WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.080 --> 00:00:03.640 Texas has a lot of ground to cover, and at 2 00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:06.759 Texas Monthly we do just that. If there's a story 3 00:00:06.759 --> 00:00:09.839 to be told in Texas, and theyre always is, you'll 4 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:13.400 read about it in Texas Monthly. Fifty years of stories 5 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:17.079 for all y'all. There's a lot of ground to cover 6 00:00:17.160 --> 00:00:20.199 in Texas, and at Texas Monthly, we've been doing just 7 00:00:20.280 --> 00:00:24.239 that for fifty years. The complicated, the advocated, and the 8 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:25.160 hotly debated. 9 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:27.480 The ball that's smoked, brood. 10 00:00:27.320 --> 00:00:31.719 Shaken, or put into a taco. The heroes, trailblazers and 11 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:35.560 bum steers, whether we're digging into our past or chronicling 12 00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:38.479 the present. If there's a story to be told in Texas, 13 00:00:38.679 --> 00:00:42.000 and there always is, you'll read about it in Texas Monthly. 14 00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:45.000 Fifty years of stories for all y'all. 15 00:00:50.840 --> 00:01:02.920 In Texas Monthly. And what's your grief like at this point? 16 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:05.879 Because you can't grieve in the traditional way of parent 17 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:08.879 grieves over the loss of a sudden I think. 18 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:12.799 I don't think we've grieved yet because we still don't know. 19 00:01:14.439 --> 00:01:18.879 We've had a memorial, but we don't have we have nothing. 20 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:23.359 I mean, we don't have remains, we don't have an autopsy, 21 00:01:23.959 --> 00:01:27.439 We don't have a forensics We have nothing. 22 00:01:32.519 --> 00:01:33.159 Do you sleep? 23 00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:36.799 I haven't slept in three more than three years. 24 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:42.159 The first time I meet Tom's mom, Penny Meek, She's 25 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:45.280 just gotten home from one of Canadian's elementary schools where 26 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:50.599 she teaches computer classes. She's dressed casually, white blouse, blue jeans, 27 00:01:50.760 --> 00:01:54.079 tennis shoes. Her white blonde hair falls to her shoulders. 28 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:57.159 Penny lives in a ranch style home on the outskirts 29 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:01.560 of town, bordering a wide open pasture. She introduces me 30 00:02:01.599 --> 00:02:06.640 to her other son, Tom's big brother, Tucker. Are you 31 00:02:06.680 --> 00:02:07.560 going to sit in on this? 32 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:08.280 Sure? 33 00:02:08.360 --> 00:02:10.039 Yeah, that'd be great. 34 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:14.560 Tucker is twenty four, an information technology specialist at a 35 00:02:14.599 --> 00:02:19.080 nearby school district. Penny also introduces me to her husband, Chris, 36 00:02:19.479 --> 00:02:21.599 who works as a line operator for an oil field 37 00:02:21.639 --> 00:02:26.599 supply company. Penny and Chris married in twenty twelve, six 38 00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:30.439 years after Penny divorced Tom and Tucker's father. We all 39 00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:33.199 sit down at the kitchen table and Chris serves as 40 00:02:33.240 --> 00:02:35.919 glasses of tap water and I want to do a 41 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:39.120 deep dive more than maybe the other stories have done 42 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:43.319 about Thomas's wife. And then some of the questions are 43 00:02:43.319 --> 00:02:49.520 going to be hard and you're okay with that? What 44 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:51.360 kind of guy was he? I want you to help 45 00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:53.800 me out with this, Tucker. I mean we see a 46 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:55.560 typical Canadian boy. 47 00:02:56.800 --> 00:02:59.800 I wouldn't say it was typical at all, because you know, 48 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:04.759 the typical person that comes out here is like farmer 49 00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:09.400 rancher types. They're tough guys, football stars, that kind of thing. 