Found Deceased TX - Thomas Brown, 18, Hemphill County, 23 Nov 2016

[jellybean96]

I am listening (and re-listening!) to the podcast released yesterday. I definitely think we will have some new information to comb through once I've listened to all of it. But definitely some interesting information & new facts.

 

[jellybean96]

Things I have noted from the podcast:

1. Broke up with girlfriend 10 days before he went missing. They were still friendly and saw each other the night before he went missing at basketball game.
2. Mom doesn't think leaving football team had anything to do with him being missing.
3. Thomas was replaced on FB by lower classman who had goals of playing for college and needed playing time.
4. Mom was ok with Tom quitting football - Dad wasn't happy with it but came around.
5. Brother had sent Tom a text, before mom realized he hadn't gotten home, and it went unanswered.
6. Thomas had hung with another young man earlier in the night, Michael. So he was with Caleb, Christen and Michael that night.
7. Took County Deputy Pine (?) Gregory (who was on duty) 45 min to respond to first call about Thomas missing. He responded at 3:50am.
8. 3-4 similar Durangos in Canadian, but his had white writing (shoe polish) on his car windows.
9. 5:30 Deputy and Tucker drove close to where Thomas car was found at the baseball complex and his car wasn't there. The area was normally gated but the deputy didn't want to drive over to the gate to inspect. Deputy missed seeing Thomas's car by about 10 min, per mom.
10. As soon as sun came up, Christian and her dad took their helicopter up and looked for Thomas' car.
11. Sheriff came on duty around 7:00, Mom and stepdad went to sheriffs office around 7:30-8:00.
12. According to Caleb, they had let their vehicles in the middle school parking lot, but got into one car to drive around. Thomas was not driving - his vehicle was left in the middle school parking lot. They drove around in Christians car.
13. Christian and her father found Thomas' car where Tucker had been suspicious of the gate being open. East of the baseball field, by the water treatment plant. Car was hidden in a grove of trees.
14. Shortly after car was found, Sheriff called Mom's husband and said they suspected suicide and asked him not to tell mom. Stepdad told mom anyway.
15. Day after car was found, Mom heard sheriffs were inside of car and bringing in search dogs.
16. On Friday, lady deputy friend was first on scene. Lady deputy told Mom that she had tried to protect car from deputys trying to get inside of it (she was trying to protect evidence).
17. Mom didn't go to site where car was found, they knew they would not be allowed to be near car.
18. Mom learned: 25 caliber shell casing was found, though not sure where. LE said it was found in back seat, eye witnesses say it was in front seat. Michael's debit card was found in the car (according to mom, not unusual). Things were missing from Tom's car. Later they were told there was a blood drop on the drivers side door. Someone had urinated behind the back of car, on the ground.
19. Dogs searched area, no real scent. Dogs walked around car, walked up hill and didn't go far. Dogs just stopped in the middle of field.
20. Writing to make Thomas vehicle unique was still on vehicle as of Friday. 10 hours after he went missing.
21. Car was returned by sundown on Thursday. Drivers side window was down. Car was found unlocked, no keys found.
22. Mom asked female deputy if car was processed. Lady Deputy said they did not try to lift finger prints.
23. Drop of blood - according to sheriff dept. it is Thomas blood. Mom has not seen photo of blood spot.
24. Sheriff Dept. came back and got car on Sunday and that is when she found out about blood droplet. Mom never saw blood droplet.
25. Mom doesn't know what to think about blood. She never saw it and believes it was wiped away. Shell casing was not in car when mom got car back.
26. 2 months later, Thomas backpack was found on Lake Marvin road on secluded road. Electrical worker found backpack on State land and the man who manages the land was never notified that backpack was found on the land he managed. Sheriff Lewis did not tell mom of backpack discovery until 5 days after its discovery. The backpack was found a couple of miles across the miles from where Thomas car was found.
27. Sheriff Lewis tried to tell mom Thomas walked away and mom says no way that happened.
28. Computer was in backpack, items were wet. Papers were moldy. All is according to Sheriff Dept. Mom didn't see items til almost a year later. Items were dirty a year later, no mold. Definitely Thomas backpack and items. Mom has still not seen computer.
29. In Moms opinion, computer is still in possession of the crime lab. Mom doesn't know.
30. Gun holster was found on Oct 14, 2017 in a search conducted by Phillip Klein. Holster was found near where the backpack was found, several miles up the road.
31. Cell phone was found on same day as holster, by private investigator. Mom has not seen cellphone, there is some discrepancy about the cell phone. Lady from neighboring town found cellphone less than 10 min in search. Lady did not touch cell phone but did photograph cell phone (even though she wasn't supposed to). Lady made the comment that the phone was 'rose gold' - Thomas phone was gold. Mom says the phone at the lab is Thomas phone. The phone found is not his phone, per mom.
