Found Deceased OK - Tommy Eastep, 30, Lake Eufaula, 7 July 2013

No news, I guess. Not even enough information to come up with scenarios and get our brainstorming going :(
On a side note, it is a strange coincidence that he went missing the same day as Molly Miller and Colt Haynes in Love County.
 
BlogTalk Radio Interview with Tommy Eastep's Brother
January 20, 2014

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/newcolony/2014/01/21/monday-with-orion

Key to Participants:

H: Host
CE: Tommy's brother


H: When Tommy went missing, there was literally no trace of him whatsoever, and that's kind of where we're at on that... Okay, I've just gotten word that C is on, so let's see if we can go ahead and bring him on.

CE: Hi, Orion. This is C. How are you this evening?

H: Oh, I'm doing great, C. And I just want to clarify. Am I pronouncing y'all's last name right? Is it pronounced Eastep?

CE: It is, correct.

H: Okay, thank you for that. And I was doing my best stalling for time, not trying to give away too much of the story here.

CE: Right.

H: Now, I was going on the background information and I said he was last heard from on July the 7th. Is that correct?

CE: That's the last time that his truck was spotted in Eufaula before they found it on September 27. That's correct.

H: Oh, okay.

CE: The last time anybody actually saw him in person was on July 6.

H: Oh, okay, all right, but it was a confirmed sighting that it was his truck on July the 7th?

CE: That's correct.

H: Okay, was there any indication that he was the driver?

CE: Well, what happened was that he was staying at the same motel as my parents in Eufaula and, when they left on July 7, his truck was still parked in the parking lot. So they never actually saw him, but they verified that it was his truck in the parking lot on July 7.

H: Okay, and we will be getting into all that and, as I was discussing before, when we get on the shows like this and have guests come on, it is altogether too easy to separate a topic from a person, if you understand what I'm saying?

CE: Sure.

H: I'd asked you to come up with a story, a remembrance of Tommy that you had. Do you have anything you'd like to share about him? Like maybe a story of one time y'all hanging out together or something?

CE: Well, he loved to play golf, and he loved hanging out with his kids. We would go play golf every chance we got, him, myself and my dad and my older brother, and golf was kind of something that we all just kind of loved to do together. Got away from all the problems, just went out and hung out. But he loved spending time with his kids. He was a great dad. I mean, just a good kid.

H: And how old are his children?

CE: I believe they are nine and eight, or eight and seven. They're somewhere right in that area.

H: Don't feel bad, I'm the same way. I've got two nieces I love with all my heart and, at any given time, I'm liable to tell you they're any age below the age of ten.

CE: Yeah, I've got so many I forget who's what.

H: I'm sorry, I know this situation is no laughing matter, but I really have an image of him. That's just how he was.

CE: He was.

H: Just looking at him, he just looks like the type of person that would just walk in the room and instantly set the mood for everybody.

CE: Yeah, he had a good dynamic personality. He was a good guy.

H: That's awesome. And, like I said, I do appreciate you coming on and everything to discuss this, be willing to help out, and any way that we can help out in any of the process, all's you have to do is just let me know.

CE: Okay, thank you.

H: Okay, getting on with the information and everything, you said that when your parents left the motel on July the 7th, that his truck was still there. Was there ever any indication from the motel if he had physically checked out or if any of the motel desk physically saw him that morning?

CE: Well, that's the unique part of the story. A couple of weeks later, there was some big storms in Oklahoma in that area, and that particular motel was damaged, and they have been rebuilding ever since. So, once the police report was filed and we actually realized that he was missing, when we went back to that motel, they couldn't help us because they were out of business at the time in their remodel process. So we've not been able to get them to locate any of the, at this time. I know the OSBI, which is the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation who currently has the case, I believe they have touched base with that motel again to see if they still have any of that time frame on record.

H: Oh, Okay. All right. Now, when I was speaking to you on instant messaging, I had asked you about the fuel level in the pickup truck when it was found a couple of months later, and you had said you believed it was at three-quarters of a tank.

CE: It was somewhere in that area, yes.

H: So it wasn't like bone-dry empty?

CE: Exactly. It was not.

