Retracing Dennehy's Steps

The family of missing Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy on Thursday visited a ranch outside town where he and his teammate fired guns and where police have searched for his body at least twice.

His mother and stepfather, Brian and Valorie Brabazon, their daughter and the player's girlfriend seemed to be trying to retrace his steps in the weeks before he vanished in mid-June, said property owner Tammy Cox.

"We just kind of talked about Patrick, how he was a real polite, respectful boy," said Cox, whose 52-acre property is about 20 miles northeast of Waco amid cow pastures and cornfields. "They didn't ask me anything about Carlton."

Carlton Dotson, who also played basketball at Baylor and was Dennehy's roommate, remained jailed without bond on a murder charge in his home state of Maryland. An extradition hearing is set for Aug. 19.

Meanwhile, a car dealer from the small town of West, said Baylor coach Dave Bliss called him last fall and told him he had a new player who was looking for a sport-utility vehicle. The player was Dennehy.

However, auto dealer Jerrel Bolton told The Associated Press that Dennehy told him he got the $2,000 down payment for the black 1996 Chevrolet Tahoe he bought from "one of his girlfriends" - not from the Baylor coaching staff.

Baylor's athletic department opened an internal inquiry this week into whether coaches made improper payments to Dennehy - a claim denied by Bliss and his staff.

Among the allegations against Baylor is that Dennehy emerged from basketball offices last fall with between $1,200 and $1,800 that he told his girlfriend, Jessica De La Rosa, came from a coach and was to go toward the purchase of a car.

De La Rosa declined to comment on the matter Thursday.

"It's just a side tangent," she told a throng of reporters outside Waco City Hall. "It's not going to help us find Patrick."

Bliss was unavailable for comment Thursday, athletic department spokesman Scott Stricklin said. Stricklin said Baylor would not respond to individual allegations but will conduct a thorough investigation.

Cox and her husband, Darren, met Dotson in the spring when he answered their newspaper ad selling pit bull puppies. Dotson and Dennehy then started visiting them - as often as four times a week - to hang out, fish or play basketball with their three teenage children, Tammy Cox said. The two players shot guns at trees on the property on June 10, she said.

Cox said the two told her husband they bought weapons because they had been threatened with a gun by teammate Harvey Thomas and one of his friends, after Dotson and Dennehy accused Thomas of stealing money.

Dennehy's girlfriend told police that he had recently been threatened by a man named Harvey, according to documents filed in the case. Thomas, who recently transferred from Fredericksburg, Va., to play this season for Baylor, has denied any involvement in Dennehy's disappearance.

Dennehy was last seen on campus June 12; his family reported him missing June 19. The next day, Delaware police told Waco authorities that an informant said Dotson told someone he shot Dennehy in the head after the two argued.

Since Dennehy's disappearance was made public, Dotson has called the Cox family several times from his Maryland home, but he never discussed the case, Tammy Cox said. He last called Darren Cox on Saturday - two days before his arrest - but only talked a few minutes and seemed "stressed out," Tammy Cox said.

Waco police searched the Cox property in late June and early July. But since authorities searched gravel pits and a site along the river banks Tuesday, they have refused to say when and where they are searching.

A police affidavit released Thursday to The Dallas Morning News indicates that someone used Dennehy's cell phone on June 18 - a day later than previously made public. Brian Brabazon told the newspaper Thursday that the phone's billing records show the call was made to a number in Waco that he didn't recognize.

Dennehy's family has been in Waco since Tuesday night to retrieve his belongings from his apartment and meet with police. The family also plans to tour the Baptist-affiliated Baylor campus. Dennehy sat out last season after transferring from New Mexico, as mandated by NCAA rules.

Athletic director Tom Stanton met with Dennehy's family for an hour Thursday and had a "good conversation," said Stricklin, declining to say what was discussed. Brabazon said he had not heard from Bliss recently.

Valorie Brabazon said Thursday the family has been frustrated and hoped to get answers from police during their Waco trip.

"It's already been five weeks ... so as time goes, we just want closure, so whatever happens, we're just hoping our son is out there alive," she said. "That's our hope, but if not - I mean, any family wants closure. You can't let it go unsolved like this."

Dennehy's Tahoe was found abandoned, without license plates, in a Virginia Beach, Va., mall parking lot June 25.

De La Rosa implored Dotson to tell all he knows about the disappearance.

"We just need his help so bad," she said. "God, we need Patrick back so bad."

A 9mm handgun was found last week at an apartment complex where some Baylor basketball players live. Waco police Sgt. Ryan Holt said Thursday that the pistol was made more than a decade ago and was not originally sold in Waco. He said tracking the gun ownership would be a lengthy process.

By Angela K. Brown and Bobby Ross Jr