50 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:12.560 And though Tom played football and was part of that 51 00:03:12.599 --> 00:03:16.400 group too, he fit in all crowds. 52 00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:21.680 Tom especially liked being an actor. Even as a young boy. 53 00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:23.560 He would put on elaborate plays. 54 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:27.719 He was different, and then he would always want me 55 00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:30.080 and Tucker to be in his play with Them, but 56 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:32.240 we didn't ever know what we were supposed to do, 57 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:34.680 and so he would act his part out and then 58 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:37.000 he would tell us what lines to say, like he 59 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:39.400 would go. He would say something, and then he would 60 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:42.400 be like, okay, you say you know this, and then 61 00:03:42.680 --> 00:03:45.159 Tucker and I would try to follow whatever we were 62 00:03:45.159 --> 00:03:48.159 supposed to do and be in his little play with them. 63 00:03:50.120 --> 00:03:53.879 Tom was funny, He was outgoing. He was also known 64 00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:56.800 for his big heart, someone who stood up for other 65 00:03:56.879 --> 00:03:58.039 kids when they were bullied. 66 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:01.400 I have a mom who sent me just a text 67 00:04:01.400 --> 00:04:05.599 message shortly after Thomas went missing. And her son had 68 00:04:05.639 --> 00:04:08.719 been in class with Thomas since we started school here. 69 00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:12.319 I think he was autistic, and sometimes he would have 70 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:14.960 outbreaks in class and the other kids, you know, would 71 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:16.519 kind of pick on him and make fun of him, 72 00:04:16.600 --> 00:04:19.480 and Thomas would kind of sit there and then in 73 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:22.199 a little bit he'd be like, that's enough, you need 74 00:04:22.199 --> 00:04:25.040 to knock it off. He just shut it down. 75 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:31.040 I have to say, sitting at that kitchen table listening 76 00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:34.600 to a family swap stories about a beloved son, this 77 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:37.639 is what small town life is all about, a life 78 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:41.040 where kids don't get into too much trouble because there 79 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:45.439 isn't much trouble to get into. But eventually we get 80 00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:48.120 to talking about the night that changed all of their lives, 81 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:54.000 the night Tom disappeared. I'm Skip Hollinsworth from Texas Monthly 82 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:59.600 and this is Tom Brown's Body, Episode two. Tom's luke 83 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:10.319 Penny told me that on Thanksgiving Eve twenty sixteen, at 84 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:12.920 the stroke of midnight, she checked her phone for a 85 00:05:12.920 --> 00:05:16.759 message from Tom. Tom had gone cruising around Canadian with 86 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:19.920 a few friends that evening. His curfew was midnight. 87 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:24.800 Well, I was kind of pammicking about five after twelve 88 00:05:24.839 --> 00:05:27.319 because Thomas doesn't miss curfew. 89 00:05:27.560 --> 00:05:31.519 Well, and he most certainly didn't just leave you hanging either. 90 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:33.399 I mean, if he was going to be late, he 91 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:35.959 would say, hey, i'm gonna stop off by also sing 92 00:05:35.959 --> 00:05:38.399 grab a burrito before I come home, and a coke, 93 00:05:38.480 --> 00:05:42.040 and then I'll be home, And then he was. He 94 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:45.279 had ten times better communication skills that. I mean, he 95 00:05:45.319 --> 00:05:47.079 would let you know what he was doing. He would 96 00:05:47.160 --> 00:05:49.600 let you know where he was going to be. He 97 00:05:49.639 --> 00:05:52.560 wasn't great, he wasn't secretive by any means, and so 98 00:05:53.240 --> 00:05:54.839 there