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

[AmandaSkis]

I agree that his recent leave of football might play a role.

Over the past few years, how many cases have we read of young people killing friends? Quite a few!

The sheriff certainly could seem like a POI due to history but I think we need to focus on the friends he spent the evening with. Maybe teasing got out of hand.

 

[jellybean96]

I’ve watched this case since the beginning two years ago as well as the Unfound podcast. I’ve also read this entire forum all the way through. This is my first post, but I joined because I just wonder why nobody has ever focused on one big item in TBs life leading up to his murder?

This is just a thought in all of this: Canadian is a small west Texas town that is like every other small Texas town. It is all built on the schools and particularly they love their high school football team. Their team is one of the most highly successful programs in the state. TB as well as his older brother both played on state championship teams for Canadian. Fans from surrounding schools have claimed that Canadian recruits the best for years. If you have an athlete, they’ll make a job for you to get your kid on their team. Not positive how true, but that’s the claim. Bottom line is that high school football is king in the small west Texas town.

Just about three weeks before Tom’s disappearance, he lost his starting job on the team and he quit midseason. Like I stated earlier, this is not your common town when it comes to high school football. I have heard that some did not appreciate TB’s desire to quit on the team and pursue his drama hobby. I’m just curious to know if anyone else has thought along the lines that he could have bullied for this issue which is possible in football crazed towns. I’m not saying that someone on the team murdered him, but just throwing another theory out there. Where would the sheriff come into play in this one? He might not or one could see that NL had a role that way with all of the support the community gives to the team.

Just some thoughts

I have thought about if he was bullied for quitting the team. I just don't have enough to say yes it was happening. For me, it goes into the category of 'could this been a bad drug deal'? Yes, it could have happened but I haven't seen any evidence that suggests either are a viable theory, with the info we know. If at some point more evidence to suggest something like this happened, then I will consider it more. But I've seen nothing to support this is what happened.

 

[tlorik]

I think Bill Carson has a very valid point that i've been thinking since the beginning. Regardless of truth, for some people, rumor is taken as fact. I found it odd that among his many theories, the Sheriff was so unprofessional, in my opinion, as to blurt out that Tom was gay and had run off with some old man he met on the internet! What? Based on what information? But it did tell me that the rumor had apparently been created and in some cases, that's enough for someone to run with. The kids were all out of school for Thanksgiving and it's possible some groups had been partying and drinking, either in town or out at the lake. It's possible some of those people saw Tom when he was putting gas in his truck. Perception of someone is never a valid reason for persecution. But we continue to see it. All of the above is just my opinion - I could be completely wrong.

 

[jellybean96]

The UnFound Podcast on Facebook is taking questions tonight and I noticed there were questions for Ed (the host) and he has tagged Penny. Maybe she will answer some of the questions? Nows the time to ask & maybe we can clear up some of the lingering questions.

 

[Mountain Misst]

The main

I have been misquoted Texas Wind, in your post as per this link.

You've 'doctored' a quote by me to include your comment, as if it were from my original post.
"I wonder why the Hemphill County Sheriff’s Office were involved in this search unless they are not being investigated? This confuses me."

Those are not words from my mouth..... Please correct.

 

[Texas Wind]

I have been misquoted Texas Wind, in your post as per this link.

You've 'doctored' a quote by me to include your comment, as if it were from my original post.
"I wonder why the Hemphill County Sheriff’s Office were involved in this search unless they are not being investigated? This confuses me."

Those are not words from my mouth..... Please correct.

My sincere apology! I am still trying to figure out how to reply and copy. I am sorry and embarrassed ! I meant to reply to your post with the link about Hemphill County Sheriff’s office, Texas Rangers and attorney general all helped in the search at the lake recently... and I wonder why... I obviously didn’t do it right! Very sorry. How do I delete it?

 

[jellybean96]

Ok, I am going to list the questions that Penny answered from the Unfound Podcast Discussion Group Question Post:

Q: Penny refers to the wastewater plant road as normally gated, but the night Tom went missing, it was open. Was it determined if the gate was opened with a key? Or was the lock broken?

A: Only certain people who have a key to that locked gate. However, there was work going on at the water treatment plant and so the gate had been left unlocked as there were workers in and out.

Q: Penny states that Deputy Gregory was going off duty shortly. Was Sheriff Lewis on duty during the overnight hours? Or being that it was a holiday, what time did he come on duty?

