What Did Surveillance Footage Reveal About the Cole Thomas Case? | Forensic Files

Hi, crime junkies. I'm your host, Ashley Flowers. And I'm Brit. [music] And you guys, sometimes the hardest cases to
crack aren't always the ones with nothing to go on. They're often the ones where everybody seems to know something,
but they're just too scared to talk. Because today's story isn't about someone disappearing into the dark
alone. [music] It's about a young man who vanished in front of his quote unquote friends from
work. their first version. He panicked, pulled the car over, hopped out, and booked it. But the only people who say
they saw what happened are the same ones who can't keep their stories straight. And when the truth keeps bending like
that, it's not confusion. It's not bad memory, usually it's a bold-faced lie. This is the story of Christopher Cole
Thomas. It's just after 3:00 a.m. on Black Friday in 2016. But in the small town of
Benson, North Carolina, no one's lining up to snag a deal on the latest iPhone or the biggest TV. It's quiet. Most
people are asleep [music] and the streets are practically empty, which is giving time for a couple of officers to
finish up some paperwork in the police department parking lot. And it's in that quiet moment when two men walk up. Their
names are Julian Vayz Jr. and Jeremy Carpenter. Now, they're not panicked or screaming or anything like that. They
just need a little bit of help. They're passing through after visiting Julian's family for Thanksgiving. [music] They
were on their way back to Minnesota where they both work, but now they don't have keys to their car. And the story of
how that happened is weird. They say that they were traveling with a third buddy, Christopher Thomas, who goes by
Cole, and he's the one who was driving, but out of nowhere, he started acting [music] paranoid, and before they knew
it, he pulled over, took the keys, jumped out, and then like ran until he dropped out of sight. They don't know
why or where he went. I mean, Cole couldn't have even known where he was because he's not from around there. He's
from Florida. The only half explanation that Julian offers up is that he had heard rumors that Cole might have quote
mental problems, but he wasn't even really sure. They said they tried looking for him themselves, but they
can't find him, and now they're just stuck. Now, the story is a bit odd, sure, but not enough to like set off
alarm bells for these officers because even though it's an ungodly hour, these guys don't appear to be under the
influence or anything like that. So, the officers do what they can. The guys point them in the direction of North
Johnson Street where they say Cole ran off. [music] They check the few places that might still be open for gas or
coffee, but there's just no sign of him. No one who saw or heard anything either.
So within hours, that's pretty much it because as far as police are concerned, this sounds like a grown man who just
chose to leave. That is not a crime. >> Yeah, but he didn't know anyone else in the area, did he?
>> No. And honestly, Cole didn't even really know these guys all that well. They had just met while working a
contract construction gig up in Minnesota. It sounds like Cole basically didn't have plans to go home to Florida
for Thanksgiving, so he kind of just like tagged along with them for something to do.
>> And was it just for like the long weekend? >> Yeah, like they all had to be back at
work on Monday, which I think is part of the reason that Julian and Jeremy are stressed about getting stranded without
the keys. Now, they eventually call up a locksmith, but strangely when he gets there, he ends up finding the keys right
underneath the car, >> so [music] the guys head back. >> They just leave Cole. >> Yeah. I mean like he ran off on his own.
They have to get back for work. I mean they filed a missing person's report with the officers that they talked to.
