Topic: Rhonda’s Gone and the Secrets in the Hills: Who Killed Tracy Sue Walker?
Speaker: Brandon Elkins, Special Agent, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation
Date: Tuesday, March 10
Time: 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM EST
CPE Credits: 2 (Field of Study: Specialized Knowledge)
Format: In-Person
Location: Coulter & Justus, 9717 Cogdill Rd., Suite 201, Knoxville, TN
Cost: Free (Chapter Members) | $10 (Non-Members)
Join us for a compelling look into two haunting East Tennessee cases. Special Agent Brandon Elkins will discuss the disappearance of Rhonda Daugherty alongside the decades-long investigation into the abduction and murder of Tracy Sue Walker, sharing investigative insights, case developments, and the ongoing pursuit of answers through the TBI Cold Case Initiative. No prerequisites or advanced preparation required.
Don’t miss this compelling session that brings real-world investigative work to life while honoring the pursuit of justice. We hope to see you there!
About Our Speaker
Special Agent (SA) Brandon Elkins has been with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation since 2013. He is currently assigned to the TBI Criminal Investigation Division in Knoxville, TN where he is currently assigned to oversee TBI's Cold Case Initiative. Prior to serving with the TBI, SA Elkins served as Captain of the Criminal Investigation Division for the Campbell County Sheriff's Office in Jacksboro, TN. He has worked in the field of law enforcement for twenty years.
He holds an Associate of Applied Science from Walters State Community College, Bachelor of Arts Degree from Cumberland College, and a Master of Science in Justice Administration from the University of the Cumberlands.
During his career, he has investigated criminal offenses of all kinds, including many homicides, and has a passion for cold case homicide investigations. SA Elkins has been successful in identifying twelve previously unidentified bodies that were dumped in Tennessee beginning the early 1980s. In 2019, he was successful with obtaining a posthumous grand jury finding for a First-Degree Murder in the early 1980s after the death of the offender, one of the first of its kind in the state of Tennessee. In 2024, SA Elkins worked with the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office to bring the State of Tennessee's first indictment of a homicide suspect through the use of Forensic Genetic Genealogy.
SA Elkins has also been successful in investigating and bringing multiple no-body homicide cases to prosecution in the state of Tennessee. SA Elkins has completed hundreds of hours of law enforcement and criminal investigation related training in his career. He is a graduate of the National Forensics Academy, TBI Basic Criminal Investigation School, the TBI Director's Academy, and is a Nationally Certified Public Manager. SA Elkins also serves as instructor for Interview and Interrogation, Cold Case Homicide Investigation, Close Quarter Combat, Homicide Investigations, and Crime Scene Investigations for the TBI Special Agent Academy. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Criminal Justice at Cumberland University in Lebanon, TN
He was recognized as one of the "Forty under Forty" by the LaFollette Press in 2017, recipient of the 2017 Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement from the US Attorney's Office in the Middle District of Tennessee, as the 2018 Special Agent of the Year by the Optimist Club of Knoxville, and the 2021 Tennessee Bureau of Investigation CID Special Agent of the Year. He has been honored to participate as a panelist in several forensic-related settings, including most recently before Congress in Washington, DC with DOJ's National Institute of Justice. SA Elkins was featured on the Investigation Discovery show "See No Evil" in 2018 for a complex murder investigation he conducted in rural East Tennessee.
