The Empty Grave: A True Story of Murder, Small Town Secrets, & A Family's Fight for Justice

The Empty Grave tells the true story of Corey Wood's murder and his family's relentless pursuit of justice in a small Texas county. Angelina County, nestled in the piney woods of deep East Texas between Houston and Dallas, has long been plagued by corruption, greed, and violence-accepted as the norm for as long as anyone can remember. What was uncovered during the search for the truth reveals a level of inhumanity that defies both basic decency and the moral values preached in the heart of the Bible Belt-by people who, on Sunday mornings, sat in church. This story is about exposing the truth and holding those responsible accountable for the harm they caused in pursuit of their own selfish interests.

Joy Marshall Brunner was born on December 4, 1957, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, to parents from Huntington, Texas. As a Navy child, she spent her early years traveling across the United States until her father retired and the family settled in Houston during her high school years. She married her high school sweetheart, the father of Corey and Darci, after he returned from Marine Corps boot camp. They lived in Hawaii and California before finally settling in Huntington, her hometown and his sportsman's paradise.

The marriage ended, but Joy stayed in Huntington to raise her children. Life moved forward. Corey graduated in 1995, Darci in 1996, and Jenson was born in 1997. Later, Joy married a man from Switzerland, Jenson's Dad. For a time, their home was full of love, laughter, and peace. Together they ran two businesses, and Joy worked as a cosmetologist and owner of her own salon.

Then came September 1999.

The murder of her son Corey shattered their lives. What followed was a painful journey through grief, silence, and corruption in a small East Texas town where people filled the church pews on Sunday mornings but lived by another code the rest of the week. The Empty Grave is a raw and personal account of loss, strength, and the relentless pursuit of justice in a place where truth was buried, and silence was expected.