A real estate agent and mother of four is at the center of an ongoing search since going missing on Sunday.
Suzanne Clark Simpson, 51, was last seen at a birthday party at The Argyle on Sunday night. She was wearing a long, black dress and black heels. She was seen leaving, going to her Olmos Park home with her daughter.
Olmos Park Police Chief Fidel Villegas said evidence of an assault on her led to the arrest of her husband Brad Simpson, 53, on Wednesday morning.
Brad Simpson was booked into the Kendall County Jail for charges including causing bodily injury-family violence and unlawful restraint on Wednesday. DPS transported him to the Bexar County Jail Thursday afternoon because warrants for his arrest were issued in Bexar County.
He was the one who reported her missing Monday afternoon when she didn’t pick her young child up from school as she usually does.
According to arrest documents obtained, school staff from their child’s elementary school told detectives the child told staff that their mom and dad were “fighting,” and that “her dad hit her mom in the face and possibly pushed her into a wall.” She also told them her mom had a bruise on her elbow and that her dad had taken away her mom’s cellphone.
The arrest affidavit also stated Brad Simpson “appeared to be separating himself from his family,” by relocating to a property in Bandera County.
According to records, a neighbor heard what appeared to be arguing from his bedroom window and “observed both Mr. Simpson and Ms. Simpson involved in a physical altercation” and that she attempted to get away from his grasp as he tried to pull her downwards.
After a one-minute struggle, they were seen headed westbound, the neighbor adding that, “it appeared that Mr. Simpson was clearly attempting to keep Ms. Simpson from running away.”
Later, he heard “two to three screams from a wooded and brushy area.”
The witness said one hour later that Brad Simpson left the residence in his Black GMC pickup truck and returned one to two hours later.
As the authorities investigate, a Bexar County Mobile Command Unit trailer is stationed on the street a block from her Olmos Park home.
Olmos Park is a small, affluent city with a tight-knit community north of downtown San Antonio.
The Department of Public Safety and the Texas Rangers assisted Olmos Park Police in searching a wooded area near East Contour Drive. Villegas said they found two “articles” he wouldn’t detail, and said they were being checked for forensic evidence to determine whether they’re connected to the Simpsons.
This discovery led to the arrest of Brad Simpson in Kendall County early Wednesday on charges of causing bodily injury-family violence and unlawful restraint. The couple, who has been married for 22 years, have property in Kendall County, police said.
“Facts obtained by us and other eyewitnesses seem to indicate it got physical here in Olmos Park,” Villegas said, after neighbors reported having heard arguing and screaming Sunday night.
“He’s more than a suspect in the assault, but we don’t know anything beyond that. That’s what the searches today will be about,” he said. “Suzanne is known as a very loving and reliable person, especially with her children and with her work.”
He said Brad Simpson had been “uncooperative” and didn’t show up to a follow-up interview with police, in which they planned to talk about what happened.
“He was out of the county and he was not responsive to me and requests to assist us with any of this,” Villegas said.
The small police department confirmed that a neighbor reported a disturbance between Suzanne Simpson and her husband on Sunday night.
Her phone is missing, too, Villegas said.
“There was enough foul play for us to obtain warrants for assault and for unlawful restraint, but at the same time we’ve received so much information that we’re not counting out anything,” Villegas said. “There can be family violence, and something unusual happens and someone else is involved. We’re not focusing just on one thing or one person.”
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect Suzanne Simpson was last seen going home with her daughter not son.
