Tom Brown: A Teenage Secret

Summary

Scams, Money, & Murder – Tom Brown: A Teenage Secret

Podcast: Scams, Money, & Murder
Episode: Tom Brown: A Teenage Secret
Date: June 23, 2026
Hosts: Sarah Tierney & Courtney Nicole

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the mysterious disappearance and death of Tom Brown, an 18-year-old from Canadian, Texas, in 2016. Hosts Sarah Tierney and Courtney Nicole unravel the details surrounding his final hours, the subsequent investigation marked by mistakes and mistrust, and a tangle of conflicting theories involving Tom’s mental health, law enforcement, and the actions of his family and friends. The hosts focus on the complexities of missing persons cases—especially when secrets, community dynamics, and official missteps might have set the stage for tragedy.

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Key Discussion Points & Timeline

Who Was Tom Brown? (05:35-10:29)

• Profile:

  • Described as "charming, polite and funny," Tom was well liked, involved in football, drama, and student council. He had a passion for both the arts and athletics.
  • "[Tom] really loved art and like, reading. The fact that he loves, you know, theater and books like The Great Gatsby, I just feel like those details are so really cute.” — Courtney Nicole (09:30)

• Family Life:

  • Lived with his mother Penny, brother Tucker, and stepfather Chris.
  • Mom had divorced Tom's father when he was 8.

• Signs of Struggle:

  • Ran into trouble with Deputy Nathan Lewis, who falsely accused him once.
  • Had a difficult breakup with his girlfriend and left the football team mid-senior year, which deeply upset Tom.

The Night Tom Disappeared (11:18-14:13)

• Wednesday, Nov 23, 2016:
  • Tom spends the evening with friends (Caleb & Michael), then with Christian (a close friend recently returned from college).
  • They cruise, eat, listen to music (Tom puts on melancholy songs by The Avett Brothers), walk, and take photos.
  • Key Moment: At 9:11pm Tom searches for the suicide hotline on his iPhone—unknown to his friends at that time.
• Last Seen:
  • Around 11:15pm leaves Christian, fills his car at Frog’s Oil and Gas just before curfew, but never makes it home.

Discovery and Initial Investigation (15:26-21:25)

• Thanksgiving Day Early Morning (Nov 24):

  • Tom's mom and brother start searching after failed attempts to reach him. Friends join using helicopters, cars, and by foot.
  • 8:30am: Tom’s Dodge Durango found abandoned by the water treatment plant—an odd, secluded, foul-smelling location.

• At the Scene (17:31-19:35):

  • Car unlocked, messy but nothing clearly out of place.
  • Missing items: wallet, keys, cell phone, Tom himself.
  • Weird details: .25 caliber bullet casing on the floor, faint bloodstain near door handle, single shoe print, possible urine outside door.
  • "[Sheriff] brings Tom's car home...they didn't impound it....What if they need it later?" — Sarah Tierney (19:35)

• Police Handling:

  • Sheriff Nathan Lewis, only two months in the role and previously filed against by Penny, mishandles early evidence (returns car before finishing forensics).
  • Family takes note of missing backpack (usually in car).

Community & Law Enforcement Response (21:25-25:46)

• Large-scale search: Bloodhounds, horses, helicopters, and community volunteers.

• Surveillance footage timeline: Car seen driving back and forth on main roads late at night and early morning, including where found, but driver can't be identified.

• Community suspicion grows:

  • "Red flags are just flying for me." — Courtney Nicole on bullet casing, blood, car's odd location (23:39)

Theories and Tensions: Suicide or Foul Play? (24:53-29:49)

• Suicide Theory:
  • Sheriff's department documents that Penny speculated suicide (which she denies—insists sheriff brought it up).
  • "She thinks he's too young, too inexperienced, and he's resentful because she filed a complaint." — Courtney Nicole (25:30)
• Runaway Theory:
  • Inspired by a friend's comment that it's easy to disappear in Canadian without being traceable.
• Mistrust & Private Investigator:
  • Penny loses faith in Lewis, hires PI Philip Klein.
  • Sheriff and PI immediately dislike each other but sheriff allows access to case files and calls in FBI/Texas Rangers.

Emerging Clues & Evidence (32:39-39:32)

• Jan 27, 2017: Tom’s backpack found 5-6 miles away, upright under trees, undisturbed. School papers, laptop inside.
• Oct 2017: Tom’s iPhone found in pristine condition 11 months later, during a PI-organized search.
  • "A phone in such pristine condition could not have been sitting outside for a year of rainstorms, ice storms, and state lawnmowers." (34:07)
  • Sparks theories that someone planted it for discovery.
• Conflicting Accusations:
  • Sheriff suspects PI involvement; Penny suspects Sheriff’s Department. Finger-pointing intensifies.
• Polygraphs:
  • Both Penny and Sheriff Lewis show "deceptive" results; not admissible, but fuels distrust.

Discovery of Tom’s Remains & Aftermath (39:32-41:04)

• Jan 2019: Remains found near Lake Marvin Road, not far from found backpack and phone.

  • Includes human bones, clothing, and Tom’s chewed driver’s license.
  • Bones show blunt force trauma but don’t reveal cause or manner of death.