were times when he was late, but he would 99 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:56.680 text and he would say, yeah, I'm gonna be late, 100 00:05:56.720 --> 00:05:59.160 but I'll be there, So yeah, it was. 101 00:05:59.879 --> 00:06:01.279 He told me he was going to be home in 102 00:06:01.319 --> 00:06:03.600 five minutes. He was home in five minutes or less. 103 00:06:05.079 --> 00:06:08.879 Penny told me. She called and texted Tom. Tucker, who 104 00:06:08.920 --> 00:06:10.800 was at the house watching a movie with a friend, 105 00:06:11.160 --> 00:06:14.839 did the same. Neither of them got an answer. Penny 106 00:06:14.839 --> 00:06:17.879 woke up her husband, Chris, who was asleep in the bedroom, 107 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:19.680 and told him she was going to look for Tom. 108 00:06:20.680 --> 00:06:24.720 She grabbed her keys, climbed in her Chevy suburban. Tucker 109 00:06:24.759 --> 00:06:28.959 suggested she drive around town, passed Tom's usual hangouts, and 110 00:06:29.079 --> 00:06:34.560 along the route that Tom's friends referred to as Tom's loop. Meanwhile, 111 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:37.639 Tucker and his friend got in Tucker's Toyota four Runner 112 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:40.519 and scoured the roads outside of town. 113 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:45.560 Me and Taylor went out and looked for a possible 114 00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:49.079 accident somewhere. If we could see skid marks of that animal, 115 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:51.560 whether you know, where he rolled his car, so we 116 00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:54.199 could find him, and you know, if that's what happened, 117 00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:56.920 we'd get him some help and you know, save his 118 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:01.079 life if that's what it came to, because we didn't 119 00:07:01.240 --> 00:07:02.639 we didn't know what happened. 120 00:07:04.199 --> 00:07:06.800 In a town as remote as Canadian, Tom could have 121 00:07:06.839 --> 00:07:09.759 gotten in a terrible wreck on a country road without 122 00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:12.879 anyone knowing it. But Tucker said there was no sign 123 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:16.959 of Tom's durango. He took his friend home and then 124 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:20.000 he drove around a while longer before heading back home himself. 125 00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:24.199 Penny was already there. She knew that Tom had been 126 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:27.079 with his friend Caleb King that evening, so she called 127 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:31.519 Caleb's parents. The Kings are one of canadians most prominent families. 128 00:07:32.120 --> 00:07:35.839 Caleb's father, Ken, runs an energy service company. He's also 129 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:39.680 a politician, a Republican member of the State House of Representatives. 130 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:43.920 When Penny called Caleb's mom, Robin answered the phone. 131 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:47.800 She was pretty alarmed that Thomas didn't come home, and 132 00:07:47.879 --> 00:07:50.560 she went to wake Caleb up, and I could hear 133 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:54.240 their whole conversation, and then Caleb started calling other friends. 134 00:07:54.839 --> 00:07:57.199 Oh granted, I mean I was asleep and I was 135 00:07:57.279 --> 00:07:59.560 getting kind of confused. I was just like, what do 136 00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:00.519 you mean show up? 137 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:01.959 I mean, this is Caleb. 138 00:08:02.040 --> 00:08:04.240 I'm waking up and I'm drowsy, and I'm kind of confused, 139 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:05.720 like why didn't he come home? So I was like, well, 140 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:10.800 let's just call make sure you're that this isn't bigger 141 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:13.920 than it. Yeah, And I mean it turns out it was. 142 00:08:14.439 --> 00:08:17.560 And so I and then I got a text from 143 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:22.560 Tucker sant Wor's Tom, and I was like, oh, crap, 144 00:08:22.600 --> 00:08:23.079 I don't know. 145 00:08:24.120 --> 00:08:27.120 Caleb called Michael castle Tyne, who had been with Caleb 146 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:30.480 and Tom earlier that night. Michael said he had no 147 00:08:30.600 --> 00:08:32.360 idea where Tom might be. 148 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:33.240 Yeah. 149 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:36.720 I thought it was weird. I mean, Tiki had never 150 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:39.879 missed curfew, he'd never stayed out later than he needed to. 151 00:08:40.799 --> 00:08:44.600 Caleb also called Christian Web, the former Canadian high school 152 00:08:44.639 --> 00:08:48.200 valedictorian who had gone cruising with Caleb and Tom later 153 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:48.799 that night. 