CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It's been three months since Andy Tench was last seen, and now for the first time, his mother spoke to the man who told police he dumped Tench's body in the trash.
"It's really hard on me," Tracie Blanton said. "My happiness is gone."
Blanton recently talked to D'Shaun Montrell Robinson who last saw her son alive. She's praying for closure and some peace.
"Andy was my best friend, and I still look for him all the time," Blanton told Robinson.
Tench was last seen alive celebrating his 31st birthday in Charlotte. He went to The Bar at 316 that night but never came home. His car was found abandoned in Monroe days later. Robinson admitted to meeting Tench at a bar and having sex with him. He told Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police he put Tench's body in the trash.
Robinson faces numerous charges related to the case, including concealment of a death and credit card fraud. It's still unclear how Tench died. Now, Blanton has just one question that's eating her alive.
"I just wanted to know, did Andy know he was dying? Did he suffer?" Blanton asked.
Robinson responded by saying Tench didn't suffer. Instead, he just went to sleep. Without a body, Blanton said her son remains buried only in her heart.
"If he is out there somewhere, we would love nothing more than to bring him home," she said.
A landfill is now an unmarked grave site. Tench's family has asked for the landfill to be shut down or searched until his remains are found. They've since launched a petition to have the property searched. While successful landfill searches are rare, it's not unprecedented.
Colorado authorities found the body of Jennifer Blagg in a landfill in 2002. Blanton hopes for the same success in finding her son.
"They would move heaven and Earth if it were one of their children," Blanton said. "They would go make sure, and Andy is no different."
A CMPD spokesperson said detectives met with experts knowledgeable of the landfill to figure out the logistics of searching for Tench's body. Those experts told CMPD that based on the landfill's operations and size, there isn't enough evidence to justify excavation of the site.
Anyone with information about the disappearance of Andy Tench is asked to call Charlotte Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.
Contact Tradesha Woodard at twoodard1@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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