The mother of one of the teenage girls found dead alongside a convicted rapist in rural Oklahoma on Monday says she “knew something was wrong” when her daughter didn’t respond to her calls and messages. Brittany Brewer, 15, and her friend Ivy Webster, 14, had been reported missing before their bodies were found with that of rapist Jesse McFadden and four others. In a heartbreaking interview on NewsNation, Brittany’s mother Malaina Schabell said she and her ex-husband—Brittany’s father—were unaware of McFadden’s criminal past and that Brittany had previously spent time staying with McFadden’s daughter, Tiffany. Schabell also said initial media reports saying Brittany was 16 are inaccurate. “She just turned 15 last Saturday on the 22nd of April,” Schabell said, adding that she had celebrated with her on her birthday weekend before their final call together last Tuesday. “She told me she’d call me later and I never heard anything from her which wasn’t normal.” It was when Brittany didn't call her for their usual Saturday chat that Schabell knew something was amiss. “I knew something was wrong ‘cause she wasn’t answering my—I mean, I tried to call. I got online on her Facebook and I tried calling her, video calling her, and I messaged her and she wouldn’t respond, and it showed she was online and—but she wouldn’t respond, so I knew something was wrong.” Schabell said she was told Brittany was missing by her sister. “I’ve been trying, you know, sitting here all day trying to think positive thoughts that ‘she’s gonna come home, she’s gonna come home, she’s gonna come home.’ But you know, I didn’t want to believe she’s gone and I still don’t.”
In a NewsNation exclusive interview, the mother of Brittany Brewer, one of the Oklahoma girls whose body was among the seven discovered Monday, tells @TVAshleigh she tried to think positively all day that her daughter would come home.