154 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:50.799 My first thought was. 155 00:08:52.200 --> 00:08:53.240 That he. 156 00:08:55.039 --> 00:08:58.159 Had just gotten a flat tire. That was my immediate 157 00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:03.919 first thought. I mean, nothing ever happens in Canadian, so 158 00:09:04.440 --> 00:09:09.720 nothing terrible most of the time. So I mean I 159 00:09:09.799 --> 00:09:15.799 was concerned, but I didn't have a huge amount of concern. 160 00:09:16.440 --> 00:09:19.320 Caleb, Michael, and Christian each got in their own cars 161 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:20.440 to go looking for Tom. 162 00:09:22.120 --> 00:09:24.679 We were out, Me and my mom were out. We 163 00:09:24.759 --> 00:09:27.519 were in some car, and Tucker had been out and 164 00:09:27.639 --> 00:09:29.519 Penny were out and they were in separate vehicles. We 165 00:09:29.559 --> 00:09:31.799 had a lot of eagles, and that's what we were thinking, 166 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:35.440 was like, all this out here, surely will find the car. 167 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:38.480 Christian went as far away as the town of Higgins, 168 00:09:38.600 --> 00:09:39.879 twenty five miles away. 169 00:09:40.279 --> 00:09:45.759 There was an old abandoned hotel there that we would 170 00:09:45.799 --> 00:09:51.080 sometimes go and just walk around and kind of explore it. 171 00:09:51.960 --> 00:09:55.159 Why he would go to the Bandon hotel by himself, 172 00:09:55.240 --> 00:09:58.279 I don't know. It was just kind of my second 173 00:09:58.360 --> 00:10:02.000 instinct as to where he might and I didn't see 174 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:07.320 his car. So I drove back into Canadian and I 175 00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:11.639 just drove around all the roads that we take, kind 176 00:10:11.639 --> 00:10:13.120 of the roads outside of town. 177 00:10:13.720 --> 00:10:17.759 At roughly two thirty am, Penny called the Sheriff's department. 178 00:10:18.600 --> 00:10:22.559 The dispatcher contacted a deputy on duty named Pine Gregory. 179 00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:26.840 I was actually in my office when the call came in. 180 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:30.200 It came through on my office phone from a dispatcher 181 00:10:31.159 --> 00:10:32.799 and she said, Hey, are y'all going to go out 182 00:10:32.879 --> 00:10:33.320 and do. 183 00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:36.840 Anything with that call? And I said what call? She said, well, 184 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:37.559 I just told. 185 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:39.840 Dan that we had to miss an eighteen year old kid. 186 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:42.039 And he told me, well, he's eighteen, he can do 187 00:10:42.120 --> 00:10:46.320 what he wants to. I said, well, that's not necessarily true. 188 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:51.879 Called Penny. Spoke with her and you know, basically kind 189 00:10:51.879 --> 00:10:52.759 of went through the rundown. 190 00:10:52.919 --> 00:10:55.399 Who are his friends, where would he hang out? Those 191 00:10:55.480 --> 00:10:56.440 kind of things. 192 00:10:57.159 --> 00:11:00.759 Like everyone else had done. Gregory drove around Canadian looking 193 00:11:00.759 --> 00:11:04.360 for Tom's durrango. He ended up at Tom's home sometime 194 00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:05.279 after three am. 195 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:08.799 Went out, pulled up to the front of the house 196 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:12.480 and if I remember right, they had opened They had 197 00:11:12.519 --> 00:11:14.759 the door opened, but they had like a glass storm door. 198 00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:16.960 And they saw me pull up and they met me 199 00:11:17.039 --> 00:11:19.039 in the yard. They didn't invite me in the house. 