Well - This is at least some solid information, but a lot of questions remain.
We can add certain events to a timeline..
Nov 24th 2016 - 2:30 AM. L.E. is contacted. Thomas Brown (TB) cannot be located.
March 30th - 2017 - nearly 4 months later.. Search Warrants for the Cell Phone Data + Location (C: D+L from here on out) for numbers belonging to TB, Christian Webb, Kaleb King.
April 7th, 2017 - C: D+L for CO Resident Nathan McGwier.. Warrant alludes that this could really be TB.
Oct 2017 - TB cell phone found.
Nov 2nd, 2017 - C: D+L Warrants for Chris Meek. Similar warrants were also issues for Penny Meek and Tucker Brown, covering the same period, but the documents do not have a date signed and issued.
Jan 25th, 2018 - 14 months after TB has disappeared, a "Tower Dump" Warrant is issued.**
The next day...
Jan 26th, 2018 - Sherriff Lewis requests the Texas OAG take over the investigation.
March 29, 2018 - Penny and Chris Meek are polygraphed.
May 17th, 2018 - Nathan Lewis is polygraphed.
Jun 6th, 2018 - C: D+L warrants issued for Penny and Chris Meek. Warrant states that their polygraph results indicate deception: Penny - Having TB's phone, contact after his disappearance, and moving TB's body. Chris - Moving TB's body, and typo?? but perhaps about having contact after disappearance? This Warrant expands from the prior warrant and covers dates Sept 1, 2016 to May 25th, 2018.
Jun 6th, 2018 - C: D+L warrant issued for Nathan Lewis - Warrant states that polygraph indicated deception, but does not specify which questions or areas where deception was indicated - only that he was asked a series of questions concerning any involvement in TB's disappearance, knowledge about the TB's iPhone and it's circumstances, and the photo taken of TB at Fronks gas station. This warrant covers dates Sept 1, 2016 to May 25th, 2018.
Jun 6th 2018 - Instagram Warrant issued for account "tommy_gun2.0" and Facebook Warrant issued for an account number, both believed to be TB's based on information retrieved off the phone.
Aug 22nd - C: D+L for Ron Bishop - who provided tech support for Fronks oil and who turned over the video to Lewis on a thumb Drive. Lewis wrote in a report that he did not have this video, only that he viewed it with Bishop. Bishop states he did not watch the video at length, just downloaded a video player and showed Lewis how to play the video. Bishop was interviewed on May 30th and June 7th of 2018. In the June interview, he appeared frightened, with a shaking voice and hands. Bishop denied contact with Lewis after this May 30th interview. This was denied. Warrant covers dates May 23rd, to June 8th 2018.
Aug 22nd - C: D+L for Pine Greggory. This is the most expansive warrant in the investigation - it covers dates Sept 1st, to "Present".
Feb 13th, 2019 - OAG investigation finds searches for a suicide hotline made on Nov 23rd, 2016.
Jan 22nd, 2020 - OAG investigator Kading was shown messages sent to TB phone. From November 24th, 2016 to Dec 25th, 2016 - this messages were sent as imessages and appeared as a blue bubble. From Jan 4th, 2017 the message bubble changed to green, which indicates they were received as SMS and not iMessages. The last message on Oct 1st 2017 is shown as being read in the screen shots. These messages were not in the data downloaded off TB's phone or in the verizon wireless records. The OAG states in this warrant that they believe that the sim card was removed and inserted into a different phone, or that these messages were accessed via TB's iCloud account.
Feb 5th - based on information collected oh Feb 13th, 2019 and Jan 22nd 2020, a warrant for the shared iCloud account of Thomas Brown and Tucker Brown is issued to Apple for all data.
Feb 5th - A warrant is issued for a Gmail account believed to belong to Michelle Gomez, a private investigator. This account was used to sign up for a Pinger account to send text messages to Tucker Brown. The message stated "Hey Buddy I can't keep it a secret any longer. The truth is gonna come out." sent on Jan 17th, 2020, and again "we are done it's time" sent on Jan 21st 2020. The warrant states that the OAG believes this was to illicit a response from Tucker Brown.
The data from Apple showed that nothing was backed up on TB's account - no iMessages or photographs. IP logs and data access logs were blank.
The report states in regards to TB's iPhone: "The phone died at 12:23a.m. on November 24th 2016. It was not shut off" Digital forensic evidence indicates that it is more likely than not the battery case was on his phone all night. There is never an unplugged event.
The report does not mention Phillip Klein's assertion that the sheriff's office did not allow a search past a certain point on Lake Marvin Road on the day the iPhone was found.
So - basically this case hinges on the iPhone - how did he end up in a field, with 26" of rain since November 24th, 2016 in perfect condition, no moisture indicator trigger.
** Based on one of my previous posts, my conversation with a LEO who has done cell tower forensics indicated to me that the most detailed data has to be saved.. like the sooner the better, with a warrant.. in a timeframe that was alluded to weeks, and definitely not 14 months later. Archive data can still be revealing however. I would really like to know if Nathan Lewis got that data before or after he asked OAG to assist in the investigation.
It seems that this was done rather quickly.. the Social Security number of Nathan Lewis was not redacted on one of the warrant documents. So.. that's, ahh.. yea lol.