HERMITAGE, Tenn. - From the time he was old enough to walk Gary Brown, Jr. spent most of his days at his family's wrecker shop in Madison.
More than three decades later, a cross bearing his name sits in the spot in Hermitage where his motorcycle crashed and Brown's life ended.
"He wasn't just a friend, he was a brother," said friend, Jason Couts, who used to ride with Brown everyday."I'll never get him back, but I know he watches over me. He watches over all of us that ride."
For the last several weeks, as investigators look into the details surrounding the crash, Couts has been uneasy. "The facts don't add up, something's missing, something is not right," he said.
Brown's family agreed.
"I don't like the fact that he was left there for an hour and a half," Brown's father, Gary Brown, Sr., said.
Everyone agreed Brown turned down Old Lebanon Dirt Road in the early monring hours of June 15, but why and what happened next have been questions his family has not found answers for.
They believed Brown and a friend were in an altercation at a Hermitage bar and were on the run. When Brown crashed they believe he was still alive and claimed his friend spoke to him but did not call 911. Instead he called a family friend to say Brown had crashed his bike.
When the wrecker got there Brown was found dead in the road.
"If he was alive, he could've had a chance to live when he's only half a mile from an emergency room," said Brown.
Leading to more questions, Brown's family found what looks like a bullet hole on the front wheel of his bike. "It definitely was not there before that," said Brown.
Detectives said the hole indicates a shot that was fired straight down, not at a bike that was moving. Also, a toxicology report showed Brown's blood alcohol content was three times the legal limit and there was cocaine in his system. They have been facts his family does not dispute, but it hasn't deterred them from finding their own answers.
Police said Brown and his friend were also driving on revoked licenses which may be why his friend chose not to call 911. The investigation has been ongoing, and currenlty no charges have been filed.
