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

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OkieGranny said:
Tommy's case is especially heart-breaking because he is obviously so loved, but there's so little information to go on that it's really frustrating to try to figure out any possibilities of what could have happened to him or where he could be.
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OkieGranny, I wanted to emphasize this in particular because I feel like this sentiment is shared.

I am an eternal optimist. Tommy's brother Clint and I are computer nerds - we believe in the possibility that with enough eyes and ideas, the truth can be found. WS seems to be an amazing place for crowdsourcing helpful people to find missing persons, and I am truly moved and humbled by the amount of time and effort people on this forum expend to help others.
 
spoonarmy said:
OkieGranny, I wanted to emphasize this in particular because I feel like this sentiment is shared.

I am an eternal optimist. Tommy's brother Clint and I are computer nerds - we believe in the possibility that with enough eyes and ideas, the truth can be found. WS seems to be an amazing place for crowdsourcing helpful people to find missing persons, and I am truly moved and humbled by the amount of time and effort people on this forum expend to help others.
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Welcome and count me in! I am another fellow Okie. I want to do what I can to help. I have a thousand and one questions when you get your verification.
 
spoonarmy said:
I'm not verified *yet* - still waiting on contact / phone call (I expect?). I don't imagine it will take too long.

For anyone joining in that's unfamiliar with the area: this is small town SE OK. That's "code" for: legally and politically things operate a little differently there from what one might expect, people talk, meth is a very widespread issue, cartels (sometimes referred to as "Mexican mafia") have a presence, there are cultural and racial barriers (being delicate here...) that despite the somewhat redneck climate can be/are superseded by drug ties, etc.

Is any of that related to this case? I wish I could say, because that would narrow it down. Unfortunately I can't, but where there's an absence of solid clues, maybe possibilities are the best starting point?
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Thanks Spoonarmy. I grew up in a town near where Tommy's truck was found so I am pretty familiar with the area. It is also the reason why I took an increased interest in the case :)
 
spoonarmy said:
I'm not verified *yet* - still waiting on contact / phone call (I expect?). I don't imagine it will take too long.

For anyone joining in that's unfamiliar with the area: this is small town SE OK. That's "code" for: legally and politically things operate a little differently there from what one might expect, people talk, meth is a very widespread issue, cartels (sometimes referred to as "Mexican mafia") have a presence, there are cultural and racial barriers (being delicate here...) that despite the somewhat redneck climate can be/are superseded by drug ties, etc.
Is any of that related to this case? I wish I could say, because that would narrow it down. Unfortunately I can't, but where there's an absence of solid clues, maybe possibilities are the best starting point?
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BBM: I could not think of a better and more accurate description of the area!!!!!!!
 
SeriouslySearching said:
Does anyone know where he was on the 6th?
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Still waiting to get verified, but I think this one should be safe to answer...

On the 6th, the family was in the Lake Eufala area to celebrate July 4th weekend. Several members of the family, including Tommy, were staying in the Best Western hotel. On the day of the 6th, Tommy showed up to a family function and was asked to leave the gathering. It was suggested that he go back to the hotel, get a good night's rest, and rejoin the family activities the next morning (the 7th).

After that point, Tommy was not seen by the family again. His truck, however, was seen by the family parked in the hotel parking lot on the morning of the 7th. This is an important fact because that is NOT where his truck was eventually found.

At some point after Sunday morning the 7th, Tommy or someone else drove Tommy's truck out of the Best Western parking lot. When the truck was recovered, it was found miles away on a dirt road several miles off the highway north of Holdenville. The keys were found locked in the truck, as was his wallet, which contained cash. His cell phone was not in the truck, and has not been recovered.

I hope that I can be verified soon, because I would like to comment further on the timeline of the truck recovery with additional details I consider significant.

ETA: SS, I really love your forum signature :)
 
spoonarmy said:
Still waiting to get verified, but I think this one should be safe to answer...

On the 6th, the family was in the Lake Eufala area to celebrate July 4th weekend. Several members of the family, including Tommy, were staying in the Best Western hotel. On the day of the 6th, Tommy showed up to a family function and was asked to leave the gathering. It was suggested that he go back to the hotel, get a good night's rest, and rejoin the family activities the next morning (the 7th).

After that point, Tommy was not seen by the family again. His truck, however, was seen by the family parked in the hotel parking lot on the morning of the 7th. This is an important fact because that is NOT where his truck was eventually found.

