Steven Brito was reported missing by his ex-wife on August 11, 2010. His truck was found in a remote desert area at the western base of the White Tank Mountains, but he was not. We obtained a copy of the police report in this case, which shed light onto the likely motive and suspicions behavior by the people who may have been involved with Steven’s disappearance.
Sara Rose Thedford reported her ex-husband, Steven Lujan Brito, missing to the Buckeye Police Department (BPD) on the evening of August 11, 2010. BPD Officer C. Hunt reported that “Sara stated her ex-husband was angry from an argument the night prior at approximately 1600 hours”. Sara later vehemently denied this argument and accused the officer of fabricating that statement.
Sara further stated that after returning home from Walmart to drop off groceries at around 4pm on August 10, 2010, Steven drove away in his gold 2005 GMC Sierra truck. She said he was not suicidal, but was frustrated with things. She described Steven as outdoorsy and an avid hunter.
Onstar provided the coordinates of Steven’s truck to BPD, who then passed the information to Maricopa County Sherriff Office (MCSO). MCSO checked out the car the night of August 11 and noted that the car was locked and Steven could not be located. They planned to come back in the morning for a more intensive search. Unfortunately, the potential crime scene was tainted before they returned.
Steven’s ex-wife Sara was already at the truck by 7 am on August 12, as reported by BPD Officer DL Smith. 10 minutes later, BPD received a call claiming that Steven’s brother Martin found a suicide note in the passenger compartment, which stated that Sara should have all of Steven’s possessions. BPD sent the note and three of Steven’s writings to an Arizona Department of Public Safety lab for handwriting comparison. Interestingly, the handwriting of the suicide note only matched one out of the three “known” writing samples of Steven Brito. Who authored the alleged suicide note and the other writing sample thought to be Steven?
BPD received several tips and conducted various interviews that also suggested Sara’s involvement with Steven’s disappearance, or at the very least her attempt to financially profit from his disappearance and/or death.
A man who identified himself as “John Smith”, Sara’s on-and-off lover for 8 or 9 years, called BPD on August 20th to report her suspicious behavior prior to and following Steven’s disappearance. She was supposed to move in with him a few months earlier on May 24, but failed to do so. A few weeks before John called BPD, and shortly before Steven went missing, Sara spoke with John and mentioned that she was concerned about Steven.
Since Steven’s disappearance, Sara sent John “confusing and unstructured text messages indicating Steven was missing, bad news, they found truck, they found note”. On August 20th, Sara reached out to John asking how she can get a power of attorney to handle Steven’s finances (houses). This was the final straw for John, who later that day called BPD to report her suspicious behavior. He said that her actions caught his attention and are unusual for her, and that she did not seem distraught by Steven’s disappearance. When asked if something bad may have happened, John said he “did not know but this is why he was calling”. Further asked if she would do anything to harm Steven, John replied “I never cease to be amazed”. Unfortunately, the BPD officer transcribed John’s statement as “I never sees to be amazed”, which suggests that the officer likely did not understand the implications of John’s response.
Steven’s friend Jeff also called BPD to let them know that Steven is an avid hunter who would never get lost, as well as to advise BPD that his behavior changed over the last six months, when Steven’s ex-wife Sara moved in. According to Jeff, Steven was a very organized person who was always neat and clean, then after Sara moved in the home went from spotless to a disaster. Jeff described Steve as frazzled and unable to pay his pest control bill. He also said that Steven’s truck was his baby, and he would never leave it in the desert.
Steven’s mother Tammy provided additional insights. She mentioned that Steven had surgery scheduled for September 16, and that on the Sunday before his disappearance he had talked about wanting to go see the Cardinals play the Cowboys in Texas.
Conclusion
In our recent records request, we learned that the Buckeye Police no longer have the suicide note and there is no record of it being returned to the family.
If you have any information about Steven Brito’s case, you can submit a tip to the Buckeye Police Department:
623-349-6411
bpdtips@buckeyeaz.gov
Buckeye Police Online Tip Form
Or send us an email at:
azunsolved@gmail.com