32. When mom talked to Christian and Caleb, they had no ideas of what could have happened. When they parted way around 11:20 on Thanksgiving Eve, they were going to meet the next day. The two girls that Thomas met earlier on Wed had plans to go to the movies on the weekend had he not gone missing.
33. Found out through Credit card records, Mom found Thomas went to get gas as soon as he left his friends. He swiped card at Gas Stations at 11.28. Around $45 gas, filled up all the way. Gas was 1.90/gallon. When car was brought back to mom, 1/4 gallon of gas had been used - about 100 miles were driven or car was sitting idling, when car was discovered 8 hours later.
34. Thomas cell phone was turned off shortly after midnight. According to LE, there was a ping of Thomas phone near the high school football stadium around midnight - which means he drove close to his home to go to the football field from the gas station.
35. Mom went to Dollar Store, Sec, of 1st United Methodist Church, owner of the PitStop, owner of Abraham Trading to see about video. Gas Station video was not working the night Thomas went missing. Dollar Store had video that would have been helpful, but he had to drive nearest the Dollar Store to see anything. Video had already been taped over. Mom went 6 months after Thomas went missing. LE had video from an AllSups, Alexander Grocery and Deli and Abraham Trading and the Pavillan (last place Thomas Car was seen driving). A women who worked at the church saw on video, 3 cars were seen. One went right, one went straight and one went left. Around 11:20 in the spread of a few minuets. the 3 cars all left. She believes Thomas went to gas station. Mom believes Caleb and Christian Left when they said they did.
36. Abrahams Trading video - corner of main and 2nd . After seeing video, Unfound believes there is no way to know if Thomas went through the intersection or not. Mom agrees with that. Unfound believes Crime Watch Daily mislead people to think that was Thomas' vehicle. There are 12 red SUV that pass that intersection that night. Its too hard to tell which red SUV it is. It may be his vehicle, but one cannot say for sure.
37. Mom got Abraham Trading video from store owner who is friends with mom. He had saved video after he heard LE say Thomas was all over town that night. Mom called owner and asked to have it and had made notes that he could not tell if it was Thomas or his vehicle. Once mom got video and mom cannot conclusively say it was Thomas in the video. There are several red vehicles that went through the intersection - but there is not one that has white writing on it like Thomas video. Abrahams has 6 videos - 3 inside, 3 outside. One is in color so they know red vehicles at the intersection.
38. Mom saw video from Alexanders Grocery - mom believes it is Thomas car (video not in color) because it goes by twice and you can see writing on the car window. Approximately 5:45 am. Same time Tucker was riding with Deputy. Alexanders is approx. 6 blocks from Thomas home. Vehicle goes in one direction, then in 2 min or so, comes back and goes the opposite direction.
39. LE explains video as Thomas left town, and drove around town all night. Drove by house one last time, and then left town.
40. Around the same time, the car is on video at the ball fields.
41. There is a video from the water treatment plant that only LE has seen. Approx. 5:55am Thomas car heads down by the water treatment plant and the road that goes into the grove of trees. Thats where the car was found.
44. Several ways the car could of traveled to the ballpark, but no one is sure which way the car went. The water treatment plant and Alexander Grocery is on opposite sides of town. No other vehicles pulled in to the treatment plant, according to LE. They showed mom the Alexander video, but not video of treatment plant.
45. Mom says it could maybe take 10 min to get to treatment plant.
46. Sighting - on Friday or Sat after Thomas went missing, 2 high schoolers and one middle school kid (one was a cousin who was in Thomas grade) came to mom and they had seen Thomas around 1140 getting gas. Normally the cousin would have pulled in to talk to Thomas but that night he didn't. Cousin drove a darker color truck that was 'lifted' up off the ground. Abrahams video shows similar video of lifted truck driving towards to the gas station.
47. Kid who saw Thomas (the cousin) has changed his story now. Mom cannot talk about the change - other than to say he now denies that he saw Thomas. Mom had a lawyer friend looking into Thomas missing and she rounded up friends of Thomas to talk with lawyer friend. Cousin was one of the friends she rounded up, and told lawyer friend cousin was the one who last saw Thomas. When lawyer friend interviewed Cousin, he denied seeing Thomas and said that it was someone else who saw Thomas.
48. When cousin initially told mom he saw Thomas getting gas, she didn't know the exact time he had gotten gas. Cousin told her that detail.
49. Seeds of Doubt - says maybe friend made up the story, maybe he really saw it. Mom says she believed Cousin when he said he saw Thomas.
50. Controversy #1 - Mom says she saw photo of Thomas getting gas. 10 days after Thomas went missing, mom saw photo of Thomas getting gas. Sheriff Lewis showed her the photo. Mom confirmed it was Thomas in the photo, along with his car. Mom does not think the photo was taken from ground level - like a dash cam of a car. Mom is certain it was taken at ground level, very close up. Sheriff Lewis claims the photo came from Dollar General but mom did not believe because of the close up view of the gas station. Philip Klein saw photo and it was reported in Houston Chronicle.