200 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:23.039 We stood out there in the yard. Tucker, Penny and 201 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:27.879 I I'd say for fifteen minutes or better, kind of 202 00:11:28.120 --> 00:11:31.480 going on the rundown of you know where he might be. 203 00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:35.120 And then Tucker and I left and went to various 204 00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:37.039 locations looking for Tom. 205 00:11:37.879 --> 00:11:40.480 But after Gregory drove around for more than an hour, 206 00:11:41.399 --> 00:11:46.480 Tom and his durringo were still nowhere to be found. 207 00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:51.000 By seven thirty am, Penny and Chris were on their 208 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:53.960 way to see Nathan Lewis, the thirty two year old 209 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:57.120 sheriff of hemp Hill County, of which Canadian is the 210 00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:01.799 county seat. Lewis has short red a neatly trimmed beard. 211 00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:05.519 People in Canadian say he looks exactly like the NASCAR 212 00:12:05.639 --> 00:12:10.000 driver Dale Earnhardt Junior. Lewis was born and raised in Canadian. 213 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:13.559 His father used to be mayor. When Lewis was in 214 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:17.080 his early twenties, he began working for small town Panhandle 215 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:18.000 police departments. 216 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:22.000 Got into some car pursuits, did some drug work, did 217 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:26.399 several narcotic search warrants on houses, and so, because I 218 00:12:26.519 --> 00:12:29.279 was needed something to do, because I love law enforcement, 219 00:12:29.320 --> 00:12:32.720 I love I love Katy dors Hounge, that's what that's 220 00:12:32.759 --> 00:12:33.200 what I did. 221 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:36.759 Lewis took over his sheriff of hemp Hill County in 222 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:41.120 September twenty sixteen. He'd made the war against drugs the 223 00:12:41.159 --> 00:12:42.279 focus of his campaign. 224 00:12:43.159 --> 00:12:46.159 The biggest thing is is why I ran for office. 225 00:12:46.200 --> 00:12:49.360 I ran on clean enough, the town of drugs myth, 226 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:53.480 and that was my focus. You know, we're peace officers, 227 00:12:53.480 --> 00:12:55.159 no matter what, We're going to keep the peace, no 228 00:12:55.200 --> 00:12:57.159 matter what. I don't have to tell people that I'm 229 00:12:57.159 --> 00:13:00.159 going to keep the peace, and then we're peacemakers. What 230 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:01.879 I told the people is what I'm going to do, 231 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:04.080 and that was to rid the druid problem. 232 00:13:05.159 --> 00:13:08.600 Lewis was definitely good at drug bus. He started making 233 00:13:08.679 --> 00:13:11.799 arrest soon after he was sworn in as sheriff, but 234 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:15.480 he had never done a missing person's case, and suddenly 235 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:19.039 here he was two months into his job when Penny 236 00:13:19.080 --> 00:13:23.279 and Chris walked into his office. Lewis and Penny, of 237 00:13:23.320 --> 00:13:26.840 course knew one another. They and their families attended First 238 00:13:26.919 --> 00:13:31.600 United Methodist Church, but they weren't exactly friends, and it 239 00:13:31.679 --> 00:13:35.200 all had to do with Tom. Just a year earlier, 240 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:39.279 in twenty fifteen, Lewis was working as a sheriff's deputy 241 00:13:39.320 --> 00:13:42.960 in a neighboring county. Late one night, while driving back 242 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:45.799 to his home and Canadian he noticed a handful of 243 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:50.320 teenagers hanging around the Downtown Palace Movie Theater. One of 244 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:54.120 the teenagers was Tom. Lewis thought they were trying to 245 00:13:54.200 --> 00:13:57.200 break in, so he pulled over and ordered Tom into 246 00:13:57.240 --> 00:14:00.559 his truck. Tom said they were merely looking for a 247 00:14:00.600 --> 00:14:02.240 friend whose father ran the theater. 248 00:14:02.519 --> 00:14:03.559 So I talked all of them. 249 00:14:03.559 --> 00:14:05.320 I said, you guys need to get you'll bluz home. 250 00:14:06.039 --> 00:14:08.679 Y'all don't need to be out here. It's midnight, no 251 00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:11.440 business open in the theater, I ain't open, and no's 252 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:11.840 not there. 