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

[Gardener1850]

http://abc7amarillo.com/news/local/...s-family-seeks-answer-through-records-request

In October, Thomas Brown’s family filed a public records request with the Hemphill County Sheriff for information about the case. The request was sent to the attorney general for a decision about what could be released. The attorney general ruled the family could have the documents requested, but now the county is appealing that decision in a lawsuit, asking the attorney general to reconsider. Thomas' mom, Penny Meek, said she is not seeking sensitive information.


______________________________________________

So who is the Sheriff's Office protecting? I know who *I* think they are protecting (atleast one of the two boys who was last seen with Tom).

More from the article:

Meek’s requests include a log of volunteers that participated in searches, dates the Department of Public Service, the Texas Rangers and the FBI became involved in the investigation, any press releases about Thomas' case, names of deputies assigned to the case, disciplinary reports of personnel, the number of photographs and recordings made plus, most importantly, the classification of the case. She wants to know whether or not it is a criminal investigation.

These seem like very reasonable requests. None of the things listed is sensitive stuff like a list of suspects or LE interviews of POI's, etc. I think by the county fighting it, however, they answered the last question already. JMO.

 

[jellybean96]

The Finding Tom Brown website (https://findingthomas.weebly.com) have posted the legal documents that have been filed re: Hemphill Co refusing to give Thomas' family the requested documents. I haven't had a chance to read them yet, but it looks like its the Suit that Hemphill Co filed against the AG.

https://findingthomas.weebly.com/open-records-suit-request.html


Also, if you click around on the Finding Tom Brown site, they have linked new newspapers articles from the Canadian Record re: the court battle

 

[jellybean96]

There is a petition to get the Texas Rangers involved in Tom's case. https://www.change.org/p/moms4tom-t...tm_content=nafta_fb_canonical_share_3:control

 

[jellybean96]

Thomas Brown’s disappearance will air on Crime Watch Daily tomorrow (Monday),

https://www.directv.com/tv/Crime-Watch-Daily-With-Chris-Hansen-L1NDT0NHWmV4b1NGby9GckxSaXJvUT09

 

[Sunny Texas]

http://canadianrecord.com/?p=7575#

 

[Sunny Texas]

http://abc7amarillo.com/news/local/...s-family-seeks-answer-through-records-request

So who is the Sheriff's Office protecting? I know who *I* think they are protecting (atleast one of the two boys who was last seen with Tom).

For some reason, I had it in my head that his two friends were a boy and a girl. I'll re-read and see if I can find that.

 

[ElementalLaura]

http://canadianrecord.com/?p=7575#

From the link:

Hemphill County Sheriff Nathan Lewis has sent an appeal to the Texas Attorney General’s Office, requesting that it take over the investigation into the Thanksgiving 2016 disappearance of Thomas Brown, then a senior at Canadian High School.

Sheriff Lewis’ request, emailed to the AG’s Criminal Justice Division on Friday afternoon, is an apparent concession to a petition posted at change.org by Tom’s mother, Penny Meek, and promoted by the advocacy group, Moms4Tom.

MOO: Good. This case needs more sunshine.

 

[Sunny Texas]

I went back and looked at the information again. One of his friends was a girl whose first name could be assumed to be a boy's name. She shared this week's petition on Facebook. The other friend is a male whose dad is a state representative.

 

[Gardener1850]

[h=1]AG Requested to Join Thomas Brown Case[/h]

CANADIAN - The search for a missing Canadian teenager takes another twist.

It has been 14 months since Thomas Brown, 18, went missing, but hope for his return is not lost.
Dissatisfied with the sheriff’s investigation, Brown's family has hired a private investigator to aid in the search.

Now, they are getting word that the attorney general's office may be getting involved.

It's something you'll see all over town. Trees adorned with yellow ribbons, or just about anything in town, with a singular message; Come home, Thomas.

Friends and family are no closer to finding out what happened the night Thomas went missing.

http://www.myhighplains.com/news/ag-requested-to-join-thomas-brown-case/944209992

 

[neesaki]

I just watched the Crime Watch Daily episode about Toms case. Not really any new information, but I was surprised to hear that Toms brother believes he’s alive and out there somewhere. While his friend believes he was murdered. Such conflicting opinions.

I’m really happy to hear the AG will hopefully be getting involved. Seems long past due. I have wondered why the Texas Rangers haven’t been brought in, they are highly skilled and have much more training for cases like this than any local LE.

Praying for some answers soon for Toms family.

