RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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This story originally aired on Oct. 18, 2025.The investigation of Joe Shymanski\u0027s murder began as a missing persons case. It was Sept. 4, 2023, at 7:47 p.m. when sheriff\u0027s deputies in Calvert County, Maryland, were called to the home of the well-known photographer. His ex-wife, Heather Snyder, met them in the driveway. She would tell authorities she had arrived by car at about 7 p.m. from her home in Pennsylvania to hand off custody of their then-8-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son. HEATHER SNYDER (bodycam video): Um, I was supposed to return the kids to him.DEPUTY: OK.HEATHER SNYDER: At 7 o\u0027clock tonight ...HEATHER SNYDER (bodycam video): \u2026 kids went in the house cause he did \u2014 he usually just comes right out, like he knows that they\u0027re coming.But nobody was home. Heather Snyder had checked with the neighbors and called 911.HEATHER SNYDER (bodycam video): Yeah, I don\u0027t know what I even should do at this point.\u00a0HEATHER SNYDER: \u2026 everything about it\u0027s weird.DEPUTY: OK.What happened to Joe Shymanski?All the signs suggested Joe Shymanski should be there. His car was in the driveway, his keys and phone were in the house. Authorities started searching the property \u2013 even using a drone.DEPUTY (bodycam video): Do you know if he ever goes out hiking in the woods or anything? HEATHER SNYDER: I mean, I wouldn\u0027t put it past him.Heather Snyder: I answered their questions about everything they asked, you know, the situation \u2026 Among other things investigators wanted to know about was Heather and Joe\u0027s divorce from the previous year. Alison Stinson-Pounsberry: I know it was very contentious. So there was a lot of arguing \u2026 specifically the drop-off location for the kids was their biggest argument.Shymanski\u0027s neighbors Alison Stinson-Pounsberry and Colton Pounsberry were home that night when Heather Snyder knocked on the door.Alison Stinson-Pounsberry: She had asked me if Joe was here. I said, no. Nikki Battiste: How was Heather acting? Alison Stinson-Pounsberry: So, Heather was acting a little annoyed \u2026 She was annoyed that he wasn\u0027t here for drop-off after she had already driven four hours.The Pounsberrys went to Joe Shymanski\u0027s home, telling authorities they hadn\u0027t seen Joe since the previous afternoon.COLTON POUNDSBERRY (bodycam video):\u00a0 Yeah, we saw him yesterday about 4 o\u0027clock. He was helping me with some drywall. DEPUTY: OK.COLTON POUNSBERRY: We gave him some dinner \u2026DEPUTY: Any depression issues? COLTON POUNSBERRY: None that I noticed. DEPUTY What do you think is going on? HEATHER SNYDER: I have no idea. DEPUTY: OK. Alright. The Pounsberrys ended up giving Heather and the kids places to sleep for the night. But first Heather went inside Joe\u0027s house.Heather Snyder: I didn\u0027t have any clothes for the kids \u2026 So it was late at night they let me go in and get \u2026 pajamas. Nikki Battiste: Do you remember how you were feeling when you went inside?Heather Snyder: Upset \u2026 It was surreal.\u00a0HEATHER SNYDER (bodycam video): I\u0027m sorry. (crying)DEPUTY: No, You\u0027re fine. Absolutely fine. It\u0027s a lot to deal with \u2026 HEATHER SNYDER: I just feel bad for my kids. What am I gonna tell them? (crying) Ted Shymanski: How could he not be there? Especially knowing that the kids were going to be there.It was about two-and-a-half hours later that Heather Snyder called Joe\u0027s older brother Ted Shymanski and Ted\u0027s wife \u2013 also named Heather. Heather Shymanski: I felt like I was like punched in the stomach.Ted Shymanski:\u00a0 So there was no way in the world that Joe woulda missed \u2026 this meeting with the kids. \u2026 This isn \u2014 something\u0027s wrong. It fell to Ted Shymanski to deliver the news to his sister Mary Shymanski.Mary Shymanski: When I heard that Joe \u2026 was missing, I fell to my knees and said a prayer. \u2026 Because this was such a bizarre situation it felt like I needed, I needed something greater than me right away \u2026And then the morning after Joe disappeared, investigators noticed something they\u0027d been unable to see at night. There was blood in his driveway.Nikki Battiste: Did Joe have any enemies? Alison Stinson-Pounsberry: Not that we knew of.An investigator asked Heather Snyder to come to the station.INVESTIGATOR JOSHUA BUCK (questioning): Do you know of anybody that \u2014 that\u0027d be, uh, an enemy of his?HEATHER SNYDER: No \u2026 INVESTIGATOR JOSHUA BUCK: .\u2026 are you in any relationship right now?HEATHER SNYDER: \u00a0No.INVESTIGATOR JOSHUA BUCK: No boyfriends or \u2014?HEATHER SNYDER: No.But Heather Snyder told them she had recently broken up with someone who lived near her in Pennsylvania. \u00a0HEATHER SNYDER (questioning):\u00a0 I had a boyfriend but, briefly. But I don\u0027t - INVESTIGATOR JOSHUA BUCK: Recently? HEATHER SNYDER: Yeah, within the last couple months, yeah. INVESTIGATOR JOSHUA BUCK: What\u0027s his name? HEATHER SNYDER: Brandon Holbrook.Mary Shymanski: The name Brandon Holbrook entered the scene quite quickly. The Shymanskis say Joe told them he\u0027d never met Brandon Holbrook. INVESTIGATOR JOSHUA BUCK (questioning): How long were you and Brandon together? HEATHER SNYDER: We were friends for a while. Um, since 20 \u2013 2022? I wanna say.INVESTIGATOR JOSHUA BUCK: OK.HEATHER SNYDER: Or it might have been, like, November 2021.Authorities then decided to look more closely at Brandon Holbrook.They pulled his car registration and discovered a camera had picked up his license plate near Joe Shymanski\u0027s house the very day Joe vanished. Investigators now had a person of interest, and headed to Pennsylvania, notifying police there. A grisly discoveryOn Sept. 5, 2023, Sgt. John Chester of the Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, Police Department got a call that Maryland authorities were investigating a homicide. They wanted to talk to a person of interest: Brandon Holbrook.Sgt. John Ches...
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