A: Deputy Gregory did tell Tucker he was going off duty. Sheriff Lewis told Klein Investigations that he spent the night at home with family. Gregory told Tucker that Lewis was coming on duty around 7 -7:30am.

Q: How far of a distance is the recent OAG search of Lake Marvin road from the city of Canadian?

A: Lake Marvin is about 18 miles from Canadian.

Q: Who has been cleared by the AG and Texas Rangers?

A: The Texas Rangers officially cleared Kaleb King and Christian Webb. The last two people to see Thomas.

There is one more question, but Penny hasn't answered it so I wont include it until/if she does.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

For the record - Sheriff requested the AG to take over the case lead. I would therefore expect that all tips and leads be sent to the AG, rather than the sheriff. A copy of this letter is at the link.

As public pressure mounts, Sheriff Lewis asks AG’s office to take over Thomas Brown case | The Canadian Record

Agreed, and this is an important point, IMO:

“If you have any information on Thomas’s case, please call the Texas Attorney General Criminal Investigation Division at 512-463-2100.”
Family asking for prayers after remains of missing Texas teen Thomas Brown identified

Alternatively,

“If you have a tip, or hear something, and if you are uncomfortable reporting information to the criminal investigators, you can contact us at 409-729-8798 x 3.”
Klein Investigations and Consulting

 

[jellybean96]

Tomorrow at 10 AM, Mr. Klein will be doing a live Q&A for missing persons cases in the states of Texas and California. Tune in with your questions and he will try to answer as many as he can!

From Klein's FB page

 

[jellybean96]

Tomorrow at 10 AM, Mr. Klein will be doing a live Q&A for missing persons cases in the states of Texas and California. Tune in with your questions and he will try to answer as many as he can!

From Klein's FB page

Klein Investigations has now changed the live Q &A from 10 AM to 12 noon tomorrow.

 

[jellybean96]

I highly recommend everyone listen to Kleins Q&A session. He says Tom's case is moving forward, fast. Multiple people are involved. And he says there is a reason LE is keeping details in the dark (46:16) and says he has Canadians back.

 

[Tripod]

I highly recommend everyone listen to Kleins Q&A session. He says Tom's case is moving forward, fast. Multiple people are involved. And he says there is a reason LE is keeping details in the dark (46:16) and says he has Canadians back.

I don't suppose there's any transcript of that Q and A session? I was not able to hear any of it, or get any updates on these cases

 

[CocoChanel]

Just a note: the q & a session was on a variety of cases, not just Tom’s. Mr. Klein spoke mostly about other cases his company is working, and there were just a few comments on Tom’s case. Jellybean summarized the content regarding Tom accurately in post #631. There really was nothing more than that.

 

[Tripod]

Just a note: the q & a session was on a variety of cases, not just Tom’s. Mr. Klein spoke mostly about other cases his company is working, and there were just a few comments on Tom’s case. Jellybean summarized the content regarding Tom accurately in post #631. There really was nothing more than that.

Thanks, Coco. I did know other Texas cases were being covered, including the Chambers case. I was hoping there might be more info or even a little breaking news re: some of these cases. Thanks, Jellybean for listening to the Q & A!

 

[Sunny Texas]

Meek Discusses Some Of The Rumors In Son's Disappearance
Last April, Penny said Kaleb and Christian were cleared by the FBI and Texas Rangers

The FBI was not involved, and I'm not sure we can consider anyone cleared unless the Texas Rangers or AG's Office, etc. releases an official statement regarding that. I do think it carries some weight that Penny believed these 2 to be innocent. Of course, she might also release such a statement as part of a misinformation strategy encouraged by investigators.

Personally, I felt pretty strongly that Christian could in no way be involved. I don't have any specific reason to suspect Kaleb, but he is from a politically powerful and well-connected family, so that opens the door to some negative possibilities. His mom is not a good enough alibi; many mothers would cover for their children in such a situation. If he were involved in an unfortunate mishap and panicked, he could have gone home and been in bed while his dad took care of the mess. That is not an accusation in any way whatsoever, and personally, I lean towards believing him entirely innocent. I just think he can't be ruled out until he is officially ruled out. At this point, it appears Michael may be far more likely to have been involved, but that is also unsubstantiated by evidence.

 

[Sunny Texas]

I have often wondered this, but from the other end. I realize he had never missed curfew, but it does seem like his family was very alarmed, almost immediately. I think many parents would have waited a few more hours or possibly even until morning before searching around town, let alone alerting law enforcement. To have a helicopter in the air at first light is unusual. I don't know that I read anything more into that, but it's always seemed odd, even though I don't think his family was involved in any way with his disappearance/death...

