Mains, a renowned investigator known for solving cold cases in Central Pennsylvania and hosting the successful “Unsolved No More” podcast, believes his investigation into the 1991 disappearance of bartender Brenda Louise Condon proves that one of the bar’s patrons that night was responsible.

In the early morning hours of Feb. 27, 1991, Condon, 28, was working a shift at Carl’s Bad Tavern, formerly located along State Route 550, approximately two miles north of Bellefonte near Interstate 80 in Spring Township. Condon, who had only recently started as a bartender at the tavern, was working alone that evening.

By various accounts, she was last seen that night between 12:45 p.m. and 1:15 a.m. serving an unidentified man drinking at the bar. Condon was scheduled to close the bar that evening and reopen later that morning to work the day shift.

Around 6 p.m. when another employee came to relieve Condon, they found the building unlocked and abandoned. Her car, a 1986 gray Mercury Capri, was still in the parking lot and her cowboy boots were found in the men’s restroom. Her purse and car keys were never recovered. Police found no obvious signs of a struggle and noted that the night’s receipts were put away and some of the lights were turned off. No evidence of any other crime was found during the investigation.

PHOTO PROVIDED Kenneth Mains, who believes he has solved the Brenda Condon cold case. Condon went missing in early morning hours of Feb. 27, 1991 when she was 28 years old.

The search for Brenda began in earnest March 2 after she failed to pick up her two children in Clearfield for visitation. An extensive search of the area was conducted to no avail, and local and state police who conducted numerous interviews in the weeks and years since her vanishing procured little information.

After months of chasing slim leads, the case went cold.

“Brenda Condon is a case I’ve been interested in since 1991 when it happened. I was in 11th grade at the time, It stuck with me because it happened close to me. I grew up in Penns Valley — this was Bellefonte,” said Mains.

Ken, a retired District Attorney’s Office detective, is the founder of The American Investigative Society of Cold Cases, an organization assisting members of law enforcement trying to solve cold cases around the county. He has also appeared on numerous shows as an on-air expert including the History Channel’s “Hunt for the Zodiac Killer” and Discovery’s “Conspiracies Decoded.”

Inspired by the show “Unsolved Mysteries,” which he used to watch with his dad, Mains set out to become a detective. After finishing high school, he joined the United States Marine Corps, which helped him afford the tuition to study criminology at Lock Haven University. After graduating, Mains worked his way up through the Williamsport Bureau of Police until he became a detective.

“I always wanted to be a detective, I’ve never wanted to be a cop per say,” said Mains who says solving cold cases is his one true passion.

Mains, then a narcotics officer, began his detective career after stumbling upon the 1992 disappearance of Dawn Miller during a search for missing people. Despite initial resistance due to his role, he persisted and was granted permission to investigate the cold case. With limited records, he began his search.

Miller was last seen with her boyfriend and his nephew shortly after an argument with her mother. Despite difficulty alerting authorities, an investigation eventually began but crucial evidence had vanished, leading the case to go cold.

In 2008, Miller’s boyfriend committed suicide after being interviewed by Mains. Shortly thereafter his nephew confessed to witnessing the murder and assisting in her burial. Despite no human remains being found, Mains believes the case is solved since he was able to give Miller’s mother the answers she had been seeking for over 15 years.

“She has always thanked me, because no one ever told her what happened to her daughter. For me, we both know, and that’s enough,” said Mains.

Due to a lack of sufficient evidence, no charges have been filed.

The story of how Ken solved Dawn Miller’s disappearance is included in Mains’ book, “Unsolved No More: A Cold Case Detective’s Fight For Justice.”

“When a family reaches out to me about a family member it is very hard for me to say no,” said Mains.

On Feb 16 of this year, Brenda’s sister, Iris, reached out asking him to include the story on his podcast for the 33rd anniversary of her disappearance as a way to keep her story in the public consciousness.

“I slept on it, and I was like, you know what, I have the platform, I have the subscribers and all that stuff — I can investigate this,” he said. A decision that would ignite what would become a 26 part series on his podcast

The Brenda Condon case was something completely different from the previous cases he had worked on as a member of law enforcement. Because he was not an officer on the case, Mains did not have exclusive access to police reports or any administrative control over the investigation.

Because he had little to go off of apart from a few police sketches and what information was made available by law enforcement, he appealed to the public for help.

“I was very surprised by how much the community came forward with information,” said Mains.

In fact, it was a testimony from a local bartender that was pivotal in cracking the case. The woman, who worked at the Milesburg Econo Lodge the same week Condon had disappeared, told Mains that one of the men staying there matched the description put out by police. The man, she claimed, was a worker from out of town who made several romantic advances towards her. She told Mains that he repeatedly hit on her throughout her shift and waited for her at the end of the bar until she closed.

“When all the smoke had cleared and I was able to put it all together — the key clue — the day that she went missing, that morning, she was supposed to open up at 11 a.m. A vendor came in there to take care of the pool tables and cigarette machine. It is what he observed that cracked this case for me,” said Mains. He had seen a single bottle — all by itself — with money beside it on an otherwise clean bar.

“At first, that doesn’t seem like a such a huge clue because we don’t know when she was taken. But I was able to find out she was abducted after she had taken the bar’s money, tallied it and put it in the safe, so then it got me thinking, if that was from a patron, that money would have been with the tally. The bar was clean, except for one bottle which tells me she already cleaned, she already did everything, but there was one guy waiting there and he was drinking that single beer and that money was a tip for her,” said Mains. This clue ruled out several suspects who were unlikely to tip Brenda, including her boyfriend and the owner of the establishment.

“That left one person, and it was Mains’ suspect, the same guy who was harassing the other bartender, so that brought it all together for me,” said Mains. He says the fact this man, who he believes lied to him during his questioning, was untruthful only further cements his guilt.

“He lied to me about numerous things. Things you didn’t have to lie about unless there was a reason,” said Mains.

As of now, the Centre County District Attorney, who is aware of Mains investigation, has not given any indication if charges will be filed based on his findings.

But as Mains will tell you, it’s not what you know, it’s what you can prove.

“My job is to investigate. The district attorney’s job is on their end. They don’t want me second guessing their opinion about law, just like I don’t want them meddling in my investigation, so I give them that respect,” said Mains. “Whether I agree with it or not, that’s totally separate.”

“In my mind it’s solved, in the family’s mind I think it’s solved as well, but will it ever totally be solved if you don’t have the body, or if the Pennsylvania State Police who have the case don’t come out and say that?” he said, adding, “For me, I’m satisfied.”

Anyone with information on Condon’s disappearance has been asked to contact Pennsylvania State Police at the Rockview Station at 814-355-7545 or anonymously contact the Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers Toll-Free at 1-800-4PA-TIPS (8477) or online at www.p3tips.com/tipform.aspx?ID=107