Brett Detamore (missing person photo), the burned Dodge Ram TRX that was pictured as an exhibit in the lawsuit.
A Texas developer and home builder who mysteriously went missing over the summer faked his own “disappearance” and set his $100,000 pickup on fire several days before he was found alive at a bus stop, a recently filed fraud lawsuit alleges.
Brett Detamore, a 38-year-old home builder with residences in Houston and Galveston, a husband, and a father of three, was reported as a missing person by his wife back on June 21.
According to the West University Place Police Department, Detamore’s yellow Dodge Ram TRX was found burned at Bear Creek Pioneers Park hours after the then-missing person left his home at 4:20 a.m. that Wednesday.
On June 27, six days later, Detamore was found at a bus stop in San Antonio, leading cops to announce he had been “reunited with his family.”
Authorities later addressed the bizarre circumstances and lingering questions from the public about what took place. As part of efforts to turn up “valuable clues” and solve the “puzzle” of Detamore’s sudden vanishing, police said that they subpoenaed financial and phone records, and also interviewed a witness who claimed to see a man walking away from Detamore’s burned pickup truck on June 21.
Investigators came to the conclusion that it “appear[ed] that Brett’s disappearance was pre-planned.”
“While we understand the community’s desire for more information, we must exercise caution due to the presence of potential suspects, the person who left, or potential co-conspirators who might be monitoring our updates,” cops said at the time. “Our priority is to protect the integrity of the investigation and ensure that no potential evidence or leads are compromised.”
Now a $1,000,000 civil lawsuit filed by Zaffer Syed on Oct. 4 in Harris County seeks to fill in some of the gaps.
“A charade of faking his disappearance”
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Syed alleges in the breach of contract, fraud, unjust enrichment, theft, and negligent misrepresentation lawsuit against Detamore and Detamore Development, LLC, that the defendant used investment money meant to fund home constructions to fund his own “lavish lifestyle,” including tickets to “major sporting events” like the Super Bowl and World Series.
“Brett Detamore’s lavish lifestyle included attending major sporting events, including the Super Bowl, World Series games, meet and greets with athletes, and other high-dollar events,” the suit alleged. “Brett Detamore jet-setted around and stayed in luxurious hotels and resorts. Additionally, he bought and drove an expensive Dodge Ram TRX truck, Cadillac Escalade, and had a second home in Galveston worth over million dollars.”
The plaintiff said Detamore even had the vanity plate “HIDEIT” on his Cadillac Escalade, which the suit interpreted as the defendant flaunting “his ability to defraud innocent victims.”
Syed asserted that the “disappearance” and the intentionally set truck fire was a last-ditch effort by Detamore to abandon his “responsibility for constructing the Homes.”
“In reality, Defendant misappropriated and stole much of the cash that was supposed to be used to complete the construction of the Homes,” the suit said. “Defendants carried out the scheme by falsifying and creating fake invoices and pictures that were submitted to the financing bank to support interim draws.”
Local ABC affiliate KTRK reported that cops are investigating the fraud allegations. The report also contained a quote from a Detamore family lawyer responding to the revelation that civil lawsuits were filed against Brett Detamore in Texas and New York.
“The events of the last few months have been tragic and, unfortunately, the subject of much public speculation and rumor; many false allegations have been made, and the Detamore family, including their young children, have suffered as a result,” attorney Christian Ellis reportedly said. “Mr. Detamore is getting the help he needs, and the entire Detamore family requests privacy at this time.”
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