Overview

Last known location: Williston, North Dakota
Last known timeframe: November 2015. Some current North Dakota records list July 1, 2015 as the missing date, while NamUs-derived records and multiple case summaries state Brenda was last seen or heard from in November 2015.

Main circumstances: Brenda Sue Murdock disappeared from the Williston area after maintaining regular contact with her family despite living a somewhat transient lifestyle. She was not reported missing until February 2016. Days after the report was filed, two women encountered a hitchhiker in Rapid City, South Dakota, who strongly resembled Brenda, but investigators could never confirm the woman’s identity. Brenda remains missing.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Brenda Sue Murdock Missing Person Case: Disappearance from Williston, North Dakota

Brief Case Summary

Last known location: Williston, North Dakota
Last known timeframe: November 2015. Some current North Dakota records list July 1, 2015 as the missing date, while NamUs-derived records and multiple case summaries state Brenda was last seen or heard from in November 2015.

Main circumstances: Brenda Sue Murdock disappeared from the Williston area after maintaining regular contact with her family despite living a somewhat transient lifestyle. She was not reported missing until February 2016. Days after the report was filed, two women encountered a hitchhiker in Rapid City, South Dakota, who strongly resembled Brenda, but investigators could never confirm the woman’s identity. Brenda remains missing.

The Disappearance of Brenda Sue Murdock

Brenda Sue Murdock was living and working around Williston, North Dakota, when contact with her family abruptly stopped in 2015. The blonde-haired, brown-eyed woman was approximately 47 or 48 years old at the time and had worked at hotels, a grocery store and a gas station in the Williston area. She has also been associated with the surnames Rodriguez and Romero.

Although Brenda reportedly moved around and lived a somewhat transient lifestyle, disappearing without contacting her family was not considered normal behavior for her. Her family said she usually stayed in communication with her mother. She also had connections to Colorado, where her twin sister lived.

When Did Brenda Murdock Disappear?

There is an important discrepancy in publicly available records concerning Brenda’s missing date.

NamUs-derived case information, The Charley Project and contemporary reporting place Brenda’s last known contact in November 2015, with November 1 commonly used as an approximate missing date. Brenda’s family apparently did not immediately realize that no one had heard from her, and her mother ultimately reported her missing to the Williston Police Department on February 21, 2016.

However, the current North Dakota Missing Persons database lists July 1, 2015 for Brenda. A 2024 Minot Daily News report also used July 1, 2015. Because several sources describing the actual circumstances specifically say her family last heard from her in November, the exact date of Brenda’s final confirmed contact remains unclear in the publicly accessible record.

A Possible Sighting in Rapid City, South Dakota

Only three days after Brenda was formally reported missing, an encounter hundreds of miles away appeared to provide her family with a possible breakthrough.

On February 24, 2016, two women in Rapid City, South Dakota, picked up a female hitchhiker. The woman reportedly said she wanted to return to North Dakota and was headed there to find employment. The women were unable to take her all the way to North Dakota, instead driving her from one side of Rapid City to another.

After the encounter, something about the situation continued to bother them. When the women later came across Brenda Murdock’s missing-person information online, they believed the hitchhiker looked like her and contacted authorities.

Investigators Obtained Surveillance Footage

Police attempted to determine whether the hitchhiker really was Brenda.

Investigators obtained surveillance footage showing the woman believed to be the hitchhiker. Unfortunately, the images were not clear enough to establish her identity. The Rapid City encounter consequently remained an unconfirmed sighting, rather than proof Brenda was alive in February 2016.

Reporting by The Vault in 2023 described the Rapid City sighting as the last credible lead received by the Williston Police Department, but investigators had been unable to confirm that Brenda was the woman shown on the footage.

That distinction is significant. The February 24 encounter should not be treated as Brenda’s confirmed last sighting. Her established disappearance remains tied to the Williston area in 2015.

What Happened to Brenda?

No publicly verified evidence currently establishes what caused Brenda to disappear.

There has been no public announcement that she was the victim of homicide, no identified suspect has been publicly named in connection with her disappearance, and the available law-enforcement listings continue to categorize her as a missing person.

Her lifestyle created a potentially difficult investigative timeline because several months passed between her family’s last known communication with her and the filing of the missing-person report. By the time police began investigating, reconstructing Brenda’s movements during that period was inherently more difficult.

Still, her family emphasized that the prolonged silence was unusual. Brenda’s twin sister, Brandi Romero, told reporters in 2016 that Brenda ordinarily kept in contact with their mother and that the family wanted to find her.

Description and Aliases

Brenda was described around the time of her disappearance as approximately 5 feet 5 inches to 5 feet 6 inches tall, around 160 pounds, with blonde hair and brown eyes. Different sources give her age at disappearance as either 47 or 48.

She may use or have used the surnames Rodriguez and Romero, an important detail for anyone attempting to identify records, photographs or encounters involving her after 2015.

Latest Publicly Available Investigation Information

As of August 2026, Brenda Sue Murdock remains listed in North Dakota’s official Missing Persons database. The current state listing gives her present age as 58 and identifies the Williston Police Department as the investigating agency.

A newer development in public case visibility occurred on January 29, 2025, when the Doe Network added Brenda’s case under reference 5009DFND. The organization’s subsequent updates through 2026 do not show Brenda’s case among its closed cases or identify a later investigative resolution.

A January 2025 review of Brenda’s disappearance likewise reported that the Rapid City lead had never been confirmed and that no later publicly disclosed breakthrough had replaced it.

No credible public source located through August 27, 2026 reports Brenda being found, identifies remains as hers, announces an arrest, or names a suspect in her disappearance.

Anyone who encountered Brenda after 2015, knew where she was staying or working, remembers someone traveling with her, or possesses information about the unidentified Rapid City hitchhiker is encouraged to contact investigators..