So they go home. >> Jeez, what friends? >> I know. And the thing is though, like
you don't know the half of it because Brett, even though they told police what they say happened, neither of them
actually bothered trying to reach Cole's family down in Florida. Like you report
him missing, but you don't call anyone. So, his parents are completely unaware that their son is missing until Sunday
when they get an out ofthe- blue call from police in North Carolina. To say they were shocked is a gross
understatement cuz they didn't even know Cole was going to North Carolina. Not that he has to like tell them he's 22,
but it's kind of weird that he didn't even mention [music] it because he had exchanged texts with his dad on
Thanksgiving. Just like a simple, "Hey, love you. Enjoy the turkey." But there was zero mention of this crosscountry
road trip, >> which seems like it's something that would at least come up in conversation,
>> you'd think. So, the family gets word of this. They get this phone call and the
only explanation that they're getting is that their son just like ran off into the pitch black in a place that he had
probably never been to or even heard of before. And they had never heard the names Julian or Jeremy since Cole had
only been on that Minnesota job site for like less than a month. But get this. Cole's dad, his name's Chris, he told
our reporter Madison, that even though like his mind was like racing in that moment, he actually did know someone
that he could call. [music] The guy that Cole had been working under as an electrical apprentice. This is
someone who he knew was working with this same crew up in Minnesota. So he he at least has a name, Steven, right? So
Chris didn't have his number, but like lightning, he looks through Cole's Facebook friends, [music] finds Steven,
messages his cell, says like, "Call me ASAP." And within minutes, Steven is hitting him up, and he spits out
something like, "Oh, Mr. Chris, I've been trying to get a hold of you." Which right away, Chris is thinking like, "No,
you most definitely have not. Like, I'm not a hard guy to find." >> I mean, he could have done exactly what
dad did and found him on Facebook. >> Facebook. Yes. And Chris is listed as Cole's father on his Facebook page. Oh,
so he's like right there. >> Easy. But anyways, he doesn't harp on this. He is just listening. And what
Steven says next is far from reassuring. He wasn't on this getaway with these guys, but he sure seems to know a thing
or two about it because he starts rambling on something about a strip search, about Cole freaking out, and
then he says something that stops Chris cold. I think they killed him. >> They who? That is exactly what Chris is
trying to figure out. He is asking all of the questions like a strip search for what? Why was he freaking out? Who are
you talking about? And that's when Steven starts filling in some of the blanks. He tells him that the guys Cole
was traveling with, Julian and Jeremy. They weren't just passing through North Carolina for Thanksgiving. They had
driven there all the way from Minnesota to buy drugs. And he says they went to meet up with some like very dangerous
dudes. And afterwards, something must have gone wrong. And this is like the foundation shaking for Cole's parents.
Like, this is never the kind of story they would ever expect to be hearing involving their son. I mean, obviously,
you never really know who might be struggling with substance use or fall into a lifestyle of dealing, whatever.
But Cole, like, this was never something they ever had to worry about with him before. like he grew up in a small town,
graduated as saludiatoran of his high school, earned some scholarship money to attend the University of Florida, and
had plans to go into medicine, inspired by his younger brother who has autism. He was smart, he was driven, but like a
lot of people in their early 20s, he was still figuring things out. So, after a few years of college, he was like
feeling kind of burned out. He decided he just wanted to take a break from school. He was motivated to like make
some money, get real world experience, learning a new trade. It meant traveling. It meant working long hours
with his hands and being introduced to new people from widely different backgrounds. But to his family, it
sounded just like this temporary detour, a way to save up some cash. And look, his mom Kathy even told us that Cole was
seemingly so open with her. He even admitted that he tried some party drugs here and there when he was in college.