• Official Conclusions & Lingering Suspicions:

  • 2019: Attorney General clears Sheriff Lewis; encourages resignation due to mishandled investigation.
  • Tom’s family receives his remains and holds a private memorial in 2025.
  • Rumors and blame swirl, with Penny convinced of foul play and community suspicion shifting among family and officials.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Tom’s Dual Nature:
  "He seems like a very well rounded young man." — Sarah Tierney (09:52)
• On Police Procedure:
  "Why not just, like, impound it...because you never know what you're gonna find." — Courtney Nicole (20:11)
• On Evidence Mishandling:
  "They took the car, they released it to the family, and then they took it back..." — Sarah Tierney (20:49)
• On Phone Discovery:
  "A phone in such pristine condition could not have been sitting outside for a year..." — Podcast narration (34:07)
• On Polygraphs and Accusations:
  "Lie detector tests aren't even admissible as evidence in court, though, so we have to take them with a grain of salt." — Courtney Nicole (38:37)
• On Community Pain:
  "I feel like that's just so unfair. Like, I feel horrible for Penny." — Courtney Nicole (40:31)

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Critical Timestamps

• 00:22–01:53: Detailed description of crime scene/car
• 05:35–10:29: Tom’s personality, school life, social circle
• 11:18–13:38: The night Tom disappeared—a timeline of his last known activities
• 17:09–19:35: Car discovery; initial police handling and mistakes
• 21:46–23:53: Search efforts; review of surveillance footage
• 32:39–34:07: Discovery of Tom’s backpack and phone
• 39:32–40:07: Identification and confirmatory details on Tom’s remains

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The Investigation’s Red Flags

• Early mishandling of evidence (vehicle released, then retaken).
• Community search outpaced official response; key clues found by civilians.
• Mistrust between law enforcement and family—escalates to hiring private investigator.
• Placement and condition of Tom’s phone suggest interference or cover-up.
• Surveillance videos can't confirm who drove Tom's car during critical hours.

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Host Insights & Tone

• The hosts’ tone is empathetic, meticulous, and critical of lapses in investigative procedure.
• Personal anecdotes add context to the emotional toll such cases take on families (Sarah Tierney shares her own experiences, 26:44).
• Both hosts repeatedly stress the importance of thorough, unbiased investigation and show compassion towards Tom's mother, Penny, and the support shown by Tom's circle of friends.

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Conclusion

The case of Tom Brown remains unsolved, its most crucial moments clouded by lost opportunities, distrust, and unanswered questions. The episode highlights not just the facts, but the emotional devastation of Tom’s family, the impressive mobilization of his friends, and the dangers of speculation and institutional failures in missing persons cases.

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Resources & Calls to Action

• If you have information about Tom Brown:
  • Submit a tip at: Texas Attorney General’s Cold Case Tips (43:39)
• If you’re struggling:
  • Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988

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This episode is part of 'The Final Hours' series, a Crime House original powered by PAVE Studios.

Transcript

[Courtney Nicole]

Hi listeners.

[Sarah Tierney]

Exciting news Crime House plus and Murder True Crime Stories are celebrating America's 250th by dropping a four part limited series on the crimes that built America. These are the crimes and cases that gave us Miranda rights, sparked criminal profiling,

[Courtney Nicole]

and a murder that built America's missing children movement.

[Sarah Tierney]

Follow Murder True Crime Stories for a new episode every Monday leading up to July 4th. Or or you can listen to all of them right now with Crime House Plus. To join, go to crimehouseplus.com or if you're listening on Apple Podcasts, tap Try free at the top of this show's page. This is Crime house. It's Thanksgiving 2016. You're on the outskirts of a small city called Canadian Texas. A dirt road leads to a water treatment plant. The stench of sewage fills the air. Across from the plant, parked between trees with autumn leaves, sits a lonely red Dodge Durango. The car is covered in chalk paint spelling Go Cats. Next to a paw print. It belongs to 18 year old Tom Brown, a high school football player who recently quit the team. On the ground next to the driver's door, there's one faint shoe print. It also looks like someone may have urinated there. The doors are unlocked. Inside, the car is messy, but what you'd expect from a high school empty bottles of soda and other trash, a pillow in the backseat, towels, jumper cables, two pairs of football cleats, and a clown costume. But none of it explains how his car ended up in this location.

[Courtney Nicole]

What's even More alarming is the single.25 caliber bullet casing on the passenger side floor. But there's no gunpowder residue in the car or any other evidence that a weapon has been fired inside. There is a tiny, almost indistinguishable bloodstain next to the interior door handle, but that's it. Tom's wallet is missing, along with a cell phone, keys, and Tom himself. Over the next year, other important items of Tom's will surface. And the question of why they weren't found sooner is definitely a big part of this case. And it may have to do with what really happened to Tom Brown. Every year, over half a million people go missing, and that's just in the United States alone. Most of those stories barely get a headline. Some don't even get a flyer or a tip line. And when cases do get media attention, we usually only get the broad strokes.

[Sarah Tierney]

But for those of us who have lived these true crime cases, we know the devil's in the details. This is the Final Hours. A Crime House original powered by Pave Studios I'm Sarah Tierney.

[Courtney Nicole]

And I'm Courtney Nicole. Every Monday, Sarah and I will be looking at the final hours of someone's disappearance, the small, seemingly mundane moments to see if there was anything hiding in plain sight.

[Sarah Tierney]

Looking back at those last conversations, connections and choices is critical and it could be the key to unlocking it all. Each episode all offer insight on what those close to the victim might have been going through, and Courtney will use her expertise to give more context into the crime scene, the red flags, and the investigation itself. Crime House exists because of listeners like you want even more. Join Crime House and get every episode of the Final Hours and the rest of the Crime House lineup ad free and early, plus at least two bonus episodes every month. To join, go to crimehouseplus.com or if you listen on Apple Podcasts, tap try free at the top of the Final Hour show page. As always, this show is made and recorded by humans, not AI.