H: Okay, have y'all been able to get any type of information as far as use of debit or credit cards he may have had?

CE: Well, what was found in the truck was his license, his debit card, and some cash. His phone was not found. We still have yet to find it to this day, so we believe that it was with him, wherever he's at. So the last debit transactions that we could find, I believe were on the 6th. I believe that's the last time there was a transaction recorded on his debit card.

H: Oh, okay, all right. My train of thought is, I know it wasn't too far of a distance, but it was far enough, maybe he stopped to fill up for gas, pick up some pop or something for on the way home. So, like we were talking about before, where his truck was found, it wasn't directly off the highway. It was back, like in the backwoods tucked off on, you know, you go a few miles down one road and turn down a mile down another road. Something to that effect?

CE: Yeah, it was a good three to five miles off any main highway. The road that it was actually on, at one time probably was a county road of some sort, or a portion of a county road, but it hadn't been used by the county, it didn't look like, for a long time. It looked more like a cattle road, if you're familiar with kind if what a cattle road is. And it was parked about as deep as you could go down that road, and I believe the only reason it probably stopped was because there was a tree that was overhanging in that, if you want to call it a road. It was overhanging in that road and the truck couldn't go any farther. So it was, you probably couldn't even have seen it if you were in a helicopter. I mean, it was that covered up.

H: Now, would there be any logical reason for Tommy to be back there on his own?

CE: You know, like I told you while we were IMing, traveling from Eufaula back to Norman was a normal route on Highway 9. So that particular route, yeah, we could understand that. That's not what gave us pause. It was how far off of that highway it was. And, to the best of our knowledge, we don't know if Tommy had anybody that he knew in that area. I mean, he's never given us any reason to believe that he knew anybody down in the area around the towns that are close to where his truck was found. And by close I mean ten, fifteen, twenty miles away.

H: Oh, wow, okay. Were there any houses back there where his truck was found?

CE: The closest house was probably a mile and a half maybe. Maybe a little bit less, but not, no less than a mile away.

H: So it wasn't a situation like maybe he saw an old friend or old acquaintance or something, decided to stop by the house?

CE: No. Not that we're aware of. Like I said, we don't know if he knew anybody in that area. If he did, he never let on to us that he did.

H: Oh, okay. And you said, well, from my reading and everything on the case, it says that he was an insurance adjuster?

CE: Yes, he was an independent insurance adjuster. That's correct.

H: Okay, to y'all's knowledge, was there any disputes that he was in the middle of? You know, someone that had maybe expressed anger towards him or some kind of altercation over the Fourth of July holiday or anything?

CE: Not to my knowledge, no.

H: Okay. <snip O/T> Now, was there a particular name for the community that the truck was located in?

CE: Not really. It was on the far, I believe it was the north edge of Hughes County. It was right on a, like a county divide, and Hughes County is actually where the truck was found.

H: Oh, okay. And was there any significant damage, you know, like windows busted out, steering column broken, anything?

CE: No. No, you know, it's really crazy because there was absolutely no sign of any sort that the truck had been messed with. The keys were found in the truck. I forgot to mention that earlier. The keys were in the truck, along with his license and his debit card. So it's really kind of a weird scenario.

H: So when he separated from the truck, one way or another, when he separated from the truck, it was just him and his cell phone?

CE: I mean, that's as good a guess as any. We've been trying, you know, you could give me a scenario and I couldn't tell you you were wrong because there's no information leading us in any direction. I mean, any information. That's kind of what makes it so hard is because there's not one thing that points in a certain direction. There's just nothing.

H: <snip O/T> You know, law enforcement somewhere could call up my phone company and find out exactly where I'm at within 100 feet.

CE: That's if your phone's on. That only works if your phone's charged and has power. And we've done just about everything we can do trying to ping that phone, and the last time it pinged was on, I believe it was on July 6. It never even pinged on July 7. So, you know, and that's the first thing we thought was let's look at his phone and see if we can triangulate it. Well, if it's not on, that doesn't do you any good. It can give you the last position but, if you know the last position, it really doesn't do you any good, you know?

H: Right, right. Now, something I've heard in the past, in other cases, have y'all been keeping his bill current or, you know, is the phone still active, or have they already cycled it off to another (unintelligible)?