253 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:12.720 I'llly go home. 254 00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:13.399 That's what I told. 255 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:14.159 That was it. 256 00:14:14.840 --> 00:14:16.240 That's exactly what happened. 257 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:20.720 Tom, however, told Penny a different story. According to Penny, 258 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:23.440 Tom said that Lewis had accosted. 259 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:27.559 Him in the stop. He was very unprofessional. He was 260 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:31.480 swearing at the boys, using the F word. For whatever reason, 261 00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:34.120 my son seemed to be singled out of the group. 262 00:14:34.440 --> 00:14:36.759 He told my son several times, you need to call 263 00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:39.039 your mom and tell her what you've been doing, to 264 00:14:39.080 --> 00:14:41.480 which Tom was like, I don't know what to call 265 00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:43.600 my mom and tell her what I've been doing. We're 266 00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:46.720 just walking around town. Was the summer night. Hadn't been 267 00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:48.759 out of school very long. There are just kids out 268 00:14:48.919 --> 00:14:52.000 being kids, to which Lewis did place Thomas in the 269 00:14:52.039 --> 00:14:54.639 car with him. I was very uncomfortable with that. 270 00:14:55.480 --> 00:14:58.600 Penny filed a complain against Lewis with the Sheriff's department. 271 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:02.519 The complain, I ain't went nowhere, but she began telling 272 00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:05.639 just about everyone she knew that Lewis should never be 273 00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:07.639 elected sheriff of Himpel County. 274 00:15:08.600 --> 00:15:12.080 And I felt like if he was elected sheriff, that's 275 00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:14.559 what he was going to do to our kids in 276 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:17.440 the community all the time, Like he was just going 277 00:15:17.480 --> 00:15:19.720 to mess with him, because that's what he did. 278 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:23.799 Lewis insisted that he had never abused his power and 279 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:27.440 that he certainly had not mistreated Tom. He told me 280 00:15:27.480 --> 00:15:30.759 that after the movie theater incident, he ran across Tom 281 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:32.039 at a rotary club meeting. 282 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:35.159 He was doing a public speaking event with four h 283 00:15:35.240 --> 00:15:36.840 and he went in there and gave a public au 284 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:41.279 speaking deal in the rotary club one day, and he 285 00:15:41.399 --> 00:15:43.559 sought me in the rotary club and he approaches me 286 00:15:44.120 --> 00:15:47.879 and he says, man, I'm sorry for that night. And 287 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:49.559 he told me that he told his mother a lie. 288 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:52.240 He said, Man, I fed my mother because he told 289 00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:56.039 his mother that I was brewed. I cussed at him, 290 00:15:56.440 --> 00:15:59.159 pulled a gun. He said all kinds of stuff to 291 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:01.600 his mom, and he said, man, I'm sorry for doing 292 00:16:01.639 --> 00:16:04.679 all that stuff. So Tom's the past, the past, man, 293 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:07.759 don't worry about it. Just always tell the truth. And 294 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:10.840 that's all I told him, and I didn't seem I 295 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:14.559 never dealt with him ever since, never dealt with him again, 296 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:16.879 never had any issues he was letting troublemaker. 297 00:16:18.039 --> 00:16:20.559 In fact, Lewis told me when he first spoke to 298 00:16:20.600 --> 00:16:23.519 Penny and Chris that Thanksgiving morning, when Tom went missing, 299 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:26.039 it did not occur to him that Tom was in 300 00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:27.080 any sort of trouble. 