[Courtney Nicole]

This time we're discussing the disappearance of Thom Brown. On November 23, 2016, 18 year old Thom went driving around with his friends. They talked, listened to music, ate at a local deli, and went for a walk. Afterwards, everyone split into separate cars to head home except Tom, whose ride ended somewhere completely unexpected.

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Thom Browne was a good kid who struggled with self judgment. Known for being charming, polite and funny, Thom was adored by most. He also had a secret, one he didn't share with just anyone. He seemed to be working through it and was looking forward to a bright future until the day he disappeared. Suddenly, that secret became a driving force in the investigation and it left people wondering. Had it completely overwhelmed Tom? Or had someone taken advantage of this private information? But before we discuss what Tom went through, let's talk about who he was.

[Sarah Tierney]

It's 2016. 18 year old Thomas Kelly Brown was living in a tiny Texas panhandle city called Canadian with his mom Penny and his brother Tucker. Penny divorced their dad when Tom was about 8 years old and remarried a man named Chris Meek when he was about 14. Growing up, Tom had a big imagination. He would make up plays, then perform all the characters for his family. He also loved the arts, books like the Great Gatsby and films like A Clockwork Orange. But he also devoured everything. Wrestling and WWE. Since Tom was 6 foot 1 and 180 pounds, he half joked that he might go to wrestling school one day. The job would be a perfect mash up for his skills in performance and athletics. Even though Tom was a little quirky, he was one of the most popular kids in town. He was a big, lovable teddy bear, outgoing, lighthearted and funny. He was also a respectful teenager who always said yes sir and no ma' am when he spoke to adults. And when his classmates threw parties out near Lake Marvin, a 60 acre reservoir east of town. Tom hardly drank, especially if he was the designated driver.

[Courtney Nicole]

Tom also never skipped class or caused trouble. But toward the end of his sophomore year, he did have a run in with the police. Deputy Nathan Lewis saw Tom and his friends downtown and accused them of trying to break into a Main street theater. But one of their friends actually just lived in the apartment above it. The deputy singled Tom out and ordered him into his squad car while swearing at him profusely. He questioned Tom, who said he was just on his way home. Eventually, Deputy Lewis let him go. Tom told his family what happened that night and afterwards Penny went to the sheriff's department and filed a complaint against the deputy. She didn't like her son being falsely

[Sarah Tierney]

accused of anything, as she shouldn't. But aside from that unfriendly mix up, everything was going well for Tom, including his love life. Reporter Skip Hollingsworth did a deep dive into this case for Texas Monthly and learned a lot about Tom, which really helped with our story. Skip found that in Tom's junior year, Tom started dating a senior named Sage Pennington from theater class. And Tom had plenty of things to be proud of in his life. About half of the boys in Tomstown grew up wanting to play for Canadiens high school football team, the Wildcats, including Tom, who started young with flag football. According to Skip Hollingsworth, he made his way onto the high school team where they won two Class A, Division 1 state championships. In his senior year, Tom was a starter on the offensive line. He was also elected president of his 71 member senior class. But in October, about halfway through the football season, Tom was demoted to second string after a new player joined the team. The coach felt like he could rely on him more than Tom, and Tom was devastated. He didn't want to sit on the sidelines for the rest of the season, so he quit. The first week or so was hard, but leaving the team gave him time to refocus on his other passion, drama. He joined the high school's fall theater production of the history of Tom Jones. Tom loved the classics and was excited to play one of the leading roles. So between the play, student council, a full course load, and filling out college applications, Tom was distracted and busy.

[Courtney Nicole]

I just want to say I feel like it is so refreshing to see a young boy like this who is, you know, really rooted in football and sports and all that, have this, like, creative side to him where he really loves art and like, reading. The fact that he loves, you know, theater and books like the Great Gatsby, I just feel like those details are so really cute. Like, you just don't see that a lot with young boys.

[Sarah Tierney]

Yeah, I totally agree. I don't think I've encountered a lot of high school football players who really want to play on the team, but also read the great Gatsby. Um, he seems like a very well rounded young man.

[Courtney Nicole]

With that being said, though, football was super important to him. And so I don't know when he kind of like got demoted. I do feel like that could have taken a toll on him in a town like Canadian. I just feel like there's a lot of pressure, especially for young boys to, like, be on the football team and like, be great at it.

[Sarah Tierney]

Oh, absolutely. I mean, nobody likes being like, cut from the team or demoted, if you will, so I totally get it. That definitely didn't feel good.

[Courtney Nicole]

Unfortunately, there were still more bumps in the road for Tom. In November, he broke up with his girlfriend, Sage. She was a year ahead of him in school. Now a freshman majoring in education at West Texas A and M university in canyon, teaching two hours away, Tom found it hard to juggle a long distance relationship. Besides, he planned on attending Oklahoma State next year, which would spread them even further apart. They promised to stay close friends, though, and there were no hard feelings. Sage even wrote Tom a sweet goodbye letter. On Tuesday, November 22, she was back in town for Thanksgiving break. They both attended the Canadian High basketball game but sat on opposite sides of the gym. They didn't talk, but Tom texted her later that night that he was sad and felt like a loser. She replied and said that she missed him a lot, but assured him that he wasn't a loser.