CE: No, since it's an active investigation, we're keeping that line open, because you never know. We'd hate to turn it off, and it show up.

H: Right, you know, if someone somehow came across it, you know, tried to turn it on or something happens and he tries to turn it on, that information, that would...

CE: Yeah, that's something we'd need to know. Yeah, definitely.

H: Right. Now, you said it was a motel, so I can only assume that this was a multi-day trip, a multi-day vacation-type thing, celebration of Independence Day. Was his clothes with the truck, or did they ever find his clothes he brought with him?

CE: I really don't, I really don't know. I mean, there were clothes in the truck, but what they say that he was last seen wearing was the day before, obviously, since they didn't see him on July 7. So there was clothes found in the truck but I can't really say if it was what he was wearing. I can't really answer that.

H: Okay, because what I'm trying to establish is, I mean, from the surface, people can say, you know what, this guy just up and walked away from his life.

CE: Sure.

H: You know, but the more evidence that we can put out there saying no, he did not do that. He was a family man. He had kids. He had people that loved him. He wasn't in any type of turmoil to anybody's knowledge, you know, that he walked off without his license, his debit card, his keys, his vehicle, his belongings. He did not walk away. And that's really basically the only substantial thing that I've been able to see is that he did not walk away from his life. You know, I know it's been done in the past by other people, but this is not something that looks like that, you know, that comes up with that appearance.

CE: Yeah, and because, you know, he had, there was cash found in the, we thought the same thing. There was cash in the truck and he had money in his bank account and so, the thought is, if you're going to walk away, you just get all the cash you can get and then just go. You don't just leave it all just sitting there. At least, that's what makes sense, anyway.

H: I understand that there have been numerous searches in the area for him.

CE: Yeah, absolutely. We did an initial search right after the truck was found. Highway patrol, cadaver dogs, Hughes County sheriff, they did a search right around the truck area where it was found and then, after that, it was either the next week or two weekends, I think it was the next weekend, about ten of us got out on 4-wheelers, along with the owner of some of the land around there, who has been really good to us, helping us out, letting us in gates and stuff. And we rode around for, I don't know, four or five hours canvassing that place on 4-wheelers. And then, on October 12, the highway patrol put together a ground search and around 200 people showed up for that. They set out a grid and we canvassed it as good as we possibly could and absolutely came up with nothing. And then on, uh, checking my dates here, then on October 24, there's a lake, it's about a mile, half a mile, maybe a mile from where the truck was found, and highway patrol did a sonar search of that lake, and there was some formations that looked like, that needed to be investigated a little bit further. So, on October 29, they went back with their dive team and ended up, just ruling out that it wasn't a body. It was just rock formations that looked suspicious from the sonar. So there has been an exhaustive search of that area, a couple of times, and nothing. Nothing has come up.

H: To your knowledge, has there been any type of like disappearances in that area?

CE: Not to my knowledge. Not that I'm personally aware of, no.

H: Okay, that was one of those questions that I was looking up and couldn't find any answers to. When was the last search that was held?

CE: The last search was, like I said, the dive team on, I believe it was October 29. They went back over where the sonar had picked up formations that looked suspicious. That was on October 29. And, to my knowledge, they haven't been back out there since.

H: Has there been any type of shoreline search? You know, people just walking the shoreline to see if anything might have washed up or, you know, came ashore or even ran off from in the woods?

CE: Well, during those particular searches, people were walking the shoreline. Since that last search, to my knowledge, nobody's been back out there. We actually, during the October 12 search, we walked both sides of that shoreline.

H: And nothing suspicious or nothing seemed out of place or anything like that?

CE: No.

H: Wow, man. Okay, now, does Tommy have any type of tattoos or any type of distinguishing scars or features that someone might see right off the bat with him?

CE: Yeah, he's got a couple of tattoos on his arms. He's got one on his right arm and one on his left arm. The one on his right arm says "Carpe Diem" on it, and it's got an emblem on some sort, but the words "Carpe Diem" are on his right arm and shoulder. And I can't remember what's on his left arm.