301 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:32.159 Well, be honest with you, I figured that we had 302 00:16:32.200 --> 00:16:34.039 a high school kid that went out and partied and 303 00:16:34.039 --> 00:16:36.639 didn't come home on Tom. 304 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:39.840 But shortly after his meeting with Penny and Chris, Lewis 305 00:16:39.879 --> 00:16:44.519 got a phone call. Tom's duringo had been found. 306 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:51.000 There's a lot of ground to cover in Texas and 307 00:16:51.080 --> 00:16:54.720 at Texas Monthly, We've been doing just that for fifty years. 308 00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:59.840 The complicated, the advocated, and the hotly debated. All that smoked, brood, 309 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:04.519 shaken or put into a taco the heroes, trailblazers and 310 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:08.319 bum steers, whether we're digging into our past or chronicling 311 00:17:08.359 --> 00:17:11.279 the president. If there's a story to be told in Texas, 312 00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:14.759 and there always is, you'll read about it in Texas Monthly, 313 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:17.480 Fifty years of Stories for all y'all. 314 00:17:21.640 --> 00:17:25.440 Early that morning, Tom's friend Christian Webb, had asked her father, Trey, 315 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:28.839 to help her search for Tom. The Webs are another 316 00:17:28.839 --> 00:17:32.880 prominent Canadian family. Trey owns a helicopter service company, and 317 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:36.640 he's an experienced pilot. They boarded one of the company's 318 00:17:36.680 --> 00:17:40.640 four Cedar helicopters, and Trey flew low all over Canadian 319 00:17:40.680 --> 00:17:44.319 and the surrounding area. It didn't take long for them 320 00:17:44.359 --> 00:17:47.839 to spot Tom's duringo, parked under a small grove of 321 00:17:47.880 --> 00:17:50.799 trees near the water treatment plant northeast of town. 322 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:57.359 I was confused because his car was in a spot 323 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:00.200 that I didn't know about, and I was I was 324 00:18:00.599 --> 00:18:04.000 almost sure that Thomas didn't know about. It was in 325 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:11.359 a weird spot that was typically not accessible because of 326 00:18:11.400 --> 00:18:16.200 the gate, so I I was more concerned. 327 00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:20.599 At that point, Trey maneuvered his helicopter over the car. 328 00:18:21.640 --> 00:18:23.839 He asked Christian to turn her eyes away to protect 329 00:18:23.880 --> 00:18:27.720 her from seeing a potentially violent scene, but the Durango 330 00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:31.960 was abandoned. Trey called the sheriff's office and Lewis raced 331 00:18:31.960 --> 00:18:32.559 to the plant. 332 00:18:34.039 --> 00:18:37.039 It was myself, in another depth to Jerry Lynn Ortega, 333 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:40.480 that actually went to the car first. And when we 334 00:18:40.519 --> 00:18:40.920 got to. 335 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:44.119 The car, we looked in every window. 336 00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:47.720 We walked around the car several times, looking around seeing 337 00:18:47.720 --> 00:18:49.440 what we could see. There was nobody in the car, 338 00:18:50.440 --> 00:18:52.480 and then we started circling around, you know, kind of 339 00:18:52.519 --> 00:18:54.079 looking in the area to see if we could see 340 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:55.079 anything find anything. 341 00:18:55.119 --> 00:18:55.799 There was nothing. 342 00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:59.720 The car was pulled up into the trees, and so 343 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:02.880 right before the car, it's kind of sandy and there's 344 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:05.720 some there's clay dirt out there, but where he was 345 00:19:05.720 --> 00:19:07.519 was a pull up in there, and right when you 346 00:19:07.559 --> 00:19:10.119 open the driver's door, there was just a little bit 347 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:12.559 of dirt and then the rest of it was grass 348 00:19:12.599 --> 00:19:16.480 and brush and you know dead stuff that you know. 349 00:19:16.519 --> 00:19:18.160 But it looked like there were some footprints coming out 350 00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:19.079 of the driver's side. 351 00:19:19.079 --> 00:19:21.400 It was definitely there was definitely a shoeprint that get 352 00:19:21.440 --> 00:19:24.000 that that you could see outside the driver's door. And 353 00:19:24.039 --> 00:19:27.480 then there was a you know, distinct yurine mark right 354 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:30.160 there outside the door. It was just like you open 355 00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:33.400 the door, you step out. There was one one print down, 356 00:19:33.440 --> 00:19:35.160 but you could you could hardly see what kind of 357 00:19:35.160 --> 00:19:36.880 print was. You could tell it was a shoe print. 