I am at the 2 hour mark and need to stop to go somewhere, but this is what I have noted for the first two hours.

 

[kelsie]

Thank you 806mom. What a confusing timeline???

 

[jellybean96]

Part 2 of notes from podcast, starting at 2:00 mark

51. Mom is absolutely certain the video was from close up, street level. Mom says she saw the side of his face, but he was not looking at camera.
52. Moms husband talked to the Major over the Texas Ranger who was investigating the case. The Major knew nothing of the photo of Thomas and was alarmed. When the Major asked local LE about the photo, they denied it existed. This was about 9 months after Thomas went missing.
53. Unfound makes the point that LE is the first people you think about when thinking of someone who would have a camera, at street level. Sheriff told Mom the photo came from Dollar General, Mom says there is no way the photo came from Dollar General - at ground level, from 50 ft away. Issue is still not resolved.
54. Re: 25 caliber bullet - Thomas does not like guns, does not shoot. Family does not 25 caliber gun.
55. Re: holes in Durango when Mom got car back - none inside or out. Blood appeared to have been wiped off (which is not usual police procedure). Mom is in posession of Durango. Mom notes that Thomas's cell phone charger was still in the car - which she says is weird he would leave it behind if he was running away.
56. Re: Thomas' Girlfriend - she was in Canadian the night Thomas went missing. She texted Thomas first, around 11:30-11:35 asking if he was ok. He replied he was ok. The girlfriend texted him a second time, around 11:40 and got no response from Thomas. Girlfriend has not told mOm was the content of the text was, but her mother did. Not sure what the second message was - but he did not respond. All the investigators have seen the messages, though Mom has not.
57. Girlfriends mom said her daughter had not spoken to Thomas or texted the previous day. Girlfriend told her mother she got an 'odd feeling' and sent him a message to check on him. Mom says Thomas would not blow off curfew to meet girlfriend - he would have called first.
58. Just to understand family dynamic, Thomas would have gotten grounded from xbox for coming in late. But mom says he has never missed curfew.
59. Re: Sheriff Lewis - touchy territory. Lewis is from Canadian originally, and has worked in other counties. Moved to Canadian around 2015 and decided to run for Sheriff. He is in his early 30's. The sitting sheriff had been appointed by commissioners, and everyone seemed to like the sitting sherif before Lewis. The sitting sheriff dropped out of the election (he is not a politician) even though he had most experience in the sheriffs dept. Sheriff Lewis won election by 25 votes. There were rumors of Sheriff Lewis having misdeeds in his former positions in other counties. Lewis had been sheriff for 2 about 2 months before Thomas went missing. He took office in September (4 months before he normally would have) because everyone else in the sheriffs dept when Lewis won. Apparently no one wanted to work for Lewis possibly because of his reputation in the LE community. He was also young and inexperience. Sheriff Lewis and Thomas' Dad know each other. Lewis was a city policeman and deputy in Perryton and ex-Husband played together in football league. They were partners in the league. Mom found this out when Lewis moved back to Canadian (before he was sheriff).
60. A year and 5 months before Thomas went missing, Lewis and Thomas (June 2015) had a run-in. Thomas and his friends (including Caleb) had been hanging out at a girls house, and Caleb went home. Thomas, the girl and two boys were left at girls. Girl went to bed, and the two boys hung out on the girls front porch for a few minuets (with permission). One of the boys did not have a car, though he was older than Thomas. They walk to Allsups, then around Canadian. This was around 10:45. They went to the laundry mat - open 24/7 - to cool off and get a sip of their drink. They continue walking, and cross Main Street and start going down a side stop. A car stops them and wants to know what they were doing walking around, why were you touching a door knob? They dont answer the man, so he starts swearing. Lewis recognizes Thomas and tells him to call his mom and tell her what I have been doing. Lewis says to Thomas 'get in my car'. Thomas doesn't know this man - or know that he is friends with his dad. Thomas is reluctant to get in the vehicle. Thomas's friends convince him to get in the truck. Lewis continues to question Thomas. Thomas tells him they were only walking around town. Lewis starts swearing at Thomas. Lewis also works in an oil field company and knew Thomas step dad from them. Lewis calls Thomas's stepdad at midnight. Stepdad does not answer call. Lewis leaves voicemail that Thomas was downtown, messing around. Mom and Stepdad are not sure why Lewis is calling them as he is not LE in Canadian. Thomas comes in and tells them what happened, and who Lewis is. Thomas wants to know why Lewis stopped him, accusing the boys of touching a door knob. Mom tells Thomas to go to bed, and they would deal with it the next day. The grill Thomas again, why were you touching door knob. Thomas says he never did. Thomas was leaving on Sunday to go to a camp, so Mom tells Thomas she is going to tell the sitting Sheriff what happened. Thomas swears he is telling the truth. Monday am, Mom goes to talk to Sheriff. The sitting sheriff and deputy laugh about it, reassure mom that the boys are not on their radar. Sheriff was astounded the boys were stopped, and that Lewis stopped the boys without letting Hemphill Co. know. Sitting Sheriff turns it over to the Texas Rangers to have them investigate it since sitting sheriff was running in an election against Lewis. Mom called the sheriff Dept. where Lewis did work, to report incident.Texas Rangers called mom and told her no charges were going to be pressed. Mom dropped the case. So a recap: The man investigating Thomas disappearance is someone who had a run-in with Thomas - for no reason - and Thomas' mother had complained to his employer about him stopping her son for no reason - out of his jurisdiction. Mom was under the impression that the sheriff from Lewis county got onto Lewis for his action. Ex-husband and Lewis talked and he was upset Lewis called the stepdad instead of him. According to mom, they had words.
61. There are many rumors in Canadian and Hemphill Co. about Lewis doing this to several other kids, though they cannot get someone to come forward. Lewis has this reputation. To mom's knowledge he is not being sued for harassment. Also, through the grapevine, Lewis harassed Thomas again - but Thomas did not tell his mom. Others told mom that Lewis was harassing Thomas.
62. When Mom first saw Sheriff Lewis about Thomas' disappearance, Lewis felt like Thomas ran-away. This is contradicts what Lewis told Thomas's stepdad. Lewis told Mom a few days after he went missing and told Mom he felt Thomas was gay and ran off with an older man he met online. Several LE agreed that he was gay. Mom says Thomas is NOT gay. Girlfriend agrees that he is not gay. No one has said he was gay other than LE. Lewis, Chief Asst. Deputy, Texas Ranger, and the Major over the Texas Ranger were all in the room when Lewis told Mom this. Lewis says there are ten messages between Thomas and friend (girl) that are sexual in nature, Thomas was asking girl if she would do some sort of sexual act. Mom was confirms it was a text messages and the private investigator got the messages from cell phone records. Mom is uncertain how investigator got the messages.
63. Two weeks after Thomas went missing, Mom starts suspecting LE not only dropped the ball, but are more involved. Things Lewis said to Mom did not match Thomas' character. Things were not making sense. One day mom went to work and hired a Private Investigator. Someone brought mom a drink to the office, so the principal took the drink to Moms desk. Mom began crying and praying. She said she heard the Lord say to Trust Me and then an image of Lewis popped in her mind. Mom argued with God about Lewis, and then she started thinking about things Lewis said that were not right.
64. Pine Gregory - deputy who was on duty who Tucker rode around with - has a past. In 2003 Pine was off duty at home and a person drove by his house a couple of times and Pine decides this guy is out to get him. Pine chases after him in a car, stops the car, and pulls a gun on the other driver. Turns out, the other driver was a Pizza Delivery person who was lost and was trying to deliver a pizza. Pine was dismissed from his LE job after incident. Pine is still a deputy in Hemphill Co. even though he was charged with a FELONY with a gun and he is the guy who was on duty the night Thomas went missing. Tucker said that Pine didn't talk a bunch, but there was no radio communication in the car and Pine was texting someone while driving with Tucker. Pine explains to Tucker that he is texting his wife at 4am talking about Thanksgiving day plans with her. Pine talked about kids running away, missing curfew to Tucker. In Tuckers opinion, Pine was actually looking for Thomas. Pine was driving a real police vehicle (lights, Hemphill Co signage on side of SUV).
65. Unfound says that on the Abraham video that the video is off by 50 min. The Abraham owner says he didn't correct the time on the video before. On the video, if it says midnight, the time is actually 1am. When Unfound was watching the video the first time, he didn't see much. But when the time correction is factored into everything, Unfound says 2 sheriffs vehicles go by at 11:42 the night Thomas went missing.This is a big deal because this intersection is 1/2 mile from where Thomas was pumping gas. The Sheriffs vehicles are unmarked, but there are two glowing computer screens that can be seen but they are definitely Hemphill Co. sheriff vehicles. The cars were in the area of the gas station at the time Thomas went missing. They were in the area. Lewis or none of the deputys have not owned up to this. The unmarked cars were coming from the south - then one turns turns right on Main and one continues straight. The vehicles are fender to fender, SUV's, with computer screens in the front seat.
66. Re: the photo that showed Thomas pumping gas, that was taken at ground level (from a dash cam) - this makes the photo credible if 2 LE cars were in the area when Thomas went missing.
67. Unfound makes a correction - the sheriffs vehicles are shown atleast 8 times between 11:42 and 6:23 am. This can be determined by the indicators that make the cars different than private vehicles. The deputy at 6:23 is Depty Herrah, not Pine. Also, one of the sheriffs vehicle that was thought to be unmarked was actually marked.

I am stopping my note taking at 3:00 mark. Again, I have to run out and will finish when I get back.

 

[jellybean96]

Ok, I am back. Final 30 min or so of the podcast.

