TX TX, Rodney Aaron Stokley Jr., 19, Cleveland, 22 January 2008

[threesevenninefour]

Noticed that the previous thread created in 2010 is closed for replies, not sure why. Sadly, Rod has been missing for almost 15 years now...

Rodney Aaron Stokley Jr.​

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Stokley, circa 2008

• Missing Since 01/22/2008
• Missing From Cleveland, Texas
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Date of Birth 08/01/1988 (34)
• Age 19 years old
• Height and Weight 5'10, 135 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A dark-colored Led Zepellin t-shirt, a black hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans and brown or gray and black Duffs shoes.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, hazel eyes. Stokley's nickname is Rod. He's nearsighted and wears contact lenses.

Details of Disappearance​

Stokley was last seen leaving Brook Hollow Apartments in the 800 block of Charles Barker Road in Cleveland, Texas at 12:30 a.m. on January 22, 2008. A friend had taken him there to attend a birthday celebration.

Stokley left the gathering after an argument. He made several calls on his cellular phone, including one to his girlfriend, before the battery died. The last call pinged off the cellular phone tower at Wells Road off Plum Grove Road. He has never been heard from again.

Stokley left behind his wallet, identification, and phone charger. He also left his skateboard, which he took everywhere with him. It's uncharacteristic of him to leave without warning and he wasn't having any personal problems when he disappeared. Few details are available in his case.


LINK TO HIS CHARLEY PROJECT PROFILE

LINK TO HIS NAMUS PROFILE

 

[threesevenninefour]

It took me a little while to find but here is his official Facebook group:

Log in or sign up to view

See posts, photos and more on Facebook.

www.facebook.com

It hasn't been updated in a while but if you scroll back through the last few status updates you can see that his family members have opinions about what occurred the night that he vanished. Someone out there has to know something! He was clearly extremely loved by his family and they just want him home with them.

 

[threesevenninefour]

I was traveling overseas and unable to post but the 15th anniversary of Rod's disappearance has now passed. I pray that his family gets answers and some sort of closure very soon!

 

[threesevenninefour]

I also found these articles copy and pasted into the "Texas LostnMissing" Facebook page, however I could not find an original source for the articles as they appear to have been taken down in the years afterward. Originally dated for November 2008 and April 2011, it provides a little more detail on the night of his disappearance. Snipped and bolded by me for emphasis.

They describe their son as “shy” and not one to be the center of attention. A skateboarder, he never left home without his board, except on the day he disappeared, a fact that they can’t quite explain or understand.

Rodney Stokley first disappeared on Tuesday, Jan. 22, a short time after midnight.
He was last seen leaving an apartment building on the 800 block of Charles Barker Road in Cleveland.
He was wearing blue jeans, black Led Zepplin T-shirt, black hoodie and gray and black shoes. He was not carrying his driver’s license, money or his cell phone charger. He was, however, carrying his cell phone.
Detective Scott Felts with the Cleveland Police Department said that records indicate that he was “bumping off a cell phone tower off of FM 1010, which is close to his home.”
Felts said it appears Stokley was attempting to contact his girlfriend, but the length of the phone calls make it appear that he was unsuccessful.
“He had two calls going out to his girlfriend around 7:15 on the morning of his disappearance and the calls lasted less than a minute each,” said Felts.

4/26/2011
On January 22, 2008, 19-year-old Rodney Stokley, was picked up by a friend to go to a birthday party at the Brookhollow Apartments in the 800 block of Charles Barker Road in Cleveland.
According to Rodney's friend, there was an argument between a couple at the party and Rodney said he was going to leave. Rodney started walking and began making phone calls, then his cell phone went dead. Rodney has never been seen again.
Police were able to determine by the cell phone pings, that Rodney made several phone calls, before the battery on his phone die. They determined by the length of the calls, that Rodney did not get in touch with his girlfriend.
"I have mixed feelings about what happened. I don't think he would have just walked away in the middle of the night with only the clothes on his back, his wallet and cell phone charger were at home and he had no vehicle. He always called me when he was going to be late coming home," said Tena Stokely, Rodney's mother. "I think some one does know something. He did not just disappear off the face of the earth."

I have so many questions. If he supposedly left the party just after midnight but was attempting to call his girlfriend at around 7:15 AM later that morning, where was he during that roughly 7 hour period of time? Why were those calls not able to go through? Was his skateboard (usual means of transportation) left at the party or back at his house? What was the argument between the couple at the party about and why did it bother Rod so much that he wanted to leave? I agree with Rodney's mother that there seems to be a lot more to this story and I hope that some of those who were at the party that night will step forward and provide (at the least) some context and details to the family.