358 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:38.759 So that you're and mark had to have been made. 359 00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:41.799 It was very fresh, fresh, just sir, It was very fresh. 360 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:46.519 The duringo was unlocked. Tom's keys, cell phone, and wallet 361 00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:50.559 were not inside. Lewis did find Michael castle Tyne's debit 362 00:19:50.599 --> 00:19:54.359 card which had fallen in between the front seats. He 363 00:19:54.440 --> 00:19:57.519 also noticed a thin streak of blood on the inside 364 00:19:57.559 --> 00:19:59.920 of the driver's front door on. 365 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:01.519 And it was very dry. 366 00:20:01.960 --> 00:20:05.519 It was very dry, it was not fresh, and it 367 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:09.759 had not been there that night on the drivers kind of. 368 00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:10.359 By the handle. 369 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:15.200 But it looked like it was probably like a nuttle 370 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:18.400 cut or something, or a finger cut or a paper cuts. 371 00:20:18.440 --> 00:20:20.160 And that's the only blood that was in the car. 372 00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:23.240 There was no other blood in that car period. 373 00:20:24.920 --> 00:20:27.960 There was one other thing that Lewis and his deputy spotted, 374 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:33.079 a twenty five caliber shellcasing on the floorboard. Lewis said 375 00:20:33.079 --> 00:20:34.640 he was bewildered. 376 00:20:35.240 --> 00:20:38.319 Because there was no there was nothing in the car 377 00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:41.359 that said that there was a gunshot. 378 00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:42.720 That went off in that car. Period nothing. 379 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:46.640 There was no splatter, there was no there was no 380 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:53.519 gunpowder residue in the car. There was nothing. There was nothing. 381 00:20:55.480 --> 00:20:58.559 The news about Tom was soon racing through town like 382 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:04.160 a prairie fire. Some residents postponed their Thanksgiving meals, drove 383 00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:08.640 to the water treatment plant and searched for Tom on foot, horseback, 384 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:12.799 and four wheelers. Trey and Christian Webb kept looking for 385 00:21:12.839 --> 00:21:16.160 Tom and their helicopter, and Christian's brother joined the search 386 00:21:16.200 --> 00:21:21.039 and a second helicopter. Game Mordens arrived with a tracking dog, 387 00:21:21.720 --> 00:21:24.880 but no one spotted any trace of Tom, and the 388 00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:28.160 dog could not find a scent to follow. As the 389 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:31.759 day wore on, friends and neighbors dropped by Penny's house, 390 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:36.200 bringing leftover turkey and pumpkin pie and words of encouragement. 391 00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:40.440 Tom's and Tucker's father, Kelly Brown, drove in from his 392 00:21:40.519 --> 00:21:43.039 home in Perryton, forty five miles away. 393 00:21:43.720 --> 00:21:46.759 I was in such shock. I think at the time, 394 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:50.240 Skimp that if I would have tripped across his body, 395 00:21:50.279 --> 00:21:53.799 I wouldn't have known. I mean I would have, but 396 00:21:55.440 --> 00:22:01.440 I was pretty much in shock. Just go say, but 397 00:22:02.119 --> 00:22:06.000 that's something I think all, we all, all of us 398 00:22:06.039 --> 00:22:12.240 parents fear that. But then when it does happen, I 399 00:22:12.279 --> 00:22:14.720 will tell you that it takes it to another eleven. 400 00:22:16.039 --> 00:22:19.960 I was pretty pretty shaked about that. 401 00:22:19.960 --> 00:22:23.720