The investigation into a Centre County woman’s disappearance has been cold for 33 years.
Brenda Louise (Coon) Condon of State College and formerly of Clearfield disappeared Feb. 27, 1991. She was 28—almost 29 years old—at the time.
Condon was last seen alive between approximately 12:45 a.m. and 1:15 a.m. at Carl’s Bad Tavern where she had just started as a bartender.
The tavern was formerly located along state Route 550—two miles north of Bellefonte—near Interstate 80 in Spring Township, Centre County.
Multiple witness accounts reportedly place an unknown male at the tavern and Condon was seen interacting with him in the hours leading up to her disappearance.
She was scheduled to close after last call, then to reopen as the day-shift bartender at 11 a.m. The tavern was found unlocked though when Condon’s co-workers arrived to relieve her at 6 p.m.
Her gray 1986 Mercury Capri was in the parking lot, but Condon’s purse and keys were gone and she had been a no-show for her shift.
The bar’s receipts from her previous shift had been appropriately placed in the business office.
There were no signs of robbery or another violent crime inside the bar. Condon was reported missing and investigators discovered her black cowboy boots—undisturbed—in the men’s restroom.
Condon was never heard from again in 33 years. She shared two children with her ex-husband and called 1959 Harvest Circle, State College, home where she lived with her boyfriend.
A 1980 graduate of Clearfield Area High School, Condon operated a home cleaning service in the State College and Williamsport areas. She had just started bartending when she disappeared.
But, for cold case expert on unsolved homicides and unsolved mysteries Detective Ken Mains, this case is “unsolved no more.”
He documented his investigative work in a 26-episode series, “Brenda: The Carl’s Bad Tavern Mystery,” on his YouTube channel that’s led him to one male offender and what he believes happened to Condon.
The “crux” of the case: a single beer bottle and a couple bucks that had been left on the bar overnight, Mains said in his final episode, admitting it was a detail that he initially overlooked.
“That bottle, that single bottle is from your offender … and the money—that couple dollars there— was her tip.
“… She was done; the night was done, but there was somebody sitting there, waiting for her to close that bar.
“Details—it’s in the details.”
So, according to Mains, who’s the offender?
He’s reportedly a known hot-headed “womanizer” who Mains believes decided to play a flirtatious “cat-and-mouse” game, placing Condon’s boots in the men’s restroom and turning the lights off.
And, members of his work crew suspected he was the offender as Mains does now—also pointing out his “obsession” with her missing person case.
That beer bottle is the offender’s and that beer bottle had the offender’s DNA on it, but it’s long gone now, he said.
For Mains all the evidence, eyewitness statements and offender proclivities back up his investigative conclusion, as does the offender’s deceptive tactics—minimizing and even lying about his actions as they relate to the case.
“The gig is up, buddy.”
Mains has turned over his findings to Condon’s family so they may take them to state police investigators. He also offered his ongoing support and guidance to them.
He said now it’s his hope and prayer that the offender comes forward, giving Condon’s family the closure, resolution and peace they so deserve.
Anyone with information about Condon’s disappearance is urged to contact PA Crime Stoppers by calling: 1-800-4PA-TIPS (1-800-472-8477) or visiting the online tip line.
Tips may also be provided to Pennsylvania State Police, Rockview station, which is handling the investigation, by calling 814-355-7545.
You can watch the full series, “Brenda: The Carl’s Bad Tavern Mystery,” on Mains’ “Unsolved No More” YouTube channel.
Mains is the founder of the world-renowned cold case group, The American Investigative Society of Cold Cases (AISOCC), which was created to assist law enforcement members and victims’ families in solving the plethora of unsolved cold cases.
Mains is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps (1992-1996). During his tour with the Marine Corps, he was assigned primarily with the Special Operations Training Group (SOTG), II Marine Expeditionary Force with a concentration on administrative intelligence.
Mains’ law enforcement career has consisted of working as a member of the Williamsport Bureau of Police (2003-2011), Lycoming County Drug Task Force (2005-2011), Federal Bureau of Investigations (2007-2011) and the Lycoming County of Pennsylvania’s District Attorney’s Office (2011-2018).
In 2015, he was appointed as the Lycoming County Narcotics Unit Drug Task Force Coordinator and Supervisor by the Lycoming County District Attorney until his retirement in 2018.
In 2017, Mains was asked by the History Channel to serve as its on-air expert investigating and producing a five-part true crime documentary about the unsolved ‘Zodiac’ murders in California in the late 1960’s.
His investigation into these murders can be viewed on various platforms to include the History Channel, A&E, Amazon Prime and YouTube.
In 2020, Mains was featured on 10 episodes of the Discovery Science Channel’s series ‘Conspiracies Decoded’ and in 2021 appeared as an on-air consultant for the Reelz Channel show ‘When Friends Speak’.
Mains’ current Youtube show, Unsolved No More, has over 100,000 subscribers and continues to be the fastest-growing true crime show on the platform.