At some point after Sunday morning the 7th, Tommy or someone else drove Tommy's truck out of the Best Western parking lot. When the truck was recovered, it was found miles away on a dirt road several miles off the highway north of Holdenville. The keys were found locked in the truck, as was his wallet, which contained cash. His cell phone was not in the truck, and has not been recovered.

I hope that I can be verified soon, because I would like to comment further on the timeline of the truck recovery with additional details I consider significant.

ETA: SS, I really love your forum signature :)
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This helps me a lot in what I was thinking. Have people gone to the local bars with his photo in hand to see if he spent time cooling off and having a beer after he was asked to leave? To me, it would be a logical place to start.

OT (Off Topic)/Thanks. I haven't changed my signature for years because that message says it all.
 
Did the Best Western have any cameras, that would show who came out of his room? Or who could have gotten in/driven his truck? And was the truck processed for prints and the like? Or simply turned over to the family?
 
Pardon me for seeming intrusive, but the more we know about Tommy and his state of mind before he disappeared , the better. Can you recall what time was he asked to leave the gathering and go back to the motel? The reason for asking is maybe he didn't "feel like" turning in for the night.
 
Glad to see this case getting some discussion.
Welcome spoonarmy!
 
spoonarmy said:
Still waiting to get verified, but I think this one should be safe to answer...

On the 6th, the family was in the Lake Eufala area to celebrate July 4th weekend. Several members of the family, including Tommy, were staying in the Best Western hotel. On the day of the 6th, Tommy showed up to a family function and was asked to leave the gathering. It was suggested that he go back to the hotel, get a good night's rest, and rejoin the family activities the next morning (the 7th).

After that point, Tommy was not seen by the family again. His truck, however, was seen by the family parked in the hotel parking lot on the morning of the 7th. This is an important fact because that is NOT where his truck was eventually found.

At some point after Sunday morning the 7th, Tommy or someone else drove Tommy's truck out of the Best Western parking lot. When the truck was recovered, it was found miles away on a dirt road several miles off the highway north of Holdenville. The keys were found locked in the truck, as was his wallet, which contained cash. His cell phone was not in the truck, and has not been recovered.

I hope that I can be verified soon, because I would like to comment further on the timeline of the truck recovery with additional details I consider significant.

ETA: SS, I really love your forum signature :)
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Thanks spoonarmy. You may have seen earlier where there was a link to the bowhunters forum that said Tommy was seen at a local Holdenville hospital seeking help for dehydration. According that that forum, he was seen with a possible female with a blue care with out of state plates.

Is there any credibility to this claim? If so, can we get approximate dates to this. Could it have been the night of the 6th?
 
Spiritecho said:
Did the Best Western have any cameras, that would show who came out of his room? Or who could have gotten in/driven his truck? And was the truck processed for prints and the like? Or simply turned over to the family?
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For this question, this quote from Tommy's brother Clint from OkieGranny's transcript of the BlogTalk Radio interview helps explain the circumstances regarding the hotel:
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.​

Still not verified, but I will be making at least one, and probably several calls to this (now-reopened) Best Western over the next week or so to ask them about their security system then, if it was damaged in the storm, etc. I also plan on asking them about local establishments, places the hotel concierge/front desk might recommend to guests from out of town. Since this is going to take some time to explain and I'd like to catch them when they're not busy, does anyone know roughly what slow times for a hotel would be?

jenstar said:
Pardon me for seeming intrusive, but the more we know about Tommy and his state of mind before he disappeared , the better. Can you recall what time was he asked to leave the gathering and go back to the motel? The reason for asking is maybe he didn't "feel like" turning in for the night.
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Let me clarify a couple of things here: While I'm close with Tommy's brother Clint because he's married to my cousin, this was a family gathering of "their" (Eastep) side of the family rather than "my" side of the family. I did not know Tommy well at all, and I was not present at this event. My interest in this case is not due to closeness with Tommy himself, but because I consider them all "family" and I want to do anything I can to help them all, especially Clint.

From my conversations with Clint, I believe it was in the afternoon/evening, and may have been a dinner meetup.

For color, here's the way these sorts of things go down on both sides of the family: Everyone gets an invite to go to the destination (in this case Eufala, my side usually chooses Beaver's Bend) and loads up the kids/grandkids/dogs/boats/whatever and usually all stay in the same hotel or a couple in a very small area. There is schedule of events planned that usually runs something like: "Saturday: meet for breakfast at <location> between <time>, guys go to the golf course / women go shop, meet for dinner at <location> at <time>". We have family of all ages at these things, and there are a lot of us, so there's some structure involved since you can't just stroll into a little rural OK restaurant with 20+ people and surprise them.

