3 years missing: New information and a $10,000 reward bring fresh hope in Sherrell Brown case

PETERSBURG, Va. — Where is she? Sherell Brown left her home three years ago and never returned.

Since then, her family has searched for answers, holding onto hope while facing the painful reality that they still don't know what happened to their loved one.

Now, for the first time in years, there is a renewed reason to believe the case could move forward.

CBS 6 has partnered with the Reopen the Case Foundation to take a fresh look at Brown's disappearance.

And that renewed investigation has uncovered new information that detectives did not have when Brown first disappeared.

Those new leads could help investigators retrace the final hours of a grandmother whose disappearance has remained a mystery.

Brown's disappearance began with an ordinary day that ended with extraordinary uncertainty.

She left her Petersburg home and never came back.

In the years since, her family has been left to piece together what they can — searching for clues, asking questions and hoping someone knows something that could explain what happened.

For them, the investigation is about more than solving a case.

It's about bringing Sherrell home. Crime Insider Jon Burkett interviewed Brown's husband of 30-plus years, Phil. He admits many have accused him of killing his wife but says he would never have harmed her. Reopen the case offered a professional administered polygraph to which he agreed to take. However, the day before he was to take it, his sister canceled for him citing he had no legal representation.

The Reopen the Case Foundation examined Brown's disappearance from a new perspective.

That work uncovered information that was not available to detectives during the initial investigation. Brown was last seen by a woman on Augusta Ave in the city late at night when she asked for a cup of water. After that drink, Lachelle Gates says she and her daughter gave Brown a ride home but didn't stay to see if she walked inside. Neighbors that lived down the street from Brown also told Crime insider Jon Burkett that Sherrell got int a white van with an unknown man and woman but was put out after she got sick. The significance of those leads could depend on what happens next.

Someone may have seen something.

Someone may have heard something.

Or someone may know a detail they never realized could help solve the mystery.

After three years, investigators are hoping that person will come forward.

There is now another reason for anyone with information to take action.

A $10,000 reward is being offered for information that helps bring answers in Sherrell Brown's disappearance.

The reward could be the push someone needs to finally come forward.

And investigators don't necessarily need someone to know exactly what happened.

They need people to tell them what they know.

A conversation. A sighting. A vehicle. A location. A detail that seemed insignificant at the time.

Any of it could potentially matter.

For Brown's family, time has not erased the questions.

It has only made the need for answers more urgent.

Three years have passed without knowing where Sherrell Brown is or what happened after she left her home.

But now, new information is putting her case back in the spotlight.

The hope is simple:

Someone knows something.

And if that person comes forward, it could finally give investigators and Brown's family the break they've been waiting for.

If you have information about Sherrell Brown's disappearance, investigators are asking you to come forward.

Your information could help solve a three-year-old mystery — and give a family the answers they've been waiting for.

A $10,000 reward is available for information that helps move the case forward. Tips can be called in to 1-833 RTCFNVA or emailed to tips@reopenthecase.org.