So, no, this situation that he's in, not impossible, but traveling across state lines for a drug deal, like that's the
part that like it just didn't sound like the Cole she knew. >> And for him to change that much in just
one month, right? It's not like he's been gone for a long time. Like, it makes zero sense. Of course, Cole's dad
doesn't want to believe what he's hearing, but that's not a risk that he's willing to take. So within hours of that
call with Steven, he and Cole's mom, Kathy, throw their things in the truck and they start driving from Florida to
North Carolina because if there is even a small chance that their son is still out there hurt or scared, hiding or
otherwise, they are going to find him themselves. Now, the drive from Florida to North Carolina should take less than
8 hours. But that weekend with holiday traffic, it takes a heck of a lot longer. And the whole time it is just
like absolutely brutal being in that car. The drive is a blur for both of them as they try to wrap their heads
around what they've just been told. So when they finally do get to Benson, North Carolina, it is the middle of the
night and they don't waste a second. They go straight to the police station and tell officers the bits and pieces
that they heard from Steven. Even though it's not much to go on, it's like, you know, more than they had gotten from
Julian and Jeremy or more than they told police when they were in town. So the cops when they hear this, they call
Jeremy and Julian back up and like try to get to the bottom of what's really going on. Now when they reach them, the
men are supposedly still traveling back to Minnesota. And at first, Julian and Jeremy stick to the same story. But
officers don't just ask once and accept their answer. I don't know if they eventually rat out Steven as their
source or what, but at some point these two end up admitting it, or like some of
it. [music] It's true. They didn't go all that way for mom's mashed potatoes. It was to buy meth. Not like a ton, I
don't think, but like enough for them. Enough to maybe sell to some of the guys at their job site back in Minnesota. And
Julian is from North Carolina. So, he is the one who had this hookup down there.
They went to the town over from Benson. It's called Mount Olive. And that's where they met up at a house of this guy
who Julian knows. His name was Rudalfo Deleon Jr. aka Rudy. And they also met with apparently Rudy's buddy Anthony
James Jr. who goes by TJ. So Rudy and TJ. Now Julian and Jeremy don't really say what else happened or who else might
have been there, just that they did this deal and then they left. And sometime later in the car, the story that they
first told kind of picks back up. Cole becomes frantic. But this go around they're not saying anything about mental
health struggles anymore. They're a little bit more honest. They say that he was maybe paranoid about the drug deal
and thought that they were being followed by the cops. So that's why he ran. Now investigators are sensing that
like something is up that maybe they still don't have the full story. So together from like what we got from
Steven, this theory starts to emerge that something with the drug deal went wrong or Cole who may have just been the
driver because Julian and Jeremy they didn't have their licenses. Maybe he realized that he was in way over his
head and like freaked out. >> If that part about him taking off [music] is even true, though. I mean,
the truth is at this point, police don't even have proof that Cole was ever in Benson at all. Like, they all they have
is that report from them, right? For all they know, the entire story about Cole pulling over there, running away could
have been made up to cover for whatever really happened to him to keep police from knowing Cole's real last
whereabouts. though, that whole part about them being like 40 minutes away over in the town of Mount Olive when
they met up with whoever else, that might actually be legit because police tracked down video from a Handymark
convenience store there from earlier in the night. This would have been Thanksgiving Day. Yeah, the department
wouldn't share that video with us, but we spoke to Benson Police Chief Greg Percy about it, [music] and he said that
Cole, Julian, and Jeremy can all be seen on this video between like 11:37 p.m. and [music] 11:50 p.m. This is just
about 3 hours before Julian and Jeremy would eventually report Cole missing to the cops.
>> But at this time, Chief Percy says that everything seems completely normal. Cole
goes in, grabs a drink. Apparently, he doesn't look paranoid at all. In fact, nothing about his behavior stands out as
far as Chief Percy can tell. >> Knowing that their son was somewhere around this area in North Carolina,
right? Like we know we can put him there. >> Paul's parents, Chris and Kathy, know
that this is going to have to become home base for them for a while. >> So, they go back to Florida. They pack
up what they can and then they turn right back around and head to North Carolina. This time with an entire
travel trailer. and they set up at a campground nearby. Every day they're out putting up signs. They're working on
billboards. They're driving roads, checking ditches, using search dogs, combing through areas that even have
already been cleared just in case something was missed. All while police are collecting surveillance footage from
Mount Olive, from Benson, and parts in between. And back then, Chief Percy wasn't chief. He was captain. And it was
his job to go through all of the footage that they were collecting, hours of it.