 

[threesevenninefour]

LIST OF CURRENT NAMUS RULE OUTS

Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP14360
Date Body FoundAugust 14, 2015
StateVA
CountyBland

Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP14518
Date Body FoundApril 03, 2010
StateVA
CountyShenandoah

Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP2667
Date Body FoundAugust 18, 2008
StateVA
CountyDinwiddie

 

[threesevenninefour]

Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP13492

I did find this UIP— they were found in 2014 only 30 minutes away driving from Cleveland, TX, where Rod disappeared from. The age and weight/height are off but the remains were skeletal so I know that means they don’t often have a lot to work with when creating a profile. Is it worth submitting?

 

[threesevenninefour]

Coming up on 16 years missing…hoping 2024 is the year his family gets answers!

 

[Ciriii57]

This feels like it should've been solved. The timeline regarding his phone pings makes no sense to me. At first I thought it meant he called her the morning before the party but what's the relevance in that? But the other reading is that he left that party and 7 hours later was in the vicinity of his home trying to call his girlfriend and disappeared from there.
I also found the statement Rodney Stokley first disappeared on Tuesday, Jan. 22, a short time after midnight. FIRST disappeared? Or is this because he disappeared from the party...but then disappeared again at 7.15.

I need to have a look at a map of the area and see how far the party was from his home? And also where his girlfriend lived. Any idea @threesevenninefour (thank you for keeping the updates coming in Rodney's case)

 

[threesevenninefour]

I totally agree, I think this should have been solved a long time ago. I believe the family did the most they could, including putting up reward money and involving Texas Equusearch but Cleveland, TX is a small town with a presumably small investigative force. As you pointed out, even the timeline of events is murky and doesn’t make a lot of sense.

There’s not a lot of media attention on this case so it’s hard to find sources to quote directly, but I have spent a lot of time doing independent research into it…bear with me—

So the apartment complex Rodney was allegedly last seen that is on the east side of Cleveland, near where the middle school/high school (currently?) are. His phone eventually pinged in the southernmost part of Cleveland more towards the east side of town, near State Highway 105. Complicating matters are secondhand reports that he was actually trying to get in touch with his girlfriend because he left the party to try to go over to her place—not sure where she lived or, again, why he would be SUPPOSEDLY wandering the town for roughly 7 hours trying to get in touch with her via cell phone, instead of just showing up there or going back to his own house. I’m wondering if she lived a little further away outside of Cleveland and that’s why his phone last pinged headed southbound before it died? Unfortunately, that’s just one of the few questions that there is no clear-cut answer to in this case.

I SO want to see this resolved in this coming year. Technology and investigative techniques have evolved so much since even 2008— I would love to see a fresh investigation into what happened using some more updated methods and potentially fresh eyes.

 

[Ciriii57]

Thank you for that information. Yes I see the town is really small! The distance in between the area near the high school and the area where I'm assuming the phone pinged is not really a large area and wouldn't take long to walk. I've attached a snip of a map, red for the party location and purple for the tower; is this about where you reckoned?
It is not a 7 hour walk!
The phone ping needs clearing up I think. I'm not a technical expert but if this was the closest tower then it would ping that one anyway, it's stated it was near his home but I'm not sure it conclusively places him near the cellphone tower? Its a very small town.

I would really love to know where the girlfriend lived, as well as his own house. As you say, it doesn't make sense that he wandered around for 7 hours instead of just showing up at her house.
It just kind of sounds like he left the party and went somewhere else that night, but somewhere we don't know about? ...and yet nothing bad befell him wherever he was as he was up and about trying to call her again at 7.15? Something BIG is missing here.
I also just realised something else that makes no sense. The detective said he left the party and started walking, made some calls and his battery died. So how did he then manage to make 2 calls 7 hours later; does it suggest he went somewhere and charged his phone?

I'm getting more and more confused.

I wish we had a family member to clear all this up. His Facebook page doesn't seem very active anymore but maybe....

 

[Ciriii57]

search continues for clues to body found

At approximately 7:30 pm Thursday evening, the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office received a call that “human remains” had been found along a pipeline right of way located approximately 200 yards south of CR 332 and about a half mile East of Interstate 69 in North West Liberty County. Capt.. Don...

montgomerycountypolicereporter.com

AHH ok according to this article he was confirmed to be walking down FM-1010 where he made the calls from. But I'm still confused how it took him 7 hours to get there it looks like a 15 min walk.

There is an email address listed on the Facebook page, possible way to confirm the confusing info?

 

[threesevenninefour]

The phone ping needs clearing up I think. I'm not a technical expert but if this was the closest tower then it would ping that one anyway, it's stated it was near his home but I'm not sure it conclusively places him near the cellphone tower? Its a very small town.

Yes, I totally forgot to mention that in my first reply but you’re definitely right about that! I’m not totally up-to-date with how technology works but it’s possible that his phone simply pinged off the “closest” tower and it didn’t necessary mean he was in close proximity to it—especially in such a small town, where there may only be a few cell towers (especially in 2008). Unfortunately, that brings us back to the beginning in terms of not knowing where he went when he left the party or even where he was headed to in terms of his girlfriend’s home.