68. Clarification - one of the vehicles is, indeed, marked. Unfound think there is evidence of two marked sheriffs vehicles and one unmarked car cruising Canadian that night.
69.What does the new information mean? It means the sheriffs were in the area and should have seen Thomas driving around for 6.5 hours in a town with two stops lights? They should have seen him.
70. At 6:23am Pine and Lewis actually parked in the parking lot of Abrahams and talk for about a min, under the camera. Pine was in an official video, coming from the south. The second vehicle came from the north. They talk, then get in their vehicle and drive off.
71. One of the deputys went down the street to where the video shows durango was at. They should have passed each other. The deputy has never admitted he saw the durango that is shown on the video.
72. Re: Texas Rangers - initially they said Rangers could investigate still but as of Jan 2018, there are two different Rangers investigating the case. Mom hasn't talked to them in several months. The first Ranger on the case told mOm to fire Private Investigator and she wasn't sure why he would give that advice. Ranger was never courteous. The two new Rangers investigating seem to take case seriously. Mom will be contacting them as well as the Attorney General with the new video.
73. The case in now being investigated by the FBI and Attorney General. The FBI refuses to talk to mom.
74. Mom feels the #1 reason the case is now at Attorney Generals office is because there are so many inconstancies from the Sheriffs Office. The story from LE changes all the time. Mom wants the Attorney General to take lead, and Lewis can participate if he would like.
75. Re: Klein (Private Investigator) - Mom found him from Houston and mom heard about him from owner of Abraham Trading. A mom of a student brought her the name of Klein within two weeks of Thomas missing. Moms experience has been positive with Klein. Klein is who found the cell phone on the roadside. Mom believes Thomas phone is at the lab. But she does not believe the phone found on the side of the road is Thomas' as it was the wrong color. Mom does not know where Thomas' phone was found. Klein does not believe it is Thomas' phone either. On the day of the search, they told Mom they did not believe it was Thomas' phone. Then all the sudden it was said to be Thomas phone.
76. Former Hemphill Deputy (unnamed) says he believes Thomas was being followed and harassed by Sheriff Lewis. Mom does not know if unnamed Deputy saw something or why deputy feels that way, but the information has been brought forward recently. Mom doesn't really have details about how credible this information is, etc.
77. Moms attorney made a request for an open records request with the county in the fall of 2017. The sheriff or county attorney did not submit any kind of sample or thing to the Attorney General. In Dec 2017 when the time was up, and the AG's office made the decision to release the information. Both Lewis and the county attorney turned around and sued the attorney general's office. After that, Mom formed a petition to petition to turn the case over to the AG's office. Petition had over 8000 signatures in a few days. Mom isn't sure why, but the decision was made to turn the case over to the AG office. Lewis went to the media saying things like 'AG probably wont take case' there is nothing AG can do to help, etc. AG office called Mom to tell her they would be taking the case, unbeknown to Lewis. Lewis said to Mom 'do you really want to do this? Re: turning case over to AG office.
78. What its like for Mom, family? Mom says if Thomas died in a wreck, they would know what happened, grieved. Mom says its hard. But not knowing is hard. No evidence if Thomas is alive or dead. Mom says its hard to be around people who could be involved. All she wants is Lewis to do the right thing. Mom would feel better if Lewis would admit they messed up. etc.
79. Rare but not unusual that Police could be involved. They do their research to check out police activity. Most police are good, but some are bad.
80. Mom gives FB page, and on Tom's webpage www.findTomBrown.com. Final words from Mom - she just wants the truth. She wants Thomas brought home. There will be consequences, but she just wants to know what happened.
81. The video from Abrahams is now on You Tube and can be seen, so the listeners can see what they saw.

 

[Kristikay52]

thank you for that summary, 806mom! I tried to listen on iTunes but every time I paused the podcast, it would start over when I pressed play again so I gave up. So many inconsistencies in this case that its difficult to know what to think. I do however think that the person that approached/harmed Thomas was no stranger to him. I really hope this new information is the break this case needed.

 

[Steelslady]

I think most of us kind of get the vibe as to who is responsible for Thomas' disappearance. This sounds very very personal to me. Revenge for a past altercation with someone close to Thomas. Poor kid.

 

[Kristikay52]

I try not to jump to the "LE is involved" theory but honestly in this case, it's so hard not to. If they are not directly involved, they botched some things for sure.

 

[jellybean96]

I agree - this was personal and this was someone who had a grudge against Thomas.

I will be honest - before this podcast I was leaning towards one of his 'friends' being involved. Maybe things had gotten out out hand and Thomas had been hurt in the process. They panicked, etc. I DO NOT think this now. I think if LE is innocent of all these claims against them, they would speak out and clear up in misunderstandings.

At a very, very minimal - Lewis and his deputies are guilty of not handling this case professionally and did not follow proper police protocol.

I wasn't sure who could be involved other than his friends UNTIL I heard about Tucker riding with Pine and not investigating the gate being open. Why wouldn't you check that if its normally closed and locked? And then Pine always texting while he was looking for Thomas? Very curious. My ex-husband was a detective who worked late shift and I can say 100% that he would not text me at 4am to talk about anything.

 

[Kristikay52]

Agreed. I also thought until now that Thomas and a friend got into a fight, as 18 year old boys do, and things got out of hand then that person panicked.
I just don't know where things go from here though.

 

[Bigmike17]

The Sheriffs department screwed up...to what depth is anyone's guess. The Deputy saying that they believed Thomas had committed suicide was asinine. The vehicle was hidden so no-one would find it, you have blood in/on the vehicle, a .25 cal shell casing and NO BODY that does not spell suicide it spells murder! Thomas' vehicle should have been placed into protective custody in a secure and dry environment and completely processed by professional evidence techs. A proper evidence search might have produced HV blood spatter in or outside the vehicle, foreign fingerprints or even DNA.. The suspect is likely someone Thomas knew and is probably a member of the community. They (suspect(s)) knew the area well enough to dump the vehicle so it would not be found quickly but close enough to walk away without detection. I believe the suspect was able to avoid detection because they took Thomas NE or East of town on 60 or 2266, and when they returned to Canadian, the area by the ballfield and treatment plant was the best spot to dump the vehicle. If they took Hwy 60 they likely would have passed the Truck Stop, was their video checked? 2266 would be the best way to go undetected, I think this is why Thomas' belongings were found out towards Lake Marvin. The wildlife management area would be the place to start looking for Thomas. The sheriffs dept seems like a bunch of barneys but not sure if they would cover up a murder...but then again you never know. All of the Sheriffs radio traffic should have been recorded, has that been reviewed? I would assume the AG's office would have reviewed it. I have attached a 50 mile radius map... that would help account for the distance traveled in Thomas' vehicle.

 

[jellybean96]

The Sheriffs department screwed up...to what depth is anyone's guess. The Deputy saying that they believed Thomas had committed suicide was asinine. The vehicle was hidden so no-one would find it, you have blood in/on the vehicle, a .25 cal shell casing and NO BODY that does not spell suicide it spells murder! Thomas' vehicle should have been placed into protective custody in a secure and dry environment and completely processed by professional evidence techs. A proper evidence search might have produced HV blood spatter in or outside the vehicle, foreign fingerprints or even DNA.. The suspect is likely someone Thomas knew and is probably a member of the community. They (suspect(s)) knew the area well enough to dump the vehicle so it would not be found quickly but close enough to walk away without detection. I believe the suspect was able to avoid detection because they took Thomas NE or East of town on 60 or 2266, and when they returned to Canadian, the area by the ballfield and treatment plant was the best spot to dump the vehicle. If they took Hwy 60 they likely would have passed the Truck Stop, was their video checked? 2266 would be the best way to go undetected, I think this is why Thomas' belongings were found out towards Lake Marvin. The wildlife management area would be the place to start looking for Thomas. The sheriffs dept seems like a bunch of barneys but not sure if they would cover up a murder...but then again you never know. All of the Sheriffs radio traffic should have been recorded, has that been reviewed? I would assume the AG's office would have reviewed it. I have attached a 50 mile radius map... that would help account for the distance traveled in Thomas' vehicle.