[Sarah Tierney]

Now it's Wednesday, November 23, 2016. Tom's older brother Tucker is also back from college for the holiday. That night they plan to watch a movie together, but Tom tells him he needs a little social time out of the house. He borrows his mom's debit card to fill his tank up later, and at 6:04pm Tom leaves to go hang out with some friends. As he walks out the door, Tucker says to Tom, I'll see you later. But he won't. Tom drives to the parking lot of Canadian Middle School, where he meets two friends, Caleb King and Michael Castletine. They hop into his car for one of their usual activities, cruising around and listening to music. Tom has a route he likes to take, which his friends call Tom's Loop. They drive north through the city and turn around at the Canadian River Wagon Bridge, then drive south through the city and turn around at the Wildcats football stadium. Rinse, repeat on the drive. Tonight they stop for a quick dinner at Alexander's, a convenience store Deli. At 8pm the trio arrives back at the middle school parking lot. They meet up with Tom's friend, a young woman named Christian Webb. This is the first time she's been home since starting her freshman year in college, so Tom's excited to see her, but Michael calls it a night. He heads home in his car as Tom and Caleb climb into Christian's silver Dodge Charger. At one point, Tom asks Christian if he can put on the Avett Brothers. He plays two melancholy songs, Live and Die and no Hard Feelings, but according to Christian and Caleb, it's a normal night. Tom is telling jokes, and his friends notice that his sense of humor is better than it's been in a while. What they don't know is that at 9:11pm While Tom is with them, he uses his iPhone to search for the suicide hotline, and at some point during the night, Sage texts him, but he never replies. Later, they stop at an old wagon bridge just outside of town. It's a part of a hiking and biking trail, but locals call it the Walking Bridge. The weather's cold outside in the upper 30s, and Tom's not exactly dressed for it. He's wearing a thin black sweater, a black Canadian Wildcats tee, faded jeans, and sneakers. They park, get out, and mosey down to the bridge. Christian takes a picture of Tom smiling.

[Courtney Nicole]

Around 11:15pm Christian drives Tom and Caleb back to the middle school parking lot. Caleb heads straight home, but Christian and Tom stay and make plans to playpool at her house the next day. They also talk about him visiting her at Oklahoma State, where she's studying on scholarship. They tell each other how good it is to hang out, thinking she'll see Tom tomorrow. Christian watches Tom drive away in his red Dodge Durango on his way home between 11:28 and 11:36pm he stops to fill his tank at Frog's Oil and Gas, less than half a mile from his house. He has more than enough time to make it home by his curfew at midnight, which he always does. Until tonight. You know that thing where you get

[Sarah Tierney]

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[Sarah Tierney]

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[Sarah Tierney]

it's midnight on Thursday, November 24, 2016. Thanksgiving Day. With Tom still not home, his mom, Penny, texts him. He doesn't reply, so his brother Tucker calls, but it goes straight to voicemail. Penny texts again, and this time she realizes it's not delivered. His phone seems to be dead, so Tucker heads out in his Toyota 4Runner to look for his brother. He checks the places he thinks Tom might have gone cruising, worried maybe he had a car accident. According to Skip Hollingsworth, that's when Penny wakes her husband, Chris, and says she's going out to look for Tom too. She takes her Chevy Suburban to check around town. When 1am rolls around and there's still no sign of Tom, Penny calls Caleb. She calls Christian and Michael, but nobody's heard from Tom. They're all shocked he didn't make it home. Christian, Michael and Caleb then get into their own separate cars and join the search. They check downtown, the football stadium, the rodeo arena and Lake Marvin, the reservoir east of town with campsites and picnic tables.

[Courtney Nicole]

Around 2:30am Penny calls the Hemphill County Sheriff's Department Deputy Pine Gregory drives around town looking for Tom's Durango. But Tom's brother Tucker can't just stand by and wait to hear what happens. At 3:33am Tucker calls the sheriff's department and asks to ride along. He wants to show the deputy some of the places Tom hung out and where he thinks they might find his brother. Deputy Gregory picks him up around 3:45am and the drive around for two hours, but nothing. At 6am Deputy Gregory drops Tucker off at home. He's going off duty, but the sheriff will be on soon.

[Sarah Tierney]

Meanwhile, his friends keep searching. Christian and her dad are pilots and he owns his own helicopter sales and service company. So that Thanksgiving morning, they fly one of the company helicopters over the county and hover low to look for Tom. Around 8:30am they spot something from the air. It's Tom's red Dodge Durango.

[Courtney Nicole]

Sheriff Lewis and his team respond immediately. The car is easy to identify since it still says Go Cats in chalk paint. The Durango is parked under a cluster of trees across from a water treatment plant. The nearby sewage ponds stink so badly nobody would go there to hang out. In fact, Christian doubts Tom even knew about this place. And while they find his car, Tom is not there. So the sheriff puts out a bolo. Be on the lookout.

[Sarah Tierney]

As word spreads, community members start to abandon their Thanksgiving meals and gather for the search. Skip Hollingsworth says locals brought in horses and four wheelers. Christian's brother joins his sister and father in the air with a second helicopter. Hemphill County Sheriff Nathan Lewis leads the search. The young officer has only held the title sheriff for two months when he was a deputy. Before that, he was the one who stopp Tom outside the movie theater, the one Penny filed a complaint about.