Let's not forget that even though he was still living at home, he was now an 18 year old man, and law enforcement doesn't usually consider it a missing person's case when an adult misses house curfew. That being said, this is Canadian, TX--small town rural TX where everyone knows everyone, and I'm sure law enforcement here is typically more responsive than if the same thing happened in the city. The helicopter was not law enforcement. Thomas's friend Christian's dad is a pilot. Since Penny contacted Christian's family, they were part of the search process and offered to go up at first light to try to find Thomas's truck. I'm sure at this point they were worried he had a wreck or something. There are some canyon/ravine areas nearby where someone could crash and go off the road and not be visible.

It wasn't just that he missed curfew. He missed it without calling to let them know why. He missed it on Thanksgiving Eve when his brother had just gotten home from college. He failed to respond to texts and calls. His phone was then completely shut off. They called friends first, knowing he had just been with them, and that only caused their concern to increase, since Tom was clearly on his way home but never made it. If they had the kind of relationship where he came home drunk or stayed out all hours and came home hungover from partying too hard, they might not have been as concerned as quickly. Obviously, that wasn't the kind of relationship they had, and that wasn't the kind of man Tom was. They knew right away that something was really wrong.

 

[Sunny Texas]

If this is true, it doesn't seem possible that one of those teenagers could have been the ones driving TB's truck...if in fact, it was TB's truck on CCTV around 4:30 to 6:00 am.

We don't know who was searching where and when. Also, bear in mind that if one of the kids were involved in Tom's disappearance, they could have turned to a parent for assistance, and not every parent was involved in the search, to my knowledge.

 

[Sunny Texas]

I agree, but in my mind, atleast two people are involved. Mainly because of where Tom's car was found. Someone obviously drove it out there. How did he/she get away from there after dumping the car if he was by himself? Walk? That seems pretty risky that someone would see him/her while everyone was out searching.

Possible and maybe even probable. However, the area isn't that far from part of the town--a few short blocks of walking, really. I think it would be easier to hide while on foot than to hide in a vehicle. I agree with you that the entire scenario makes more sense if there were two people involved. I tend to think that one committed the crime, likely without planning to do so, and then that person got someone else to help them cover it up and dispose of the body.

 

[Sunny Texas]

I think KK is not tall, shorter than TB it seems. Sheriff looks tall. MC, no idea as well as anyone of the deputies. I have no connections to this case and I live completely across the country. I only know what I've read MSM or heard in the Unfound Podcast. As for the Sheriff covering up, I think everyone is connected with everyone in this town. Most people are probably related by family or know someone with close family connections. Honestly, and I hate to say this, I think a wealthy father, land/business owner/elected official is pulling strings and calling in favors. Possibly, blackmailing the Sheriff?

Yes, KK's family is extremely influential and powerful in the area, although he may be completely innocent in this. Canadian is more than the typical small, rural town. It is a wealthy, cultured little gem polished by the tax and donation $ of many prominent and generous families. This isn't a criticism, but simply the truth. If you compare this small town to others in the region of the same population, you will find this town has much nicer local amenities and quality of life. Additionally, Canadian has an outstanding athletic record in their sports division; trips semi-finals and even state are regular and expected. These are a couple of aspects of the town that may give some insight into this case.

 

[Sunny Texas]

It might sound a little weird, but I have lived in that area of the Texas panhandle for many years and Canadian is not your average town. Yes, Thomas was not a star but he had played all of his years growing up and had started on the previous year's state championship team as well as half of that season. It is not as though he was a scrub who just stood on the sidelines at a junior varsity game or two. From conversations that I have had with the locals, he had some individuals who did confront him about quitting on his teammates and not being a team player. It was not just like he quit and nobody noticed. Yes, the kid who took his starting position is now playing at Texas Tech so it's not as if the kid who took his spot was not any good either. I'm just stating that there is more to the end of his football career than most on here realize. Most kids who quit their team in the middle of the season to focus on drama would not be looked kindly on in towns like Canadian at least by the elect and some team members. High School Musical is not the real deal on how high school athletics generally play out. LOL

Live nearby. Am very familiar with this. Agree. I think there were some who saw him as not being a team player when he quit after being moved to 2nd string. On the other hand, it was probably hurtful and humiliating to him as a senior with state experience to be replaced by an underclassman. I could see him bumping into some classmates (who were departing for their championship game the next day) and that situation turning into conflict.