I dont know if they would check radio traffic or not - but I would definately be interested in seeing Lewis' and Pine's cell phone records.

 

[Bigmike17]

I dont know if they would check radio traffic or not - but I would definitely be interested in seeing Lewis' and Pine's cell phone records.

Definitely! Most departments have GPS enabled tablets or laptops in the squad cars and that data would be equally as interesting. Dash camera and possible body cameras as well.

 

[?mysterian?]

Things I have noted from the podcast:

1. Broke up with girlfriend 10 days before he went missing. They were still friendly and saw each other the night before he went missing at basketball game.
2. Mom doesn't think leaving football team had anything to do with him being missing.
3. Thomas was replaced on FB by lower classman who had goals of playing for college and needed playing time.
4. Mom was ok with Tom quitting football - Dad wasn't happy with it but came around.
5. Brother had sent Tom a text, before mom realized he hadn't gotten home, and it went unanswered.
6. Thomas had hung with another young man earlier in the night, Michael. So he was with Caleb, Christen and Michael that night.
7. Took County Deputy Pine (?) Gregory (who was on duty) 45 min to respond to first call about Thomas missing. He responded at 3:50am.
8. 3-4 similar Durangos in Canadian, but his had white writing (shoe polish) on his car windows.
9. 5:30 Deputy and Tucker drove close to where Thomas car was found at the baseball complex and his car wasn't there. The area was normally gated but the deputy didn't want to drive over to the gate to inspect. Deputy missed seeing Thomas's car by about 10 min, per mom.
10. As soon as sun came up, Christian and her dad took their helicopter up and looked for Thomas' car.
11. Sheriff came on duty around 7:00, Mom and stepdad went to sheriffs office around 7:30-8:00.
12. According to Caleb, they had let their vehicles in the middle school parking lot, but got into one car to drive around. Thomas was not driving - his vehicle was left in the middle school parking lot. They drove around in Christians car.
13. Christian and her father found Thomas' car where Tucker had been suspicious of the gate being open. East of the baseball field, by the water treatment plant. Car was hidden in a grove of trees.
14. Shortly after car was found, Sheriff called Mom's husband and said they suspected suicide and asked him not to tell mom. Stepdad told mom anyway.
15. Day after car was found, Mom heard sheriffs were inside of car and bringing in search dogs.
16. On Friday, lady deputy friend was first on scene. Lady deputy told Mom that she had tried to protect car from deputys trying to get inside of it (she was trying to protect evidence).
17. Mom didn't go to site where car was found, they knew they would not be allowed to be near car.
18. Mom learned: 25 caliber shell casing was found, though not sure where. LE said it was found in back seat, eye witnesses say it was in front seat. Michael's debit card was found in the car (according to mom, not unusual). Things were missing from Tom's car. Later they were told there was a blood drop on the drivers side door. Someone had urinated behind the back of car, on the ground.
19. Dogs searched area, no real scent. Dogs walked around car, walked up hill and didn't go far. Dogs just stopped in the middle of field.
20. Writing to make Thomas vehicle unique was still on vehicle as of Friday. 10 hours after he went missing.
21. Car was returned by sundown on Thursday. Drivers side window was down. Car was found unlocked, no keys found.
22. Mom asked female deputy if car was processed. Lady Deputy said they did not try to lift finger prints.
23. Drop of blood - according to sheriff dept. it is Thomas blood. Mom has not seen photo of blood spot.
24. Sheriff Dept. came back and got car on Sunday and that is when she found out about blood droplet. Mom never saw blood droplet.
25. Mom doesn't know what to think about blood. She never saw it and believes it was wiped away. Shell casing was not in car when mom got car back.
26. 2 months later, Thomas backpack was found on Lake Marvin road on secluded road. Electrical worker found backpack on State land and the man who manages the land was never notified that backpack was found on the land he managed. Sheriff Lewis did not tell mom of backpack discovery until 5 days after its discovery. The backpack was found a couple of miles across the miles from where Thomas car was found.
27. Sheriff Lewis tried to tell mom Thomas walked away and mom says no way that happened.
28. Computer was in backpack, items were wet. Papers were moldy. All is according to Sheriff Dept. Mom didn't see items til almost a year later. Items were dirty a year later, no mold. Definitely Thomas backpack and items. Mom has still not seen computer.
29. In Moms opinion, computer is still in possession of the crime lab. Mom doesn't know.
30. Gun holster was found on Oct 14, 2017 in a search conducted by Phillip Klein. Holster was found near where the backpack was found, several miles up the road.
31. Cell phone was found on same day as holster, by private investigator. Mom has not seen cellphone, there is some discrepancy about the cell phone. Lady from neighboring town found cellphone less than 10 min in search. Lady did not touch cell phone but did photograph cell phone (even though she wasn't supposed to). Lady made the comment that the phone was 'rose gold' - Thomas phone was gold. Mom says the phone at the lab is Thomas phone. The phone found is not his phone, per mom.