[Courtney Nicole]

But he seems to be committed to this investigation for now. Next to the driver's side door, he finds one light shoe print on the ground. But the dirt is so packed that it's nearly impossible to distinguish. It also looks like somebody Urinated near the same door. With the car unlocked, they get inside easily. There are some empty soda bottles, towels, jumper cables, two pairs of football cleats, a pillow, and a clown costume from a school play. Tom's wallet, keys, cell phone, and the debit card he borrowed from Penny are all missing. However, his friend Michael Castletine's debit card is on the floor near the center console, which is easily explained because he was in Tom's car the night before. What can't be explained is the small smear of blood on the interior handle of the driver's side door, which later is confirmed to be Tom's. Or the.25 caliber bullet casing on the floor. There's nothing to say the gunshot went off inside. There's no blood spatter or gunpowder residue in or on the car. And even though guns are common in Texas, Tom doesn't like them. And he sure as heck doesn't own one.

[Sarah Tierney]

At about 5pm that day, the sheriff brings Tom's car home. He says it's already been processed and they're done with it. But Tom's mom and brother are shocked. They didn't impound it. What if they need it later? So Tucker gives it his own inspection, which leads to a realization. Tom usually keeps his backpack in the car, and it isn't there the next day. Friday, November 25, 2016. Sheriff Lewis has a feeling he turned the car back over too soon. He wants to examine the vehicle again, so he tows it back to the sheriff's department.

[Courtney Nicole]

I don't know. I feel like every case is different, but I feel like Sheriff Lewis's decision not to keep Tom's car is. I don't know. Why not just, like, impound it to, like, save for later for deeper inspection? Because you never know what you're gonna find.

[Sarah Tierney]

Yeah, I don't like this, Courtney. This is not a good start to this case. Like, just keep it. Make sure it's processed, especially over, like, a holiday weekend like this. Like, what are we doing?

[Courtney Nicole]

I know. I mean, like, I guess I'm glad that his brother, you know, Tucker, got to inspect it himself and find out that his. His backpack wasn't in there, which is typical for him. And, you know, maybe that could lead to an additional surge, but I just feel like that should be the police's job and not the loved one of a missing person.

[Sarah Tierney]

Right. Well, and what concerns me, too, is they took the car, they released it to the family, and then they took it back, which means in that time period that the family had it, it could have been compromised. And somebody can make that argument in court. It wasn't handled properly. It was not kept in police custody for the entire time, which unfortunately could invalidate any they find in there.

[Courtney Nicole]

I know, especially considering the bullet casing and that small smear of blood. Like, I feel like that alone is alarming. So I don't know, just based on that piece of evidence, why it wasn't kept in police custody.

[Sarah Tierney]

Well, by now, the whole community is struggling to digest this loss. The night of Friday, November 25, 2016, the crowd at the Canadian football game is somber. Tom's former teammates and cheerleaders, his friends, go out onto the field and try to give it their best in his honor. But everybody's having a hard time.

[Courtney Nicole]

After Tom is missing for a couple of days, Sheriff Lewis ramps up the search. He calls in a pack of veteran bloodhounds from the state prison in Amarillo. They follow Tom's scent, beginning where his car was found. They Continue on for 3/4 miles northeast through, through the trees. But it dissipates when the ground starts to get marshy near the Canadian River. Lewis also gets neighboring Randall county to send a posse on horseback, but they don't find anything either. Neither does the grid search. The sheriff's department finally makes a little progress when they review footage from security cameras around town. Here's what they At 1:10am on Thursday, November 24, 2016, just an hour after Penny texted Tom, the camera at a downtown convenience store recorded his car driving towards his house. Then the same camera recorded it driving back the other direction. One minute later at 1:11am at 5:28am another camera captured the red Dodge Durango driving toward Tom's home. But again, two minutes later, at 5:30am it drives back the other direction. At 5:56am A third camera caught the car driving down the dirt road leading to the water treatment plant. It passed through an open gate and parked across from the plant. The video didn't show anyone getting in or out of the car, though. And in none of those videos can he make out. The driver. Skip Hollingsworth says no one knows if it's Tom or someone else entirely.

[Sarah Tierney]

I don't know, Courtney. I don't know about this one. What do you think?

[Courtney Nicole]

His car ending up at that water treatment plant, which, I mean, first of all stinks really badly. Like, no kid is gonna go there to, like, hang out. But second of all is in, like, a place that Tom really wouldn't know to. That's really, really weird to me. And Then like I mentioned earlier, paired with the bullet casing and the small smear of blood, like, I don't know, red flags are just flying for me.

[Sarah Tierney]

Oh, yeah. I mean, that feels like a dumping site if I've ever seen one. Right. Somewhere that people don't go. Somewhere that is unpleasant. A thousand percent. And I just don't know what to make of this timeline of the car driving back and forth.

[Courtney Nicole]

I know the car driving back and forth, but at the same time, while seven different people were out looking for him, like, that is what's wild to me. And adding on to that, his car was, like, very noticeable, given, like, the color. But then also the paint, the chalk paint on his car saying, go cats. I don't know how. Like, this wasn't seen.

[Sarah Tierney]

Yeah. I mean, you make a great point. And it feels like if someone was trying to be more hidden, they might wash off that chalk paint.

[Courtney Nicole]

Yeah. At this point, I really don't know what to believe. And that timeline, it just doesn't make sense. And the location where his car was found, I don't even know what to say about that.

[Sarah Tierney]

Yeah, I agree. Nothing is adding up.

