She Vanished After a College Dance and He Came Back Covered in Blood

Berry Bryant was just eighteen years old and had only been in college for five weeks when she vanished. A talented musician and scholarship freshman, she was known for checking in with her family and staying focused on her goals. On the night of October 4, 1996, Berry attended a campus dance, stopped briefly at a dorm party, and then disappeared.

By morning, her car was still parked where she left it. Her bed had not been slept in. Friends woke up with a sense that something was terribly wrong.

Investigators quickly focused on nineteen-year-old Levi Collen, a hometown athlete whose past revealed a disturbing pattern. As police dug deeper, they uncovered prior assaults, violent threats, and escalating behavior that had never been fully addressed. The warning signs had been there long before Berry crossed his path.

Levi Collen eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three consecutive life terms with no chance of parole. Berry’s family buried her in a dress she had made herself, the same one she once wore to a high school dance.

This case leaves one haunting question behind. How many red flags can be ignored before tragedy becomes inevitable?