32. When mom talked to Christian and Caleb, they had no ideas of what could have happened. When they parted way around 11:20 on Thanksgiving Eve, they were going to meet the next day. The two girls that Thomas met earlier on Wed had plans to go to the movies on the weekend had he not gone missing.
33. Found out through Credit card records, Mom found Thomas went to get gas as soon as he left his friends. He swiped card at Gas Stations at 11.28. Around $45 gas, filled up all the way. Gas was 1.90/gallon. When car was brought back to mom, 1/4 gallon of gas had been used - about 100 miles were driven or car was sitting idling, when car was discovered 8 hours later.
34. Thomas cell phone was turned off shortly after midnight. According to LE, there was a ping of Thomas phone near the high school football stadium around midnight - which means he drove close to his home to go to the football field from the gas station.
35. Mom went to Dollar Store, Sec, of 1st United Methodist Church, owner of the PitStop, owner of Abraham Trading to see about video. Gas Station video was not working the night Thomas went missing. Dollar Store had video that would have been helpful, but he had to drive nearest the Dollar Store to see anything. Video had already been taped over. Mom went 6 months after Thomas went missing. LE had video from an AllSups, Alexander Grocery and Deli and Abraham Trading and the Pavillan (last place Thomas Car was seen driving). A women who worked at the church saw on video, 3 cars were seen. One went right, one went straight and one went left. Around 11:20 in the spread of a few minuets. the 3 cars all left. She believes Thomas went to gas station. Mom believes Caleb and Christian Left when they said they did.
36. Abrahams Trading video - corner of main and 2nd . After seeing video, Unfound believes there is no way to know if Thomas went through the intersection or not. Mom agrees with that. Unfound believes Crime Watch Daily mislead people to think that was Thomas' vehicle. There are 12 red SUV that pass that intersection that night. Its too hard to tell which red SUV it is. It may be his vehicle, but one cannot say for sure.
37. Mom got Abraham Trading video from store owner who is friends with mom. He had saved video after he heard LE say Thomas was all over town that night. Mom called owner and asked to have it and had made notes that he could not tell if it was Thomas or his vehicle. Once mom got video and mom cannot conclusively say it was Thomas in the video. There are several red vehicles that went through the intersection - but there is not one that has white writing on it like Thomas video. Abrahams has 6 videos - 3 inside, 3 outside. One is in color so they know red vehicles at the intersection.
38. Mom saw video from Alexanders Grocery - mom believes it is Thomas car (video not in color) because it goes by twice and you can see writing on the car window. Approximately 5:45 am. Same time Tucker was riding with Deputy. Alexanders is approx. 6 blocks from Thomas home. Vehicle goes in one direction, then in 2 min or so, comes back and goes the opposite direction.
39. LE explains video as Thomas left town, and drove around town all night. Drove by house one last time, and then left town.
40. Around the same time, the car is on video at the ball fields.
41. There is a video from the water treatment plant that only LE has seen. Approx. 5:55am Thomas car heads down by the water treatment plant and the road that goes into the grove of trees. Thats where the car was found.
44. Several ways the car could of traveled to the ballpark, but no one is sure which way the car went. The water treatment plant and Alexander Grocery is on opposite sides of town. No other vehicles pulled in to the treatment plant, according to LE. They showed mom the Alexander video, but not video of treatment plant.
45. Mom says it could maybe take 10 min to get to treatment plant.
46. Sighting - on Friday or Sat after Thomas went missing, 2 high schoolers and one middle school kid (one was a cousin who was in Thomas grade) came to mom and they had seen Thomas around 1140 getting gas. Normally the cousin would have pulled in to talk to Thomas but that night he didn't. Cousin drove a darker color truck that was 'lifted' up off the ground. Abrahams video shows similar video of lifted truck driving towards to the gas station.
47. Kid who saw Thomas (the cousin) has changed his story now. Mom cannot talk about the change - other than to say he now denies that he saw Thomas. Mom had a lawyer friend looking into Thomas missing and she rounded up friends of Thomas to talk with lawyer friend. Cousin was one of the friends she rounded up, and told lawyer friend cousin was the one who last saw Thomas. When lawyer friend interviewed Cousin, he denied seeing Thomas and said that it was someone else who saw Thomas.
48. When cousin initially told mom he saw Thomas getting gas, she didn't know the exact time he had gotten gas. Cousin told her that detail.
49. Seeds of Doubt - says maybe friend made up the story, maybe he really saw it. Mom says she believed Cousin when he said he saw Thomas.
50. Controversy #1 - Mom says she saw photo of Thomas getting gas. 10 days after Thomas went missing, mom saw photo of Thomas getting gas. Sheriff Lewis showed her the photo. Mom confirmed it was Thomas in the photo, along with his car. Mom does not think the photo was taken from ground level - like a dash cam of a car. Mom is certain it was taken at ground level, very close up. Sheriff Lewis claims the photo came from Dollar General but mom did not believe because of the close up view of the gas station. Philip Klein saw photo and it was reported in Houston Chronicle.

