That's the golden clue for sure.
I should clarify I don't have a problem with the validity of the facts, they just lead in a direction that is problematic, especially for the discussion here. We knew a lot of this, but it is different seeing it put out over and over again across several documents going to the highest level of investigation.
THOMAS BROWN’S IPHONE
During a search conducted in October 2017, an iPhone was located that was later confirmed through digital forensics as belonging to THOMAS BROWN.
Phone was analyzed by the FBI, OAG Digital Forensics, and an independent digital forensics expert.
The phone contains THOMAS BROWN’S data. This data cannot be transferred from phone to phone because it contains internal applications that are connected to the IMEI of the device purchased from Verizon Wireless.
IMIE Number of Phone is xxxxxxxxxxx7160 and matches Verizon wireless records and box that phone came in provided by family.
SIM card # xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx3865 was activated with this iPhone and was verified by Verizon Wireless. This sim card has never been placed in another phone per Verizon Wireless. The search for a suicide hotline occurred at 9:11 pm. This entry cannot be altered on the phone because all activity is timestamped. [Report Attached]
The phone died at 12:23 a.m. on November 24, 2016. It was not shut off.
penny has the charging case, even though electronic data indicates the phone died in the charging case that night.
The phone never had power again until it was powered on by the FBI after it was discovered in October of 2017.
The phone was in almost perfect condition- no scratches, nicks etc. FBI confirmed the moisture indicators had not been activated on the phone. Although it is not impossible the phone had been outside since November 24, 2016, it is not probable. The area where the phone was found had been recently mowed and had been mowed several times over the summer. Hemphill County received approximately 26 inches of rain from November 24, 2016 to October 14, 2017. [Sourced from
Rainfall. Snowfall. Temperature. - A simple way to get weather history totals for your city or town..] There was also a severe ice storm on January 15, 2017.
PENNY MEEK texted a witness in January of 2017 asking if their child knew the passcode to THOMAS BROWN’S phone and clarified this was a four-digit number. The child began asking numerous friends if they had the passcode. The circumstances surrounding the passcode created misinformation that HCSO had asked for the passcode in 2017. The investigative team has confirmed that HCSO did not ask the family for the passcode in 2017.
View attachment 318494
The digital forensic evidence indicates that it is more likely than not the battery case was on THOMAS BROWN’S phone the night of his disappearance. The phone records show a “plug in”/charging event earlier in the evening while THOMAS BROWN was at his house. There is never an “unplug” event the rest of the evening suggesting that the “plug in” event was the result of the built-in battery charging case attached to the phone and not another type of charging source that would require an “unplug” event before relocating the phone. Further evidence to support this theory are that THOMAS BROWN’S friends stated he was religious about keeping his phone charged and that he almost always had his battery charging case on the phone.
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/global/images/Cold Case Missing Person Unit Press Packet.pdf
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In addition to the above, the doc also presents evidence that:
- Penny asking Caleb to ask around for the phone passcode made him look sus early on. None of us like Clapp very much, but he wasn't wrong in thinking Caleb asking for the passcode was weird.
- Tucker shared the iCloud account with Tom, and all of his data was intact, but Tom's was missing.
- Tom's facebook account was deleted. Penny blames Klein, Klein blames Penny(although it seems this was done prior to Klein being involved). Neither have any reasonable explanation for why they would delete the fb account of a missing person.
- Tom's instagram was never touched, assuming no one knew that password.
Login • Instagram
-Penny initially claimed the fb account was hacked. If that was true, why didn't they hack his instagram, too?
- The last call to Tom's phone was Penny, not Saige as previously reported.
Not being able to objectively explore all angles, due to our attention being so forcibly directed at LE, has been the haunting of this case IMO. The above highlights issues and questions that need resolution for the question of how Tom died to get any closer to an answer.
