GLOUCESTER, Va. (WAVY) – A New Kent County family is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the last people with their son on the day he died. 

On October 29,  Brent Hartman was found unconscious behind a business in Gloucester Point.

Almost two months later, Mitch and Stacey Hartman say their son’s death continues to haunt them. 

They reached out to 10 On Your Side with a lot of questions.

The number one question they hope to answer is who left Brent’s body behind 138 Tattoo on George Washington Memorial Highway and Tyndall Drive in Gloucester County. 

Timeline

His mother last saw him that morning.  Choking back tears, Stacey Hartman remembers that day. “We went to the grocery store on Pocahontas Trail in New Kent County at the Food Lion. While I checked out, Brent said he was going to smoke a cigarette, and I never saw him again.  He took off.  I don’t know who picked him up, or if  he walked. I never saw him again.” 

Family members tell 10 On Your Side that Brent was reportedly seen at Patrick Henry Mall around lunchtime that day. He was also at the mall the day before, wearing the same clothes, they said. The sheriff’s office released a picture of him in a Facebook post on Dec. 17.

At 7:45 p.m. on October 29, investigators say an untraceable 911 call reported an unconscious man behind the tattoo business. Hartman was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

“They told us they found  him in the back of this building, and he was no longer with us,” said Stacey Hartman. 

Mitch Hartman added, “We are not blaming anybody for Brent’s decisions.  We knew he had demons. We knew he had drug issues.  We also  knew he had been in drug rehab for three straight months and he was clean.” 

Toxicology reports are pending. Drug overdose is a possible cause of death. The Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office confirmed there were no visible injuries.

Family speaks out

Mitch Hartman thinks he knows what may have happened.

“I think someone panicked. Brent was with him or them or something happened. They just panicked, and they were scared for themselves. They were afraid to be in trouble, and they dumped my son’s body in this parking lot and, quite possible, while he was still alive.”

Brent was in a bad place: he was in court-ordered rehab, but his parents claim an unauthorized cell phone got him booted out of the program. He was at the Fix Ministry’s residential facility in King William County. We reached out to the facility about Brent’s situation, but our email and call were not returned. The Hartmans are disappointed with the facility management.

“They would not reach out back to him which I truly think would have made a difference in this situation,” Brent’s father told us.

Brent was also reaching out to Jesus.

“We had been going to church with him every weekend. I felt Brent had changed. This was the defining moment in his life. He had handed over his life to God, and he was going to be our son again,” Stacey Hartman said.

In the end of this complicated life, Brent was left alone in a parking lot behind a tattoo business.

“I would ask maybe look inside yourself. Bring yourself to the point that you can come forward, and give us the answers we need, please do that,” said mitch Hartman.

Reward

The family is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the person or persons who were the last with Brent on October 29.  This reward is not offered by the Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office.  

“Any information is valuable to us. We are willing to pay for anyone’s time or travel or whatever it takes to get this information,” said Mitch Hartman.

If you have any information you think could help, you can contact the Hartmans directly at this email address.

Meanwhile, the Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office is urging anyone with information to contact Senior Investigator Mitch Willoughby by calling 804-693-3890 or via the Crime Stoppers at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP. Tipsters will remain anonymous.