And it takes him weeks, completely consumes him. I mean, talk about bringing your work home with you. Percy
cannot just leave this at the office. He's literally reviewing footage at home in the night, like at all hours, and
it's actually in one of those late nights at his kitchen table in December when he finally catches something. Now,
the footage he is looking at is from a camera at the Walgreens in Benson, [music]
and it's pointed at the parking lot, but you can also kind of see like across North Johnson Street where you get like
the slightest view of a bank in its parking lot. And it's pretty good as like video like footage goes or like it
would be if you were in the Walgreens parking lot, like close to the camera. But that's not where he spots movement.
At 1:10 a.m., he sees something moving through the frame in the distance. So he like spots it, he rewinds, he zooms in,
hits play again. When he realizes what he's looking at, [music] he gets this rush of adrenaline. He actually wakes up
his wife to show her, too. Because for the first time, he can prove it. Cole was actually in Benson, like a 5-minute
walk from where the car was left, [music] just like Julian and Jeremy said, except he didn't run off [music]
alone. In the footage, Cole is just walking and there's someone following on foot right behind him.
In the parks and forest you love, there are stories waiting to be told. I'm Dillia Deira, the host of Park
Predators, [music] a true crime podcast that reminds you sometimes the most beautiful places hide the darkest
secrets. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts. At exactly 1:10 a.m. in the top middle
of the screen, you can see two figures and like only the bottom halves of their bodies are visible. And at first it
looks like they're walking like right across frame. But when they disappear behind something dark and then they
don't reappear, you realize that like the depth perception is a little weird without context. [music] And the two
people are actually walking right to left on screen, but I think they're walking behind the bank.
>> And so it takes 20 seconds, but then you see them reappear on the other side of
the building. Police determined this is Cole. And walking slowly behind him, maybe kind of even to the side is one of
his fellow travel companions who they determined to be Jeremy Carpenter. Now, it's not like he's sneaking up on him or
anything. Cole most certainly knows that Jeremy was there. I mean, to me, it even
looks like Cole is like gesturing like maybe they're talking as they walk off camera.
Now, of the 3 hours of footage from that Walgreens camera that we got from Cole's
family, that's it. Just like 30 seconds that eagle eyes Percy caught. But it was
enough to prove that the guys were still lying to them. >> Yes, he was in Benson, but he did not
walk off alone. So when they go back to Jeremy and confront him with this, the story evolves again. Not a completely
different version or anything. It's like Jeremy just drops another breadcrumb. Something like, "Oh yeah, okay. So after
Cole got out and walked off, I went after him so that I could calm him down or whatever." And then at some point he
says that they end up outside a nearby church. And supposedly one that's like a pretty short walk from the bank. So it
wouldn't have been like long after we saw them on that camera. And suddenly it sounds like Jeremy too is convinced that
[music] they're being followed because he's now saying that he's just as freaked out as Cole. Wait, where's
Julian in all of this? >> I don't know. I think he's actually staying behind with the car. Like he's
not seen on any of the footage and it's not part of his story that Julian's like
with them. >> Okay. >> But anyways, Jeremy and Cole are supposedly at this church and according
to Jeremy, Cole says that he has to pee. So he walks off to go take care of that.
>> And that's when Jeremy tells police that he like gets down on his knees and starts [music] praying
>> for what? >> Maybe that like if somebody's really after them, they don't find them or
maybe that they come out of whatever this is. Okay, >> I don't know. But like per Jeremy, by
the time he says amen, Cole's just gone. Except later another breadcrumb drops and he admits, "Well, okay, actually
while I was out there, I did hear a car door." But then that car door sound eventually turns into I think I may have
heard gunshots. >> So he's saying someone picked up Cole or now maybe shot Cole while he himself was
>> praying. >> Praying, >> I guess. But he says that essentially like when he opens his eyes and he sees
that Cole is gone that like he he actually does say he like tries to go look for him. But after he looks and
looks and he can't find Cole anywhere. At some point he realizes he needs some water. According to him, he's diabetic.