 

[Gardener1850]

I just watched the Crime Watch Daily episode about Toms case. Not really any new information, but I was surprised to hear that Toms brother believes he’s alive and out there somewhere. While his friend believes he was murdered. Such conflicting opinions.

I’m really happy to hear the AG will hopefully be getting involved. Seems long past due. I have wondered why the Texas Rangers haven’t been brought in, they are highly skilled and have much more training for cases like this than any local LE.

Praying for some answers soon for Toms family.

Thanks for mentioning CWD. Here's the recent episode:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOs3foKg08U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z997x1u58ro

 

[jellybean96]

Thanks for mentioning CWD. Here's the recent episode:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOs3foKg08U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z997x1u58ro

The comments on those videos are interesting. Definitely some food for thought.

 

[jellybean96]

Having grown up in a similar town, I have a hard time believing no one knew the water treatment plant was there.

 

[jellybean96]

On the Mom's For Tom FB page, Tom's mom answers a question about whether or not the cell phone found was in fact, Toms. The Sheriff says it is, but Tom's mom says the description of the phone does not match Tom's phone.

Inconsistencies like this irritate me. This should be a fairly easy determination if the phone was his or not.

 

[jellybean96]

3 part interview with Tom's mom, Penny https://findingthomas.weebly.com/meek-12418-interview-on-kxdj.html

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

Thanks for mentioning CWD. Here's the recent episode:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOs3foKg08U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z997x1u58ro

Thanks for posting the links, Gardener.

I knew that Thomas’ SUV was found during an aerial search, but what I didn’t realize until I watched the first video: It was actually one of the two friends Thomas had been with the night he disappeared who spotted the vehicle from the air, while her father piloted their helicopter.

The reporter actually interviews the friend, Christian Webb (the other friend, Kaleb King, appears in the first video as well, but only for a total of a minute or so; he says the three of them rode around that night, listening to music, talking, and that it was a “pretty boring night in Canadian”).

According to Christian, after she and her father found the SUV, they tried to see if Thomas was inside the vehicle; she even talks about her father trying to shield her away “because he didn’t want me to see what was inside, just in case.” So clearly, she and her father had access to Thomas’ car before anyone else, including LE.

I must say this is likely unrelated to whatever happened to Thomas, and that Chritian and her father were just trying to help Thomas and his family, and it was purely by coincidence that they were the ones to find his car. It is unfortunate, however, that there now is a possibility of a potential crime scene (“The private investigator says a cadaver dog got a brief hit inside Thomas's SUV and at Lake Marvin, not far from where the SUV was abandoned“; we also know that a shell casing was found inside the vehicle, in addition to a small amount of blood - BBM) having been contaminated.
https://crimewatchdaily.com/2018/01...opular-texas-teen-disappears-on-thanksgiving/

Still, I do find this fact curious.

 

[Midge Montana]

Isn't Philip Klein the PI on this case?

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

Isn't Philip Klein the PI on this case?

Yes, and in an interview he gave just yesterday, Mr. Klein says the Hemphill County Sheriff has told Thomas’ mom the cell phone that was found during the Klein-led search in October did indeed belong to Thomas, it “fired up” (I think that’s what he said ... difficult to understand in some parts), and it is now in Quantico (I’m assuming at the FBI Laboratory), being analyzed!

You can listen the interview here: https://findingthomas.weebly.com/12918-kleinkxdj-interview-revelations.html

An article about the search back in Oct.: http://canadianrecord.com/?p=7197

 

[Sunny Texas]

Having grown up in a similar town, I have a hard time believing no one knew the water treatment plant was there.

I was thinking the same thing. It looks like a good spot for parking. Hah! On the other hand, there are plenty of spots around a rural town for that--lots of lease roads. It's interesting to look at the entire town from the air and try to figure out how a potential murderer would get away from the scene after dropping off the Durango. If it were a 1 person job, they could have driven their own vehicle down a dirt road near the drop-off and then walked to it after parking the Durango.

 

[Sunny Texas]

I don't find it curious that they were the ones who found the vehicle. They were some of the first people Tom's mom called, since the girl had been out with him and might have an idea where he could be. It would be natural for them to offer to help search, especially since law enforcement didn't appear to be taking it very seriously at that point. They were fortunate that her dad has a helicopter service. Law enforcement there wouldn't have access to that. The red color of the vehicle made it easier to spot.

I remember that initially, the sheriff's department encouraged speculation that this was a suicide or runaway case. I had assumed friends and family had made statements which led them to conclude that, but now, that does not appear to be the case. Odd.