They Kept HIS PHONE After He Vanished #truecrimeshorts #truecrimestories #crimejunkies #podcast | Forensic Files

They reported him missing, but kept his phone. When Cole Thomas was reported missing, police first talked to his
co-workers who were the last ones with him. And [clears throat] they say that Cole was driving, then he started acting
paranoid, pulled over, ran off. And many people assumed that when Cole ran off, he would have taken his phone with him.
That's why they didn't have it, right? But that wasn't true, because later the co-workers that he was with casually
just like handed it over to police. They had it the whole time. And having a missing person's phone isn't just a
detail that you forget. And here's what the phone shows. Cole's location stopped
moving at 1:07 a.m. where the car was left. And he left his phone in the car. But after he's reported missing, the
phone starts moving again. The co-workers say they called someone to pick them up after Cole ran off. And if
this is true, that would mean that they like took Cole's phone with them instead
of leaving it with the car in case he came back. And then, just after 4:00 a.m., Cole's phone goes dark. And the
story just keeps getting stranger. You can find our look into the disappearance of Cole Thomas on Crime Junkie.

When Christopher “Cole” Thomas was reported missing in Benson, North Carolina in November 2016, the men who were last with him claimed he suddenly became paranoid, pulled over, and ran off into the night.

But investigators later learned those same coworkers still had Cole’s phone after reporting him missing. Phone data showed the device stopped moving around 1:07 a.m. near where the car was abandoned, then later moved again after Cole was reported missing. Just after 4:00 a.m., the phone went dark.

As investigators uncovered more inconsistencies, questions grew about what really happened to Cole Thomas that night.

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Brief Summary

Cole Thomas went missing under suspicious circumstances involving his co-workers and his phone's location data.

Key points

The Mystery of Cole Thomas. Cole Thomas was reported missing, but his phone reveals unexpected twists in the case.

Episode quotes

The story just keeps getting stranger.

As the investigation unfolds, new details emerge about Cole's disappearance.

0:48WatchMay 24, 2026

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