H: <snip O/T> Not a lot of people may be familiar with where Eufaula is and the area that we're talking about. Eufaula, if my memory serves right, is what? Twenty miles south of Interstate 40 on US Highway 69? Something like that?

CE: I really don't know, but you're in the right vicinity, yes.

H: Okay, so if you're wanting to know where Eufaula, Oklahoma is, in east central Oklahoma, if that makes any sense, follow US 69 down south from Interstate 40, like I said, off the top of my head I think it's maybe 20, 25, 30 miles, and that's where Eufaula is. And, if you can find Eufaula, you'll find Highway 9 going westbound toward Oklahoma City, and you can get a general idea of the area. The terrain from what I remember is not really mountainous, but extremely hilly and extremely wooded. With that being said, are there any current efforts or any plans for any further searches or anything like that?

CE: Now right now. And again, I don't know what the OSBI has planned or what their plan is right now but, from a family standpoint, not really an effort to re-canvass the same area. Not at this time.

H: Okay. And that's completely understandable, you know, without any new information or any new ideas. You know, you can re-canvass the same area over and over again and never find anything. But without that new added piece of information, there's really no idea on where to search, you know, so you don't waste your efforts.

CE: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, if it was feasible, we'd probably be down there every day. We'd be canvassing that area every day if we thought that we would find something. But we feel like we've done a really good job with the help that we had of canvassing that area. Now, that's not to say that if something did come up, that we wouldn't be right back down there and do it a hundred times over, because we would. But, right now, it just doesn't seem like there's anything in that area, based on the searches that we've already conducted.

H: <snip O/T> Did Tommy have any health issues or any health problems?

CE: No. Not that would, not to my knowledge, that would affect him physically like that.

H: Oh, okay, all right. You know, I could tell by your answer you knew what I was asking about. That's why I was kind of asking the question, you know?

CE: Right.
 
Thanks a million, OkieGranny. Much appreciated. It's interesting that his phone never pinged on the 7th, like it was never on that day.
 
Anyone else think it is weird that his facebook activity stops on the 4th, but he was last reported being seen on the 6th?

Also, another observation that I had was that he was in Dallas on the 3rd visiting friends. On the 4th he drove from Dallas to Eufaula and on the way, he stopped in Davis, OK for unknown reasons. While in Davis, someone took a photo of him. I don't know who took the photo, but it you look closely, you can see his face reflection of the glass.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...237.1073741827.100006126570266&type=1&theater

Not sure if this has any connection with his disappearance, but I figured I would point it out.
 
Anyone else think it is weird that his facebook activity stops on the 4th, but he was last reported being seen on the 6th?

Also, another observation that I had was that he was in Dallas on the 3rd visiting friends. On the 4th he drove from Dallas to Eufaula and on the way, he stopped in Davis, OK for unknown reasons. While in Davis, someone took a photo of him. I don't know who took the photo, but it you look closely, you can see his face reflection of the glass.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...237.1073741827.100006126570266&type=1&theater

Not sure if this has any connection with his disappearance, but I figured I would point it out.

Hmmm wonder who was with him. That's not a pic you would normally have a stranger take of you. Thanks for sharing.
 
Hmmm wonder who was with him. That's not a pic you would normally have a stranger take of you. Thanks for sharing.

On his FB page he has a pic (selfie) of him and a male he is calling his little bro. He is wearing the same clothes so I assume the "little bro" probably took the pic of him you are referring to above. The comments also include the info that this pic was taken in Davis (??)

I'm going out on a ledge here....In a previous FB post, he states his friends are helping him get set up on FB because he has been out of the loop, so to speak, for a decade. (paraphrasing because we can not paste FB posts).
I think he was probably in jail (sorry if this has been brought up...I'm not that quick :facepalm: sometimes)
I also think, IMO!!!! that a lot of his pics portray him as interested in the same sex. I only bring this up because it opens up another avenue, [modsnip], that could provide some clues.
 
It looks like he has been to jail before, but briefly. One thing that stands out is the NON-ALCOHOL DUI, leading me to believe it was some kind of drug.

http://mugshots.com/US-Counties/Texas/Denton-County-TX/Tommy-Eastep.55501236.html

I wonder what kind of drug he was on. Maybe Meth?

