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

[jellybean96]

The full article is posted in the Unfound Podcast discussion group.

OK, I am glad to read that it's there. Im curious what others think.

 

[Texas Wind]

Thank you jellybean 96!
One of the last quotes from AG “It’s OK not to know” - no it is not ok.
I am wondering if AG recorded their own meeting. They have been under heat and criticism. As I remember, Lewis insinuated suicide very soon after Thomas went missing. Coincidence or well planned? I feel like I am being gaslighted. I am sure many in Canadian want this to all go away. Will the numerous signs remain up? This case always has a new twist. Can’t wait to see what is next!

 

[Texas Wind]

The more I have time to contemplate this, the more I second guess myself.
1. Why did his ex girlfriend send a text and ask if he was ok?
2. Why did the dogs follow his scent towards the lake for a little bit from the parked car.
3. Why was a certain hotline search on his phone.

But...who planted the phone... etc.
Million other questions going through my thoughts.... MOO

 

[Candikane]

In October he's in tears as he is replaced from the football team according to Mom's interview with Unfound Podcast. 2 days prior to disappearance Tom and GF break up. Last known text from anyone other than family, was from GF asking if Tom was ok. Within ten minutes he is missing. Phone found during search yeilds suicide hotline search that has been deleted. A few things seem to be coming more clear. Was he indeed suicidal. I've never thought that was the case until now.

 

[warhol]

I would like to know if the phone call to the suicide hotline was made before 12am or after 12am. If it were before 12am, I would lean more toward suicide. If it were after 12am, I would think someone else did it to make it look like a suicide since his phone was turned off and went straight to voicemail starting around 12:25am. If he did commit suicide, how did he do it? No gun was found. They cannot determine the cause of death - no damage to the skull. Maybe sleeping pills? It is still strange that he would walk 15 miles to commit suicide. That would take around 5 hours. If it were really his Durango on video at the rec center at 5:55am, that would put him on Lake Marvin Road between 6am and 11am. You would think someone would have seen him on the road or from the helicopter. Also, the cell phone being found in pristine condition is weird to me.

 

[Texas Wind]

I would like to know if the phone call to the suicide hotline was made before 12am or after 12am. If it were before 12am, I would lean more toward suicide. If it were after 12am, I would think someone else did it to make it look like a suicide since his phone was turned off and went straight to voicemail starting around 12:25am. If he did commit suicide, how did he do it? No gun was found. They cannot determine the cause of death - no damage to the skull. Maybe sleeping pills? It is still strange that he would walk 15 miles to commit suicide. That would take around 5 hours. If it were really his Durango on video at the rec center at 5:55am, that would put him on Lake Marvin Road between 6am and 11am. You would think someone would have seen him on the road or from the helicopter. Also, the cell phone being found in pristine condition is weird to me.

FBI failed to retrieve data on initial effort so it was sent to another lab where they found “searches” for the suicide hotline on the “evening” that he disappeared, that had been deleted. Not sure if a helicopter can see amongst the trees. The remains did not provide any information as to what happened. Animal activity and length of time of over two years exposed to the elements unfortunately made it difficult to determine cause of death. Yes, the cell phone condition is weird.

 

[Razz]

I am totally confused at this point.
All this "info" but no reliable links.

About the "planted" phone. Could that be why Klein is being so careful with the people he is selecting for the search for Michael Chambers? You can't just trust anyone and everyone to search. Too many people who may have ulterior motives. The day they searched for evidence re Tom there were over 300 people. Were they vetted?

This sounds like a huge mess. Too many people involved and too many people with hidden agendas.

 

[Vail]

I would like to know if the phone call to the suicide hotline was made before 12am or after 12am. If it were before 12am, I would lean more toward suicide. If it were after 12am, I would think someone else did it to make it look like a suicide since his phone was turned off and went straight to voicemail starting around 12:25am. If he did commit suicide, how did he do it? No gun was found. They cannot determine the cause of death - no damage to the skull. Maybe sleeping pills? It is still strange that he would walk 15 miles to commit suicide. That would take around 5 hours. If it were really his Durango on video at the rec center at 5:55am, that would put him on Lake Marvin Road between 6am and 11am. You would think someone would have seen him on the road or from the helicopter. Also, the cell phone being found in pristine condition is weird to me.

If I try to put myself in his shoes and add in a distraught state of mind, I can imagine just walking and walking, getting colder and colder, not really knowing what i'm going to do but not caring if it kills me. It is possible he finally succumbed to hypothermia, undressed and lay down and died of the elements. It would be a tragic and perplexing end, however, and I question why they haven't found the rest of him - even animal activity wont scatter large pieces very far.

While this idea seems plausible on the surface, it leaves out too much other evidence.

 

[warhol]

If I try to put myself in his shoes and add in a distraught state of mind, I can imagine just walking and walking, getting colder and colder, not really knowing what i'm going to do but not caring if it kills me. It is possible he finally succumbed to hypothermia, undressed and lay down and died of the elements. It would be a tragic and perplexing end, however, and I question why they haven't found the rest of him - even animal activity wont scatter large pieces very far.