[Courtney Nicole]

I just want to shout out his friends. I feel like all of his friends all being so young, came together and, like, really put in the most effort in trying to find Tom. Like his friend Christian, you know, her dad owned a helicopter company. Like, took out helicopters. Like, that is amazing. And honestly, I don't think I've ever seen another case where something like this has happened. And I just want to shout them out.

[Sarah Tierney]

Oh, yeah, a thousand percent. I mean, they jumped up and they sprung into action right away. On the afternoon of Saturday, November 26, a deputy interviews Penny. He asked her what she thinks happened to Tom. The deputy said Penny told him she suspected he died by suicide. Her father struggled with depression 18 years earlier. In 1998, he died by suicidal gunshot. Her logic is that it runs in her family. And Tom has a lot of stressors right now. Deciding where to go to college, quitting the football team, and breaking up with his girlfriend.

[Courtney Nicole]

But Penny tells people that she never mentioned the suicide theory. Instead, that actually came from Sheriff Lewis and that he brought it up in a very insensitive way to her. Penny's mom was a teacher at Canadian High school, and Sheriff Lewis was a student when her dad died by suicide. So he might have known about it. But it's confusing because the case file documented her bringing up the theory first. Suicide was not something she was considering. After that conversation with Lewis, she tells everyone who will listen that she's completely lost trust in him. She thinks he's too young, too inexperienced, and he's resentful because she filed a complaint against him for yelling at her son when he was a deputy.

[Sarah Tierney]

Yeah, I mean, I get it. I get it. I think that's a really scary situation to have to put so much trust in the hands of any officer that you feel might feel slighted by you.

[Courtney Nicole]

Yeah. Especially if you kind of, like, already have bad blood between you two. Like, you want to trust them, and you want to, like, believe that they're doing everything in their power to, like, find your loved one.

[Sarah Tierney]

Yeah. And, I mean, I don't know what to think. It's really he said, she said. And when there's so much contention between the two parties, what do you do?

[Courtney Nicole]

I don't know. But have you ever had an experience butting heads with an official?

[Sarah Tierney]

Yes. I have had to file an official complaint with the department against one of my sister's detectives. And that was terrifying. It was so terrifying. But it's hard because you're stuck between this place of, like, if you don't make an official record, nothing may happen later down the line if these actions continue, and really taking a chance that you might upset them to the point that it impacts the case. It was, like, one of the worst, most terrifying things I'd ever done.

[Courtney Nicole]

Like you mentioned, it's really, really scary. But I think reporting it is probably the best route to go down because you don't want those behaviors to continue. At the end of the day, like, the only goal is to find your missing loved one.

[Sarah Tierney]

Yeah. I mean, I can tell you, in my own situation, with every family I've ever worked with, like, nobody wants a bad relationship with law enforcement. It's not good for anybody. But sometimes these things happen, unfortunately. Well, at this point, sheriff Lewis is the last person Penny wants investigating Tom's disappearance, which is why she starts asking around about private investigators. A friend gives her the name of Philip Klein, who specializes in missing children. Philip comes to town a week after Tom's disappearance and immediately decides that sheriff Lewis is too much of a rookie to be handling this. Meanwhile, sheriff Lewis thinks that Philip is way too cocky, but he lets him see the case file anyway.

[Courtney Nicole]

That's actually really interesting, because did you guys know that in most cases, a sheriff's department is not really, like, legally obligated to share all of the information with a private investigator? So as much as, like, Sheriff Lewis is kind of, like, rubbing me the wrong way, I am Glad that he decided to let this PI have the case files.

[Sarah Tierney]

Yeah, I mean, it's hard to know what his motivations are. Right. I do think it's a really smart way to cover your behind. You know, I think it's a really bad look to say, no, your PI can't look at the file. But, I mean, who knows?

[Courtney Nicole]

It also seems like Sheriff Lewis kind of has a problem with many different people at this point. I think the main goal is to find Tom and find him alive and okay, but it seems like he's just having so many issues. You know, here comes Philip just trying to investigate the case. It doesn't hurt having an extra set of eyes. Then you have Sheriff Lewis thinking that he's just too cocky. And then you have Philip thinking, you know, Sheriff Lewis is too much of a rookie. So, of course you want every party involved to be focused and have their head straight just to investigate the case and that's it. But it sounds like they're just butting heads, which is not good. So, no, Philip and Sheriff Lewis are not hitting it off. But Lewis is willing to accept the extra help. He even calls in the FBI and Texas Rangers. They come to Canadian to give a second opinion on the case. They look through the statements and hone in on one in particular. One that Tom's high school friend Macy Patterson gave to a deputy. Skip said she claimed to have a conversation with Tom about how easy it would be to disappear from Canadian as long as a person didn't use a cell phone, credit cards, or anything else traceable. The officers start to wonder if that's exactly what Tom did.

[Sarah Tierney]

It does offer an alternative theory. His friends admit he could get melancholy and make jokes about suicide. But like his mother, they don't believe he died that way. So in January 2017, two months after Tom's disappearance, Sheriff Lewis shares this new theory on public radio. Tom hitchhiked out of town that night and walked away from his life. But they say they're still going to do everything they can to find him and bring him home.

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[Courtney Nicole]

Hi listeners, it's Carter Roy, host of Murder True Crime Stories.

[Sarah Tierney]

I wanted to let you know that

[Courtney Nicole]

Crime House plus and Murder True Crime

[Sarah Tierney]

Stories are celebrating America's 250th by dropping a four part limited series on the crimes that built America.

