Thomas Kelly Brown

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Hemphill County Sheriffs Office (TX)

Death Location:

Canadian, Texas

Summary:

Thomas Kelly Brown, 18, vanished on November 23, 2016, from Canadian, Texas and his remains were found in January 2019 off Lake Marvin Road near Lake Marvin. The body was identified through dental records. The Texas Attorney General concluded there is no viable evidence that would lead a reasonable person to conclude that foul play led to his death.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Death:

On November 23, 2016, Thomas spent that evening with two friends in Canadian, Texas. One of his friends dropped him off at their high school parking lot around 11:30pm, where Thomas's car was parked. At 11:36pm, Thomas was seen getting gas at a nearby gas station. At 12:03am, his brother texted him to ask where he was, which was never read. Thomas's final phone ping occurred shortly thereafter at 12:10am near a tower close to the high school football field. Minutes later, at 12:22am, Thomas's phone was shut off. Thomas rarely ever missed his curfew, so his family immediately grew concerned when he did not show up as expected. They reported him missing by 1:30am. At 8:45am on November 24th, searchers found Thomas's car parked under some trees at a wastewater treatment. Thomas's personal belongings such as his wallet, keys, laptop and cell phone were missing from the car. Additionally, a small fresh blood stain was found on the driver side door. That blood was later identified as Thomas's. A .25 caliber shell casing was found at the scene as well.

Additional Details:

About two months after Tom disappeared, his backpack was found about four miles from where his car had been found. His cellphone was located ten months after that, five miles from the backpack's discovery location and nine miles from the location of the car. The backpack was found on the other side of the river from the Durango's location, behind a barbed-wire fence on Lake Marvin Road. In January 2019, his remains were found off Lake Marvin Road near Lake Marvin. The body was identified through dental records. The investigation has been a collaborative effort between the Hemphill County Sheriff's Office, Texas Attorney General's Criminal Investigations Division, Texas Rangers and the FBI. Investigators exhausted all resources available and spent thousands of hours dedicated to Thomas Brown. Several additional agencies and hundreds of individual citizens also assisted in this case. Therefore, the investigation was suspended pending any newly discovered credible evidence. The Texas Attorney General found there is no viable evidence that would lead a reasonable person to conclude that foul play led to his disappearance, including evidence related to manner of death, cause of death, or evidence of a specific suspect. Klein Investigations, a private firm hired by the Brown family, has been investigating the case since early 2017. With the investigation going nowhere and the family being unhappy with the sheriff's work, they hired a private investigator to look into the disappearance. In January 2018, Penny started a petition to have the Texas Attorney General take over the investigation from the sheriff's department, which happened in February 2018. The Attorney General suspended the investigation because of a lack of evidence pointing to foul play. Penny expressed her disappointment with the development and remained unconvinced regarding no foul play in Tom's death. An autopsy was performed on his remains, but Penny Meek and Chris Meek agreed to keep the autopsy report confidential.

Case Last Updated:

Nov 15, 2026