While this idea seems plausible on the surface, it leaves out too much other evidence.

I just find it odd that he would walk away with his school issued laptop and just throw it into the grass miles down the road. If I were suicidal, that would be the last thing on my mind. Why not leave it in the Durango? Same with the phone. It was turned off why not leave it in the Durango or in your pocket? Why just throw it off to the side of the road. Also, it sounded like he had made plans to meet his friends the next day. I would like to know what they said about Thomas's demeanor that night. Was he distant? Did he seem sad? It seems like he was in a good mood when they hung out.

 

[Razz]

If I try to put myself in his shoes and add in a distraught state of mind, I can imagine just walking and walking, getting colder and colder, not really knowing what i'm going to do but not caring if it kills me. It is possible he finally succumbed to hypothermia, undressed and lay down and died of the elements. It would be a tragic and perplexing end, however, and I question why they haven't found the rest of him - even animal activity wont scatter large pieces very far.

While this idea seems plausible on the surface, it leaves out too much other evidence.

Is there anywhere the transcription of the meeting be read through viable links? (And not where I have to become a member of a group).

The signs, "Who Murdered Mike" make me very uncomfortable. I can't imagine anyone coming forward now,
even if it was an accident. Who wants to have their head put on a stick and paraded through town?!

 

[Hoosier952]

video


OK, Im finally home. I will give a rundown of the article. FWIW, I bought the article *before* I knew Klein released his statement today. I actually went and searched for the article after I saw someone post here wondering what it said. Curious Cat and all that...

I am not really sure how much I can & should say about what the article *really says* (because Klein asking people not to believe it) so I will skirt around the exact details and give general info.

There is a list of who was in attendance, and I will post that here: Toms family, 2 reps for Moms4Tom, Klein & his associates, D.A, Franklin McDonoug (who had already been briefed on findings) and OAG Investigator Chris Smyth.

No one else is listed in the article as atttending (specifically, any more LE)

So the following is my interpretation of the article:

--Lewis was cleared of any wrong doing.
--Moms4Tom and Unfound helped push allegations against Lewis.

--I will share this quote:
While the evidence produced in the investigation “is sufficient to produce suspicion and conjecture,” he read, “there is not sufficient evidence of criminal activity. The investiga- tion has been complicated and compromised by public speculation and information.”

-LE recovered some deleted info from the that is somewhat questionable to me personally. (Not sure if I should expand on this or not?)
-Yes, Tom's remains were found, but not all of them & what they do have does not lead them to a cause of death.

Another quote:
The investigators confirmed that no suicide note was found, and that nothing else pointed to that as cause of death. “We also have nothing,” Smyth said, “to corroborate if somebody did something to him.”

--Forensics went through the Sheriffs Office and nothing was found/amiss.

Things that are discussed in the article that I am not sure about discussing since Klein said not to: what was found on the phone, the surveillance video, and the missing photo from Fronks Oil.

IMHO- this article is very slanted in favor of LE and quite frankly, is a slap in the face to Penny & Tom's family. I should also mention Pyne Gregory's name isn't anywhere in the entire article. This newspaper article, IMHO, has made it clear who they believe and what they believe happened.

Exactly how can an investigation be compromised by public speculation and information? Are they really trying to pin their shady antics on the public? All while basically saying they have evidence of everything the public has been accusing them of? So not only a huge slap in the face to Penny and family, but also to the public/community. Or maybe they were pinning the planted phone on Klein, erm, "the public". Kinda hard to do that without pinning anything on the great shed hunter.

Exactly what do they have evidence of re: Thomas's death. If they don't have a cause of death, how could they possibly rule out suicide without being able to also rule out homicide or other causes of death? Sorry I'm not sure how to word that without making it sound like I'm implying this was a suicide.

--Forensics went through the Sheriffs Office and nothing was found/amiss.
Of course.

I haven't read the full article, so maybe I should before commenting. But to me, anything found on that cell phone shouldn't be part of the investigation. Who knows where it's been (well, I have a guess) and what's been added or deleted since the night Thomas was last seen alive.

 

[Texas Wind]

Moms4Tom
AG should release ALL the transcripts.

 

[Hoosier952]

In October he's in tears as he is replaced from the football team according to Mom's interview with Unfound Podcast. 2 days prior to disappearance Tom and GF break up. Last known text from anyone other than family, was from GF asking if Tom was ok. Within ten minutes he is missing. Phone found during search yeilds suicide hotline search that has been deleted. A few things seem to be coming more clear. Was he indeed suicidal. I've never thought that was the case until now.

I've been so curious about the text from ex-gf. Was that the only text she sent, what was the context? Since he had been with friends that night, is it possible one of them raised the alarm bells and got in touch with the ex? If something about his demeanor or behavior was concerning enough for friends to get in contact with the ex, why in the heck would they leave him? I get curfews and all, but I'd think most parents would be understanding. They could have invited Thomas back to their house or even asked to crash at his. Maybe Thomas declined. Maybe the text was a breaking point.