[Courtney Nicole]

These are the crimes and cases that

[Sarah Tierney]

gave us Miranda rights, sparked criminal profiling, and a murder that built America's missing children movement. Follow Murder True Crime Stories for a new episode every Monday leading up to July July 4th.

[Courtney Nicole]

Or you can binge all of them

[Sarah Tierney]

right now ad free with Crime House Plus. To join, go to crimehouseplus.com or if you're listening on Apple Podcasts tap try

[Courtney Nicole]

free at the top of this show's page. On Friday, Jan. 27, 2017, a local power company worker walks through an area off the Lake Marvin Road. He's checking some electric lines when he sees something unusual. Behind a barbed wire fence under a patch of trees is a black and red backpack sitting in a perfectly upright position. It's a little dam. Inside are some school papers, books, and a laptop. The sheriff's department sends it out to a forensics lab and they confirm it's Tom's. They don't find anything out of the ordinary on the laptop, just the schoolwork that he used it for. The big question is, how did the backpack get where it was?

[Sarah Tierney]

Well, Sheriff Lewis thinks Tom put it there himself, but Penny disagrees. The backpack was found five to six miles from Tom's Durango over rugged terrain across the Canadian River. Tom disappeared on a cold night and isn't the outdoorsy type. Besides, if he parked his car at 6am as surveillance footage implied, there was no way he could have made it back there on foot before the search team started Looking for him. His family doesn't think he had the cash to take a cab, and he never used the debit card.

[Courtney Nicole]

After the gas station, around October 2017, about nine months after finding the backpack, Philip says he received a tip. Tom's body is near the same road where the backpack was found. He says the tip came from a, quote, very fine young person who's related to a key witness. But that's all he says. It's enough for Philip to organize a 12 mile search along the road. On Saturday, October 14th, 11 months after Tom's disappearance, 150 volunteers search around lake marvin road Hoping to find his body. Just six minutes in, a woman finds a rose gold iPhone. It looks brand new. So new that Philip thinks it must belong to someone in the search party. But it's photographed, tagged back, and given to a deputy who sends it to the forensics lab at quantico. The FBI determines it is Tom's phone. A phone in such pristine condition could not have been sitting outside for a year of rainstorms, ice storms, and state lawnmowers. So even more rumors start to fly. Was Tom's phone kept indoors and placed outside before the search? If so, by who and why? Sheriff Lewis thinks Philip put it there

[Sarah Tierney]

himself, but penny thinks someone from the sheriff's department had the phone and may have manipulated the data. Then they put it outside before the search so it would be found and put into evidence.

[Courtney Nicole]

This phone being found in pristine condition, that screams that it was not out there that entire time. Eleven months, One rainstorm, you would be able to tell that it was sitting outside. So for 11 months? No, that does not seem right to me.

[Sarah Tierney]

No, absolutely not. Anybody who has an iPhone can tell you how easily they get scratched up on the back. And, like, so quickly, too, right? I just don't see this phone sitting out for this long and not having a scratch on it. That's crazy.

[Courtney Nicole]

I know. You know, I don't have any theories on who put it out there. In my personal opinion, someone outside of Tom did put it out there, and it wasn't out there for that entire 11 months.

[Sarah Tierney]

But why put it out there at all? Like, why would you want people to find it? That's what I don't get. Well, the conversation about the iPhone Brings another piece of information to light. After Tom disappeared, Penny reached out to another mom to see if any of Tom's friends knew the passcode to his phone. This raised some suspicion since the phone was missing at the time along with Tom. Why would she need the password Unless they had the phone. Well, Penny says it was because the sheriff's department asked her for it as soon as Tom disappeared, which is why Philip started to think it was all part of a cover up. Sheriff Lewis and Philip both go on local radio stations to point fingers at one another for a while. It gets ugly.

[Courtney Nicole]

When the phone is analyzed, investigators see that Tom searched for the suicide hotline number at 9:11pm the night he disappeared. But it doesn't offer much information outside of that, especially since it died at 12:23am after he missed curfew. In the meantime, Penny uses her Moms for Tom Facebook page to circulate a petition. She wants the state Attorney General's office to take over Tom's case. She's also convinced there's some sort of COVID up. So in February 2018, 15 months after Tom disappeared, the Texas Attorney General's office responds. They send Sergeants Rachel Kading and Chris Smith to investigate Tom's case. Their main focus is figuring out who placed Tom's phone outside before Philip's search. They also determine that nobody from the Sheriff's department asked Penny for the code to Tom's phone.

[Sarah Tierney]

In March 2018, they decide to use a polygraph, and the first person they test is Penny. Penny answers several questions, including ones about Tom's phone and his disappearance. The polygraph indicates she's being deceptive. Sergeants Kading and Smith develop a new theory, and they confront Penny with it. They suggest that after losing her father to suicide, Penny was unable to cope with losing her son the same way. So when she found Tom that night, wherever his life ended, she hid his remains. Penn tried to make it look like something more than it was. But for the record, Penny fiercely denies this. She points out that she's only 5 foot 4. She couldn't have picked up her 6 foot 1 son when he was alive. That's when they suggest her husband Chris or son Tucker helped her. These accusations understandably infuriate Penny, but she sticks to her story. She hasn't seen Tom since he left home alive that night.