I am at the 2 hour mark and need to stop to go somewhere, but this is what I have noted for the first two hours.

Thanks for this!

 

[?mysterian?]

Part 2 of notes from podcast, starting at 2:00 mark

51. Mom is absolutely certain the video was from close up, street level. Mom says she saw the side of his face, but he was not looking at camera.
52. Moms husband talked to the Major over the Texas Ranger who was investigating the case. The Major knew nothing of the photo of Thomas and was alarmed. When the Major asked local LE about the photo, they denied it existed. This was about 9 months after Thomas went missing.
53. Unfound makes the point that LE is the first people you think about when thinking of someone who would have a camera, at street level. Sheriff told Mom the photo came from Dollar General, Mom says there is no way the photo came from Dollar General - at ground level, from 50 ft away. Issue is still not resolved.
54. Re: 25 caliber bullet - Thomas does not like guns, does not shoot. Family does not 25 caliber gun.
55. Re: holes in Durango when Mom got car back - none inside or out. Blood appeared to have been wiped off (which is not usual police procedure). Mom is in posession of Durango. Mom notes that Thomas's cell phone charger was still in the car - which she says is weird he would leave it behind if he was running away.
56. Re: Thomas' Girlfriend - she was in Canadian the night Thomas went missing. She texted Thomas first, around 11:30-11:35 asking if he was ok. He replied he was ok. The girlfriend texted him a second time, around 11:40 and got no response from Thomas. Girlfriend has not told mOm was the content of the text was, but her mother did. Not sure what the second message was - but he did not respond. All the investigators have seen the messages, though Mom has not.
57. Girlfriends mom said her daughter had not spoken to Thomas or texted the previous day. Girlfriend told her mother she got an 'odd feeling' and sent him a message to check on him. Mom says Thomas would not blow off curfew to meet girlfriend - he would have called first.
58. Just to understand family dynamic, Thomas would have gotten grounded from xbox for coming in late. But mom says he has never missed curfew.
59. Re: Sheriff Lewis - touchy territory. Lewis is from Canadian originally, and has worked in other counties. Moved to Canadian around 2015 and decided to run for Sheriff. He is in his early 30's. The sitting sheriff had been appointed by commissioners, and everyone seemed to like the sitting sherif before Lewis. The sitting sheriff dropped out of the election (he is not a politician) even though he had most experience in the sheriffs dept. Sheriff Lewis won election by 25 votes. There were rumors of Sheriff Lewis having misdeeds in his former positions in other counties. Lewis had been sheriff for 2 about 2 months before Thomas went missing. He took office in September (4 months before he normally would have) because everyone else in the sheriffs dept when Lewis won. Apparently no one wanted to work for Lewis possibly because of his reputation in the LE community. He was also young and inexperience. Sheriff Lewis and Thomas' Dad know each other. Lewis was a city policeman and deputy in Perryton and ex-Husband played together in football league. They were partners in the league. Mom found this out when Lewis moved back to Canadian (before he was sheriff).
60. A year and 5 months before Thomas went missing, Lewis and Thomas (June 2015) had a run-in. Thomas and his friends (including Caleb) had been hanging out at a girls house, and Caleb went home. Thomas, the girl and two boys were left at girls. Girl went to bed, and the two boys hung out on the girls front porch for a few minuets (with permission). One of the boys did not have a car, though he was older than Thomas. They walk to Allsups, then around Canadian. This was around 10:45. They went to the laundry mat - open 24/7 - to cool off and get a sip of their drink. They continue walking, and cross Main Street and start going down a side stop. A car stops them and wants to know what they were doing walking around, why were you touching a door knob? They dont answer the man, so he starts swearing. Lewis recognizes Thomas and tells him to call his mom and tell her what I have been doing. Lewis says to Thomas 'get in my car'. Thomas doesn't know this man - or know that he is friends with his dad. Thomas is reluctant to get in the vehicle. Thomas's friends convince him to get in the truck. Lewis continues to question Thomas. Thomas tells him they were only walking around town. Lewis starts swearing at Thomas. Lewis also works in an oil field company and knew Thomas step dad from them. Lewis calls Thomas's stepdad at midnight. Stepdad does not answer call. Lewis leaves voicemail that Thomas was downtown, messing around. Mom and Stepdad are not sure why Lewis is calling them as he is not LE in Canadian. Thomas comes in and tells them what happened, and who Lewis is. Thomas wants to know why Lewis stopped him, accusing the boys of touching a door knob. Mom tells Thomas to go to bed, and they would deal with it the next day. The grill Thomas again, why were you touching door knob. Thomas says he never did. Thomas was leaving on Sunday to go to a camp, so Mom tells Thomas she is going to tell the sitting Sheriff what happened. Thomas swears he is telling the truth. Monday am, Mom goes to talk to Sheriff. The sitting sheriff and deputy laugh about it, reassure mom that the boys are not on their radar. Sheriff was astounded the boys were stopped, and that Lewis stopped the boys without letting Hemphill Co. know. Sitting Sheriff turns it over to the Texas Rangers to have them investigate it since sitting sheriff was running in an election against Lewis. Mom called the sheriff Dept. where Lewis did work, to report incident.Texas Rangers called mom and told her no charges were going to be pressed. Mom dropped the case. So a recap: The man investigating Thomas disappearance is someone who had a run-in with Thomas - for no reason - and Thomas' mother had complained to his employer about him stopping her son for no reason - out of his jurisdiction. Mom was under the impression that the sheriff from Lewis county got onto Lewis for his action. Ex-husband and Lewis talked and he was upset Lewis called the stepdad instead of him. According to mom, they had words.
61. There are many rumors in Canadian and Hemphill Co. about Lewis doing this to several other kids, though they cannot get someone to come forward. Lewis has this reputation. To mom's knowledge he is not being sued for harassment. Also, through the grapevine, Lewis harassed Thomas again - but Thomas did not tell his mom. Others told mom that Lewis was harassing Thomas.
62. When Mom first saw Sheriff Lewis about Thomas' disappearance, Lewis felt like Thomas ran-away. This is contradicts what Lewis told Thomas's stepdad. Lewis told Mom a few days after he went missing and told Mom he felt Thomas was gay and ran off with an older man he met online. Several LE agreed that he was gay. Mom says Thomas is NOT gay. Girlfriend agrees that he is not gay. No one has said he was gay other than LE. Lewis, Chief Asst. Deputy, Texas Ranger, and the Major over the Texas Ranger were all in the room when Lewis told Mom this. Lewis says there are ten messages between Thomas and friend (girl) that are sexual in nature, Thomas was asking girl if she would do some sort of sexual act. Mom was confirms it was a text messages and the private investigator got the messages from cell phone records. Mom is uncertain how investigator got the messages.
63. Two weeks after Thomas went missing, Mom starts suspecting LE not only dropped the ball, but are more involved. Things Lewis said to Mom did not match Thomas' character. Things were not making sense. One day mom went to work and hired a Private Investigator. Someone brought mom a drink to the office, so the principal took the drink to Moms desk. Mom began crying and praying. She said she heard the Lord say to Trust Me and then an image of Lewis popped in her mind. Mom argued with God about Lewis, and then she started thinking about things Lewis said that were not right.
64. Pine Gregory - deputy who was on duty who Tucker rode around with - has a past. In 2003 Pine was off duty at home and a person drove by his house a couple of times and Pine decides this guy is out to get him. Pine chases after him in a car, stops the car, and pulls a gun on the other driver. Turns out, the other driver was a Pizza Delivery person who was lost and was trying to deliver a pizza. Pine was dismissed from his LE job after incident. Pine is still a deputy in Hemphill Co. even though he was charged with a FELONY with a gun and he is the guy who was on duty the night Thomas went missing. Tucker said that Pine didn't talk a bunch, but there was no radio communication in the car and Pine was texting someone while driving with Tucker. Pine explains to Tucker that he is texting his wife at 4am talking about Thanksgiving day plans with her. Pine talked about kids running away, missing curfew to Tucker. In Tuckers opinion, Pine was actually looking for Thomas. Pine was driving a real police vehicle (lights, Hemphill Co signage on side of SUV).
65. Unfound says that on the Abraham video that the video is off by 50 min. The Abraham owner says he didn't correct the time on the video before. On the video, if it says midnight, the time is actually 1am. When Unfound was watching the video the first time, he didn't see much. But when the time correction is factored into everything, Unfound says 2 sheriffs vehicles go by at 11:42 the night Thomas went missing.This is a big deal because this intersection is 1/2 mile from where Thomas was pumping gas. The Sheriffs vehicles are unmarked, but there are two glowing computer screens that can be seen but they are definitely Hemphill Co. sheriff vehicles. The cars were in the area of the gas station at the time Thomas went missing. They were in the area. Lewis or none of the deputys have not owned up to this. The unmarked cars were coming from the south - then one turns turns right on Main and one continues straight. The vehicles are fender to fender, SUV's, with computer screens in the front seat.
66. Re: the photo that showed Thomas pumping gas, that was taken at ground level (from a dash cam) - this makes the photo credible if 2 LE cars were in the area when Thomas went missing.
67. Unfound makes a correction - the sheriffs vehicles are shown atleast 8 times between 11:42 and 6:23 am. This can be determined by the indicators that make the cars different than private vehicles. The deputy at 6:23 is Depty Herrah, not Pine. Also, one of the sheriffs vehicle that was thought to be unmarked was actually marked.

I am stopping my note taking at 3:00 mark. Again, I have to run out and will finish when I get back.

Thanks for this also!

 

[?mysterian?]

Ok, I am back. Final 30 min or so of the podcast.