I could absolutely see a suicidal person driving around for hours or being parked for hours or walking for hours. I guess tossing anything related to the hurt you're feeling could feel freeing and certainly would not be needed.

But I still can't write off all of my concerns and how easy it would be to only release information that fits your agenda. It doesn't explain the near pristine phone. It doesn't explain the actions of a couple of officers and some weird coincidences. We don't know how much information LE has held back from Klein and Thomas's family. I also think some information has been released to paint Klein in a negative light. Sometimes I feel this case has suffered from the pissing match between Klein and LE.

 

[jellybean96]

For those of you who think suicide as a viable option - did Tom clean his fingerprints off his phone before or after killing himself?

If he deleted the suicide hotline, and he was suicidal, why delete it?

If I recall, those who were with him earlier in the night said he was fine and nothing was amiss. He made plans for the next day. Doesnt sound like he was contemplating suicide.

I also wonder when the suicide hotline was searched. And when was it erased? The timing of Lewis suggesting suicide and now all this 'evidence' to support it just makes my hinky meter go off.

 

[oviedo]

Just starting to read this thread and finding not a whole of information has been released - sleuthers are still asking questions they were asking back on page 12 from what I am reading. And still no answers? or just none release? JMO

 

[oviedo]

Well I’ve been through this thread and the one thing that stands out to me is the lack of MSM reporting on this young mans death. IMO all LE agencies involved need to release everything related to his disappearance and death to shed the taint of cover up because based on what little has been reported (because so little has been released IMO) it appears there is a massive cover up in this TX town. Is there a mechanism in TX for a public records release? I’m dismayed for this family and if there isn’t full disclosure by LE I can only think that there is a reason they are withholding release especially if they are trying to persuade suicide as a viable reason JMO

 

[Texas Wind]

This is not adding up to me. Supposedly, he got gas and turned towards the football field at 11:51; turned off his cell phone, ( his brother ‘s text was not read) then where did he go for almost 7 HOURS! All while 911 was called and several people were driving around looking for him all night starting at 1:30a.m. He drove back into town to park his car without being seen at 6:50 and start to WALK for over 4 more hours to get to his final destination. The helicopter found his Durango at 8:45 and he was supposedly must of still been walking. In broad daylight, he went to a trail close to the Lake Marvin around noon and died. Even with horseback searching in his area he was not seen. And supposedly he left no physical evidence of how he managed to kill himself. But Pyne Gregory hunting deer sheds “happens” to find him years later.... and then that planted cell phone...... Doesn’t add up rationally to me as suicide.

 

[Texas Wind]

I feel the AG should release more information in a press release instead of having it leaked out of a private meeting and pieces of a transcript used in the hometown paper. Not professional or classy.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

From today’s High Plains Observer:
“KXDJ's Chris Samples responded to private investigator Philip Klein's social media post from Friday that criticized both Samples and Laurie Ezzell Brown, editor and publisher of the Canadian Record.

Brown had published a story the day before, detailing the Tom Brown case and releasing information from a transcript taken from a recording of the closed-door meeting with Texas Attorney General's Office investigators, Brown family members, members of Klein and his team, members of law enforcement and others.

Click here to read the article.

Klein took issue with the article Brown had written and Samples reading it on the air.

His post said the following ...”
KXDJ's Chris Samples Responds To Klein's Social Media Post

I haven’t listened to the audio yet (linked at the bottom of the page (linked at the bottom of the page; “Chris (Klein response) 90919”), but wanted to go ahead and share since it includes a link to a free online version of The Canadian Record, [click on the “Download pdf” icon] published on September 5th, where you can read Ms. Brown’s story (or as she calls it, a “report”; I call it an opinion piece).

I am also going to attach a screenshot of the article below:

 

[Hoosier952]

For those of you who think suicide as a viable option - did Tom clean his fingerprints off his phone before or after killing himself?

If he deleted the suicide hotline, and he was suicidal, why delete it?

If I recall, those who were with him earlier in the night said he was fine and nothing was amiss. He made plans for the next day. Doesnt sound like he was contemplating suicide.

I also wonder when the suicide hotline was searched. And when was it erased? The timing of Lewis suggesting suicide and now all this 'evidence' to support it just makes my hinky meter go off.

I had forgotten his friends said he was fine (although suicidal people often do seem fine or even happier than usual before the act). So that rules out them contacting the ex. Since all contact with the ex was after Tom and friends had separated for the night, I guess we could say that we don't even actually know if it was Tom speaking with the ex. If she was asking if he was okay, maybe something was said that didn't sound like normal Tom. Or maybe it was Tom but something was already wrong and he knew it. Asking if he was okay without any other context just doesn't prove or disprove anything.But at the same time, in the very beginning, there was mention of an concerning Instagram post. I just don't know.

We know he quit answering his phone by 12:03 and all was dark until there was a call made on his phone at 12:20 ish. Does that coincide with the search for the suicide hotline? Surely his phone company would have record of how long that call was or if the number was dialed and immediately hung up. If he was on the phone for hours while driving around, I say suicide. If not, then I certainly have a lot more questions.