Or pills. Prescription drug abuse has exploded in Oklahoma.

http://newsok.com/oklahoma-watch-oklahoma-pharmacies-fill-nearly-10-million-prescriptions-for-narcotic-painkillers/article/3932049

Oklahoma pharmacies filled nearly 10 million prescriptions for narcotic painkillers and other controlled dangerous substances last year, according to newly obtained state data.

Those prescriptions — an average of 68 per patient, including refills — contained 597 million doses of painkillers, tranquilizers, sleeping pills, steroids and other controlled pharmaceuticals tracked by the state's Prescription Monitoring Program.

Nearly 16,000 medical professionals are registered to write narcotics prescriptions in Oklahoma. About 1,500 of them accounted for nearly three-fourths of all controlled substance prescriptions filled in 2013, officials said.
 
Does anyone know how to run him in the federal prison database? All I can find is the inmate locator and that seems to only display those currently in custody.
 
It looks like he has been to jail before, but briefly. One thing that stands out is the NON-ALCOHOL DUI, leading me to believe it was some kind of drug.

http://mugshots.com/US-Counties/Texas/Denton-County-TX/Tommy-Eastep.55501236.html

I wonder what kind of drug he was on. Maybe Meth?

Hmmm, this does not state DUI, just Public Intox Non-Alcohol. He probably would not have done any time for that. I still think he must have a longer rap sheet and probably did time in prison (state or federal). The suicide theory makes a lot sense...although I would think he would overdose, either intentionally or "accidentally" (which seems very easy to do when you are addicted. You incrementally need more & more to get high). I need to read back about the missing gun (?) I didn't see that!
My opinion only!!! This guy is gorgeous and he seems to realize the fact that he is attractive. I don't mean this negatively! But, I don't see him shooting himself, :moo: The missing gun could also mean he was upto no good with some other people......Sad case all around :(
 
[modsnip]

That is a possibility. However, his truck was found in a very rural area of Oklahoma with his keys, wallet, and cash locked inside. In addition, they have failed to find his body anywhere in that area. Given these facts, I would doubt that suicide was involved.

PS - I didn't know there was a missing gun.
 
Hmmm, this does not state DUI, just Public Intox Non-Alcohol. He probably would not have done any time for that. I still think he must have a longer rap sheet and probably did time in prison (state or federal). The suicide theory makes a lot sense...although I would think he would overdose, either intentionally or "accidentally" (which seems very easy to do when you are addicted. You incrementally need more & more to get high). I need to read back about the missing gun (?) I didn't see that!
My opinion only!!! This guy is gorgeous and he seems to realize the fact that he is attractive. I don't mean this negatively! But, I don't see him shooting himself, :moo: The missing gun could also mean he was upto no good with some other people......Sad case all around :(

Sorry, I meant to say PI instead of DUI!
 
Looks like the trip with his 'baby bro' to deliver supplies in OK was a month after his arrest for public intoxication non-alcohol. Seems he was trying to get his life together and surrounding himself with positive people at that time.
 
Looks like the trip with his 'baby bro' to deliver supplies in OK was a month after his arrest for public intoxication non-alcohol. Seems he was trying to get his life together and surrounding himself with positive people at that time.

Yeah, that seems to make sense to me. [modsnip].
 
Hmmm, this does not state DUI, just Public Intox Non-Alcohol. He probably would not have done any time for that. I still think he must have a longer rap sheet and probably did time in prison (state or federal). The suicide theory makes a lot sense...although I would think he would overdose, either intentionally or "accidentally" (which seems very easy to do when you are addicted. You incrementally need more & more to get high). I need to read back about the missing gun (?) I didn't see that!
My opinion only!!! This guy is gorgeous and he seems to realize the fact that he is attractive. I don't mean this negatively! But, I don't see him shooting himself, :moo: The missing gun could also mean he was upto no good with some other people......Sad case all around :(

I checked ODCR and OSCN and Tommy has no criminal record in Oklahoma, other than traffic tickets and a 1995 charge of Impersonating an Officer.

No records found for Tommy on the Oklahoma DOC Offender Lookup.

I'm not aware of a missing gun either. Source?
 

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