Family, friends remember Carl DeBrodie

Carl DeBrodie as a young man with one of his dogs.
Carl DeBrodie as a young man with one of his dogs.

Most Fulton residents only knew Carl DeBrodie as a lost, developmentally impaired man.

The Fulton man was reported missing April 17, and a body believed to be the missing 31-year-old was recovered from a storage unit Monday afternoon, police said.

As the investigation focuses on identifying the body as well as the cause of death, those who were close to DeBrodie remember him as a warm, caring person.

"He was fun-loving, he was always busy, always into something," said Mary Martin, DeBrodie's former legal guardian.

Martin first met DeBrodie through the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program - he was her "little brother." At the time, DeBrodie lived with his mother, Carolyn Summers, who is also mentally impaired, according to court documents. In 1999, Martin was appointed as his legal guardian.

DeBrodie was 13, and, like any teen, active and boisterous.

"He liked riding go-carts, and we provided him with four-wheelers," Martin said Wednesday. "He was always tearing them up, so we'd have to work on them."

She said DeBrodie loved dogs, so she and her husband, Bryan, always kept dogs around.

DeBrodie went to public school in Jefferson City, Martin said.

"He was able to graduate," she added.

While DeBrodie's ability to read, speak and write were limited, he made friends with his classmates. Martin said he was very expressive with gestures and sounds.

"He understood everything that you'd tell him," Martin said. "He had to be on top on every conversation."

Speaking about him last week, Larry Summers, DeBrodie's stepfather, said: "He's friendly. He doesn't talk that much."

Area resident Ashley Gregory said she was DeBrodie's classmate from elementary through high school in Jefferson City.

"Every day, he'd always greet you with a smile - sometimes he'd give you a hug," Gregory said. "He had many girlfriends through different days. He was always upbeat and outgoing, and he made you smile when you didn't want to smile."

Martin said DeBrodie also spent time at Kingdom Projects Inc. in Fulton.

After DeBrodie turned 18, he became his own guardian, according to Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, documents. He stayed with Martin until he was 21, then moved into Brady House in Fulton, Martin said.

Teresa Lee was the program manager at Brady House at the time.

"Carl was just excellent," Lee said. "He was good as gold to me."

Lee said Carl often followed her around the facility, helping with cleaning and saying "yep." She said the whole staff loved him.

"He was just like family to me," she added.

Within a year, he was living with his mother once more.

In 2008, the Callaway County Circuit Court appointed Public Administrator Karen Digh Allen as DeBrodie's legal guardian, and DeBrodie moved to a Second Chance Homes facility in Millersburg, court documents stated. At the time of his disappearance, he was living at the Second Chance home in Fulton, Fulton police said.

Martin petitioned to become DeBrodie's guardian in 2009, was rejected and filed to adopt him in 2011. The legal battle continued until 2014, but in the end, DeBrodie remained a ward of the county.

The 2014 opinion written by Judge Anthony Gabbert from the Missouri Court of Appeals said DeBrodie and his mother remained close after he went to live in a supported living facility.

"Carl exhibits excitement when his mother is scheduled to call or visit and asks for his hair to be done or to put on special clothing," Gabbert wrote in that opinion. "He cries when she is unable to visit."

Martin hasn't seen him since court proceedings; she still misses him.

"The last visit we had was at my house with his attorney and mine," she said. "If you met him, you'd never forget him. He was very warm; he was a warm person."