68. Clarification - one of the vehicles is, indeed, marked. Unfound think there is evidence of two marked sheriffs vehicles and one unmarked car cruising Canadian that night.
69.What does the new information mean? It means the sheriffs were in the area and should have seen Thomas driving around for 6.5 hours in a town with two stops lights? They should have seen him.
70. At 6:23am Pine and Lewis actually parked in the parking lot of Abrahams and talk for about a min, under the camera. Pine was in an official video, coming from the south. The second vehicle came from the north. They talk, then get in their vehicle and drive off.
71. One of the deputys went down the street to where the video shows durango was at. They should have passed each other. The deputy has never admitted he saw the durango that is shown on the video.
72. Re: Texas Rangers - initially they said Rangers could investigate still but as of Jan 2018, there are two different Rangers investigating the case. Mom hasn't talked to them in several months. The first Ranger on the case told mOm to fire Private Investigator and she wasn't sure why he would give that advice. Ranger was never courteous. The two new Rangers investigating seem to take case seriously. Mom will be contacting them as well as the Attorney General with the new video.
73. The case in now being investigated by the FBI and Attorney General. The FBI refuses to talk to mom.
74. Mom feels the #1 reason the case is now at Attorney Generals office is because there are so many inconstancies from the Sheriffs Office. The story from LE changes all the time. Mom wants the Attorney General to take lead, and Lewis can participate if he would like.
75. Re: Klein (Private Investigator) - Mom found him from Houston and mom heard about him from owner of Abraham Trading. A mom of a student brought her the name of Klein within two weeks of Thomas missing. Moms experience has been positive with Klein. Klein is who found the cell phone on the roadside. Mom believes Thomas phone is at the lab. But she does not believe the phone found on the side of the road is Thomas' as it was the wrong color. Mom does not know where Thomas' phone was found. Klein does not believe it is Thomas' phone either. On the day of the search, they told Mom they did not believe it was Thomas' phone. Then all the sudden it was said to be Thomas phone.
76. Former Hemphill Deputy (unnamed) says he believes Thomas was being followed and harassed by Sheriff Lewis. Mom does not know if unnamed Deputy saw something or why deputy feels that way, but the information has been brought forward recently. Mom doesn't really have details about how credible this information is, etc.
77. Moms attorney made a request for an open records request with the county in the fall of 2017. The sheriff or county attorney did not submit any kind of sample or thing to the Attorney General. In Dec 2017 when the time was up, and the AG's office made the decision to release the information. Both Lewis and the county attorney turned around and sued the attorney general's office. After that, Mom formed a petition to petition to turn the case over to the AG's office. Petition had over 8000 signatures in a few days. Mom isn't sure why, but the decision was made to turn the case over to the AG office. Lewis went to the media saying things like 'AG probably wont take case' there is nothing AG can do to help, etc. AG office called Mom to tell her they would be taking the case, unbeknown to Lewis. Lewis said to Mom 'do you really want to do this? Re: turning case over to AG office.
78. What its like for Mom, family? Mom says if Thomas died in a wreck, they would know what happened, grieved. Mom says its hard. But not knowing is hard. No evidence if Thomas is alive or dead. Mom says its hard to be around people who could be involved. All she wants is Lewis to do the right thing. Mom would feel better if Lewis would admit they messed up. etc.
79. Rare but not unusual that Police could be involved. They do their research to check out police activity. Most police are good, but some are bad.
80. Mom gives FB page, and on Tom's webpage www.findTomBrown.com. Final words from Mom - she just wants the truth. She wants Thomas brought home. There will be consequences, but she just wants to know what happened.
81. The video from Abrahams is now on You Tube and can be seen, so the listeners can see what they saw.

Thanks for your hard work transcribing this!

 

[?mysterian?]

The Sheriffs department screwed up...to what depth is anyone's guess. The Deputy saying that they believed Thomas had committed suicide was asinine. The vehicle was hidden so no-one would find it, you have blood in/on the vehicle, a .25 cal shell casing and NO BODY that does not spell suicide it spells murder! Thomas' vehicle should have been placed into protective custody in a secure and dry environment and completely processed by professional evidence techs. A proper evidence search might have produced HV blood spatter in or outside the vehicle, foreign fingerprints or even DNA.. The suspect is likely someone Thomas knew and is probably a member of the community. They (suspect(s)) knew the area well enough to dump the vehicle so it would not be found quickly but close enough to walk away without detection. I believe the suspect was able to avoid detection because they took Thomas NE or East of town on 60 or 2266, and when they returned to Canadian, the area by the ballfield and treatment plant was the best spot to dump the vehicle. If they took Hwy 60 they likely would have passed the Truck Stop, was their video checked? 2266 would be the best way to go undetected, I think this is why Thomas' belongings were found out towards Lake Marvin. The wildlife management area would be the place to start looking for Thomas. The sheriffs dept seems like a bunch of barneys but not sure if they would cover up a murder...but then again you never know. All of the Sheriffs radio traffic should have been recorded, has that been reviewed? I would assume the AG's office would have reviewed it. I have attached a 50 mile radius map... that would help account for the distance traveled in Thomas' vehicle.

Boy, this case stinks! There's something rotten down in that county. Maybe more than one rotter.

 

[zencompass]

Dear 806mom,

Thank you so much for detailing the information and the timeline.

Your generosity of time and detail is deeply compassionate and kind.

I am hoping, along with you all, that answers arise out of all of this.

This is deeply saddening.

May comfort, love and strength hold Thomas's family close.

 

[wolvesjohnblack]

I feel so bad for this family.Who do you even turn to in a situation like this?Thank goodness for the podcasters private investigators and anybody who doesn't let stuff like this be forgotten.I'm not religious but Thomas you and your family are defintely in my thoughts

 

[Bigmike17]

Generally the Texas Rangers will get to the bottom of things but they are spread pretty thin and their individual case loads are enormous. It is not unusual for a Ranger to have 10 separate cases he/she is working at any one time, so they aren't afforded the luxury of concentrating on one case like in the old days. The AG's office on the other hand sends out detectives and they are able to concentrate on the one case until some sort of resolution is determined. Nonetheless, whether it be Rangers or AG Investigators they have to rely on the evidence that was collected IE: cars, phones, blood, clothing etc in addition to interviewing family, friends and LEO's so the evidence could be skewed or influenced particularly by those with an agenda. If the Sheriff is involved it will be revealed it may just take some time and unfortunately it is at the cost of the family having to wait even longer. I can assure all of you the only thing we cops hate worse than a dirty cop is a cop killer...and its a close second! I listened to the podcast and I wanted to address the FBI involvement, this is a state case as it stands and the FBI has no jurisdiction unless some form of public corruption is revealed. They can come in and assist with personnel and resources but that is it.