Media
Advisory
For Immediate Release
September 21, 2005
Contact: Nicole Wagner
(850) 609-3028 or
Catherine Dokey
(850) 651-7420
Hit
& Run Driver Arrested
The
Okaloosa County
Sheriff
’s Office has arrested a suspect in connection with the 2002 hit and run death
of Kymberly Dawn Thomas. Paul Edwards
Branchcomb, age 35 (11-02-1969), of 159 Bent Arrow Drive in Destin was
arrested this morning after confessing to investigators that he struck Thomas
with his 1997 black Chevrolet S10 truck on January 6, 2002. Branchcomb is
charged with leaving the scene of an accident with death.
Thomas
was seriously injured when she was struck on
Airport Road
in Destin at approximately 3:20 a.m. She was transported to
Sacred
Heart
Hospital
in
Pensacola
where she later died. The driver of the vehicle called 9-1-1 from a payphone at
a nearby gas station and identified himself as “Joe Black” but never
returned to the scene. The entire two-minute 9-1-1 call was posted on the
Okaloosa County
Sheriff
’s Office web site for the public to hear in an attempt to identify the
caller’s voice.
An anonymous tip called in to Emerald Coast Crime Stoppers helped
investigators develop Branchcomb as a possible suspect. Long hours of
investigative work lead to Branchcomb’s arrest.
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