 

[threesevenninefour]

Your map is correct! As you said, not a 7-hour walk. I am also curious as to where his family house was located at the time, maybe he decided to try to get to there? It was late, so is it possible he actually went to his house, charged his phone, and left again without anyone in the home realizing due to being asleep?

I’m also interested in the nature of this birthday party he attended. Were they drinking and possibly intoxicated? NO judgement at all, as I did the same at 19, but sometimes that help explain behavior that to an outsider can seem strange.

As you can probably tell, I have spent a lot of time thinking about this case and have many questions as a result

I have seen the e-mail but have always been hesitant to reach out directly to the family, just because I have issues with feeling like I’m disturbing others. I may see if I can get in touch with one of the agencies that first took on the case though, just to see if there’s anything they can clear up with the timeline of events/locations.

 

[chimpface]

I often think about cases like this. The heartache for the ones that are left behind. Let's face it, in the age of CCTV, GPS, mobile phones, there aren't many people who could disappear off their own back and never be heard from again, really sad.

 

[Ciriii57]

I located the family home at the time using fast people search. Now this is interesting, they lived outside of Cleveland itself! I won't post the address here but have marked it on the attached map with the red dropped pin. Red blob is the party, purple aerial the cellphone tower (approximately) and the blue line would be Rodney's proposed route, solid line until the cellphone tower and broken after as we don't know he walked there.
According to Google maps it would take about 1 and a half hours to walk.
So it makes sense why his friend gave him a ride to the party. With no ride back, he'd have no option but to walk home.

I had thought the same as you about him going home and charging his phone. It also made sense as to why he'd left his stuff in his room; because he'd been back there. But I don't know why he'd then leave again.
Could it also be that he was a bit drunk, as you say, and just fell asleep on his walk home? Explaining the 7 hour gap. He woke up at 7.15 ish and that's when something happened?
I would still like to locate the girlfriends house as well.

I did a quick Street View walk of the route...field and forest and more fields and even more forest. A quiet road and not many houses but with a large intersection to cross. Someone giving him a ride Springs to mind. Also, if his friend left the party and drove that route, he should have seen him.

 

[threesevenninefour]

Thank you so much for undercovering that!! Definitely gives me a new perspective on what could have occurred that night; possibly he was headed towards his house when his phone last pinged OR headed back towards Cleveland in the morning hours after stopping off at home unseen late the night before.

A very rural area, which almost certainly means no surveillance footage along that route. I do wonder about the drinking aspect but I feel like he would have had to be extremely intoxicated to fall asleep outside. However, that idea did make me look at the weather for January 22, 2008 in nearby Houston, TX and it appears it was unseasonably warm! A high of 72 degrees and a low of 52 degrees-- definitely a comfortable temperature to walk in and lowers the chance of hypothermia significantly from what usually would usually be in January. So, that could explain why he had no issue with the possibly long walk home, especially if he was feeling uncomfortable at the party, as reported.

 

[Ciriii57]

Oh I hadn't thought of that! Yes he'd have to be really drunk to sleep at the side of the road and I'm not sure there is evidence he was. I also notice he is said to be shy so I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be getting in cars with random strangers either.

I did some research on the cellphone towers. So it seems back in 2008 the towers had a pretty big radius (sometimes up to 20 miles) and although pings wouldn't be able to specifically locate his phone, they would be able to triangulate his position to about 30 metres depending on the time it took for the communication pings between his phone and the tower, since he was trying to place a call it should be pretty specific. They would also be able to see in which direction he was moving, since its not mentioned I think he was stationary.

Detective Scott Felts with the Cleveland Police Department said that records indicate that he was “bumping off a cell phone tower off of FM 1010, which is close to his home.”

The place I think the cell tower is, is 2.5 miles from his home. Is this considered close? I don't drive so my idea of close is different to other people's? There probably wasn't another one closer as this would have covered the area I guess.

I believe he was somewhere along that road, and maybe still is.

 

[threesevenninefour]

2.5 miles would be considered pretty close if driving but I wouldn’t consider it “close” if walking— I think it would take roughly a little around an hour, if walking at an average pace.

I agree, I believe he may very well be somewhere along that road still, unless he was somehow transported out of the area after his phone went dead.

 

[Ciriii57]

2.5 miles would be considered pretty close if driving but I wouldn’t consider it “close” if walking— I think it would take roughly a little around an hour, if walking at an average pace.

I agree, I believe he may very well be somewhere along that road still, unless he was somehow transported out of the area after his phone went dead.

Another confusing statement by LE on this then. Was it in fact this cellphone tower or another one.

@threesevenninefour when equusearch was brought in, do you happen to know what the specific search area was?

 

[threesevenninefour]

No, I’m not. In fact, the only reason I know Equusearch was involved at all was a news article from 2008 that has little information beyond what we already know:

Texas EquuSearch resumes search for missing teen; volunteers needed

From there I found that they do have his missing persons alert posted on their website but, again, there’s no new information on it. I wonder if they would be another good point of contact to reach out to? At least to see where they searched back in 2008.