I would love to be able to share Clint's assessment of Tommy's "mental state" because I think it's informative, but I think on this one I better wait for verification.

PokeyMeansBusiness said:
Thanks spoonarmy. You may have seen earlier where there was a link to the bowhunters forum that said Tommy was seen at a local Holdenville hospital seeking help for dehydration. According that that forum, he was seen with a possible female with a blue care with out of state plates.

Is there any credibility to this claim? If so, can we get approximate dates to this. Could it have been the night of the 6th?
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Hmm... I googled and found the post you are referencing. Clint has never mentioned any of that (hospital, female, blue car) to me, but I will ask him. That poster says Tommy is "My best friends youngest brother", so I assume he would be a friend of Tommy's eldest brother. The timeline in that post is incorrect.

SeriouslySearching said:
He said at the time he disappeared, his son still lived at home and he was always in contact with his parents.

http://www.mcalesternews.com/police...or-missing-Blanchard-man#sthash.iJMsJUD4.dpuf

I am confused by this statement. I saw a comment on a news story about him being married and having 2 children. Could we clear up this issue?

http://www.reddirtreport.com/red-dirt-news/puzzling-case-missing-blanchard-man-leaves-few-clues
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I could probably clear up the issue with a lot more clarity if I was verified, ya dig? However, while confusing, I do believe that both of these statements are accurate. There are other factual inaccuracies in that RDR link though.

I know this isn't a SM thread, but I believe I'm not off-limits in posting a link to something on his official missing FB page? This is a photo of Tommy with his wife and kids:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3593475292261&set=o.337646169704246&type=1&theater
 
This might get deleted, so I'm putting it in a separate post in the form of a riddle, but here's a clue that helps some of the things that "don't make sense" make more sense:

What's a four letter word that shares three letters with the word missing from Barbie's famous sentence, "<blank> is hard"?

Hard indeed, Barbie. :(
 
spoonarmy said:
This might get deleted, so I'm putting it in a separate post in the form of a riddle, but here's a clue that helps some of the things that "don't make sense" make more sense:

What's a four letter word that shares three letters with the word missing from Barbie's famous sentence, "<blank> is hard"?

Hard indeed, Barbie. :(
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Got it :) This has been my theory for some time now!
 
Yes. Got it. But I am not convinced any of this has to do with that.

My perception is Tommy sounds like he is a very conflicted person. His appearance is of utmost importance to him yet I see comments pointing to him perhaps having issues with self esteem. He lives at home with his parents, but he is married to a beautiful woman and shares two wonderful children. There are other things I won't get into yet.

The things I gather so far point to him being quite a sensitive kind of guy. Outwardly, he expresses this with his jewelry, designer clothes, and his fashion sense. He has almost an introverted, but also in-your-face attitude in all his photos. My first impression is like he hides behind it all (and I could be way off).

I don't know the family dynamic, but by all appearances...they are close and interactive with each other. Sounds like they were also applying a bit of "tough love" when they sent him away from the gathering, but I am guessing Tommy would have taken it as rejection (especially if he was not thinking clearly). Had this type of situation come up before where they asked him to leave? How did he react before? Does he have a quick temper? Has he ever shown violent behavior?

I have been giving this case a lot of thought (I am like a dog with a bone sometimes). I have so many questions, but I understand you can't badger the other side of the family. My heart truly goes out to all of his family and friends. They need him to come home.

One thing we should mention here is his mother's comment about the dates of the photos on his FB page. They do not all correspond with the actual time they were taken. He only posted some of them on the days leading up to his disappearance (something else we need to note).
 
spoonarmy said:
This might get deleted, so I'm putting it in a separate post in the form of a riddle, but here's a clue that helps some of the things that "don't make sense" make more sense:

What's a four letter word that shares three letters with the word missing from Barbie's famous sentence, "<blank> is hard"?

Hard indeed, Barbie. :(
Click to expand...


I'm clueless here :floorlaugh:
 
Spiritecho said:
I'm clueless here :floorlaugh:
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In all sincerity, I hope you remain so because maybe it means you and your family are untouched by its devestation.

Thank you for reading/posting in this thread! :loveyou:
 
SeriouslySearching said:
One thing we should mention here is his mother's comment about the dates of the photos on his FB page. They do not all correspond with the actual time they were taken. He only posted some of them on the days leading up to his disappearance (something else we need to note).
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Your entire post was appreciated and relevant, but I wanted to emphasize this point because it could nip a bunch of confusion in the bud. Thanks for mentioning it!

Also, you have PM. :-)
 
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