[Courtney Nicole]

Sheriff Lewis is also asked about his involvement with Tom's disappearance. The polygraph registers deception from him, too. As we know, Sarah, lie detector tests aren't even admissible as evidence in court, though, so we have to take them with a grain of salt.

[Sarah Tierney]

In January 2019, more than two years since Tom was last seen, we finally start to see some answers. That day, Deputy Pine Gregory is on duty. He takes a break to go for a walk near the entrance to Lake Marvin. When he spots Something under a dead cottonwood tree. It's a human skull. A team of officers search the area. They find a femur, several smaller bones, a pair of tennis shoes, remnants of blue jeans, and part of a Texas driver's license that's been chewed on by an animal. It belongs to Thomas Kelly Brown. Later that day, investigators show up at Penny's house to let her know that they think her son's been found.

[Courtney Nicole]

The remains are sent to the lab and confirmed to be Tom's, but his bones don't reveal his cause or manner of death. They do, however, show blunt force trauma. Seven months later, in August 2019, the Attorney General's office meets with the Hemphill County Sheriff's Department. They've concluded that Sheriff Lewis had nothing to do with Tom's disappearance, death, or the placement of his remains, but he's still encouraged to resign. The attorney general's office admits they have multiple leads but won't share what they are. They don't even think they have enough to take this case before a grand jury, at least not as of this

[Sarah Tierney]

recording in 2025, Tom's family finally got his remains back from state custody. In May of that year, they got to lay him to rest in a private ceremony. Penny's theory is that Tom was murdered. She suspects the sheriff was covering up for himself or someone else. But a lot of people in town suspect she knows more than she's letting on.

[Courtney Nicole]

That alone makes me so sad for her. I mean, I feel like it's a lot of people like to point fingers or, like, really examine the people closest to, you know, the victim. But in this case, I feel like that's just so unfair. Like, I feel horrible for Penny.

[Sarah Tierney]

Yeah, I agree. I mean, I think putting so much emphasis on her father dying by suicide just isn't fair and just, like, not right in terms of the investigation.

[Courtney Nicole]

It's just a heartbreaking situation. I feel like everyone is pointing fingers at each other, which is really sad for Penny. She doesn't need to be dealing with that.

[Sarah Tierney]

Yeah, I mean, I totally agree. And my thing is, if they think that Penny had the phone and she was trying to access it, like, surely they could get that data from the phone, right?

[Courtney Nicole]

Oh, for sure. And also, the FBI was brought in, and they said that they were able to conclude that nobody at the police department asked Penny for the code. But my question is, how exactly do they know for sure, like, 100% that nobody at the police station asked her that? I feel like that's really hard to track down.

[Sarah Tierney]

Yeah. I feel like they can't prove that anybody said that, that it wasn't like in any type of written communication. Because I mean as a family member in true Crime, I can tell you that a lot of these in person meetings with law enforcement, what's said face to face never makes it to a police report.

[Courtney Nicole]

What I see is a grieving mother searching for answers, someone who's not going to stop until the truth is revealed, and a brother, Tucker, who misses the closeness and understanding he had with his brother and the people of Canadian who probably trust each other a little less ever since the day Tom went missing.

[Sarah Tierney]

What we do know is Tom had a lot of friends and was well loved in his community. He was the senior class president, had a leading role in the school play and planned to enroll in Oklahoma State the next year. He had so much going for him. In November 2016, his brother, his best friend and ex girlfriend were all in town for Thanksgiving. He was excited to spend time with them. On November 23, around 6pm he met his friends Caleb and Michael in the middle school parking lot. They hopped into his car and went cruising. They had a route he liked to drive. They talked, listened to music and ate dinner at a local deli. At 8pm Tom dropped Michael back off and he and Caleb got into Christian's car, one of his best friends who was home from college. He put on a couple of sad songs in the car. Unbeknownst to his friends, he ignored a text from his ex and searched his iPhone for the suicide hotline. But then they went for a walk on a local landmark bridge. Christian took pictures and made him smile. At 11:15pm they returned to the middle school parking lot to part ways. But first Tom made plans with Christian to go to her house the next day and play pool. They enjoyed their time together and wanted more of it. After they said goodbye, Tom left with time to fill his gas tank and make it home before curfew. But he didn't. Tom never made it home. To this day, we don't know what happened to him, but somebody does. Maybe it's the person who held onto his phone.

[Courtney Nicole]

If you have any information about Thom Brown, you can submit a tip on the Texas Attorney General's website at www.texasattorneygeneral.gov ColdCasetips if you're struggling right now, please remember that you are not alone and you matter. You can call or text the Suicide and Crisis lifeline anytime at 988.

[Sarah Tierney]

Thank you for listening to the final hours. If you have any other details about Thom Brown's case, please share it with us on social media. We want to hear from you. Your thoughts, condolences and feedback are what make this community so special At Crime

[Courtney Nicole]

House, we value your support. Share your thoughts on social media and remember to rate, review and follow the Final Hours to help others discover the

[Sarah Tierney]

show and to enhance your listening experience. Don't forget to join crime house [e-mail] or if you listen on Apple Podcasts, tap try free at the top of the Final Hours show page.

[Courtney Nicole]

The Final Hours is hosted by Sarah Turney and me, Courtney Nicole and is a Crime House original. Powered by Pave Studios, this episode was brought to life by the Final Hours team Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benedon, Lori Marinelli, Natalie Przofsky, Sarah Camp, Alyssa Fox, Dana Brazil Sulavey and Russell Nash. Thank you for listening. What if your drive was fueled with

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