she was reported missing by her husband on Monday, investigators learned that a neighbor witnessed the pair fighting outside their home after the party that same night.
The neighbor told police that he heard arguing outside his window sometime between 10 and 11 p.m. and when he looked out, he spotted the Simpsons in a physical altercation, according to a copy of the arrest affidavit obtained by KSAT 12 News.
Suzanne was trying to break away from her husband as he tried to grab her “and gain control of her body” and “was clearly attempting to keep Ms. Simpson from running away,” the neighbor said, according to the document.
After a few minutes, he went outside with a flashlight to investigate after seeing the married couple walking away and heard “two to three screams” from a wooded area near the homes and ran back inside, he told police.
About an hour later, the same neighbor spotted Brad get in his black 2019 GMC pickup truck and leave the house. He returned one to two hours later, according to the neighbor’s account.
Investigators are now asking the public to report any sightings of the pickup between Monday morning and Tuesday night.
Suzanne never picked up one of the children from school the following day.
Staffers at one of their kids’ schools told investigators that the child told them that her dad had hurt her mother and taken her phone away, according to the affidavit
Brad had reportedly fled to his ranch in Bandera County at some point during the week and “appeared to be separating himself from his family,” the affidavit states.
Investigators said he has been uncooperative in their search for his missing wife and failed to show up for a police interview. He is currently being held in county jail.
Investigators were searching the family’s home and surrounding woods on Wednesday.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788.