So he actually like really needs it. And lo and behold, one of the only places still open in a small town at this hour,
he spots those like bright golden arches. Mickey De's. Yes. Now, police are actually able to verify that he went
to the McDonald's that night because in more surveillance footage that police got that again Cole's family shared with
us, there goes Jeremy by himself walking into the parking lot. It looks like he's
like speaking to someone who works there, maybe like seeing if he needs to go in or maybe he could just go through
the drive-thru. He ends up walking through the drive-thru and he gets his cup of water just after 2:20 in the
morning. No coal in sight >> and no Julian either. No, Julian either, but he has to meet back up with Julian
at some point somehow because we know that they're together like 40 minutes after this talking to cops and reporting
that Cole ran off. That was at like 3:00 a.m. >> But here's the super interesting part.
Julian and Jeremy aren't just alone the rest of the night. Obviously, the police
and later a PI brought on by Cole's family [music] get phone data for all the men that
night. And based on location data, it seems like Jeremy and Julian are still with and around Rudy and TJ sometime
after Cole goes missing. >> And where was Cole's phone? >> Well, I think everyone originally made
the assumption that he walked off with it. That's what you would think, right? Turns out that was a wrong assumption
because when they finally got Jeremy and Julian to come back to North Carolina to
be questioned in person, they were like, "Oh, yeah. By the way, here you go. >> Wait, they had Cole's phone
>> this whole time. >> Why didn't they tell police that? >> I don't have an answer for that. Like,
it might be as simple as nobody asked, but like they're asking for it now. >> Yeah.
>> And they get it. Not only do they have the breadcrumbs that Jeremy and Julian
have been dropping, now they actually have a digital trail that shows Cole's movements the whole night.
>> And lined up with the other phones, it tells an interesting story, one that the
family's private investigator, David Marshburn, really helps put together by dumping all of the data points into an
app called Cellhawk. If law enforcement agencies aren't using things like this, this is my PSA. I mentioned a similar
application, Badge app, in the Melissa Cas case recently. These programs are for law enforcement and they take
basically huge data dumps, put them into a map that you can actually like see and
make sense of, >> like processes the data, >> something that tells a story right now.
Just like the surveillance footage showed, the phone puts Cole at the Handymark Convenience Store in Mount
Olive at 11:38 p.m. on November 24th. They now know that this is after the drug deal took place. From there, Cole's
phone starts moving, and it seems like they're making their way there for a while, but then at some point, they
start like cutting through random side roads, and it looks like they like are like looping back. Their phones show
continuous movement from Mount Olive all the way to Benson [music] from 11:52 p.m. to 10:07 a.m. And 10:07 a.m. is
when their phones finally come to rest near where Cole pulled the car over. And here's what's strange. We know that Cole
and Jeremy get out of the car and walk away, but it doesn't look like their phones move. From 107 on November 25th
to a little after 3:45 a.m., their phones just stay [music] put. presumably left behind in the car when they took
off, which like I don't know why you would leave your phone behind, right? >> But and when confronted with this data,
Jeremy and Julian eventually say as much that Cole left his phone behind in the car and ran off. But after they report
Cole missing to police, the phones start moving again, including Kohl's, [music]
the guys say that what they did is they called Rudy to come pick them up so that
they had somewhere to stay while they waited for the locksmith instead of just like waiting with the car.
>> But this is odd, right? Like the fact that Cole's phone is moving to, not just
like in the car. >> Yes, he's missing at this point. And instead of leaving his phone in the car
in case he comes back, they take it with them as they all leave Benson completely
traveling back towards Mount Olive. And just after 4:00 a.m., Cole's phone goes dark. Investigators suspect that
everyone in that group wised up and eventually turned off anything tracking their location at that point.
>> That's not good. >> No. especially when you hear what comes next. Cole's phone does eventually come
back on [music] hours later, but it's not in Benson where he supposedly walked off. It is still over in Wayne County.
>> Is that where like Mount Olive is where Rudy is? >> Mount Olive is in Wayne County. Yeah,
but like Wayne County encompasses more than just Mount Olive. And all police would tell us was that Cole's phone was
somewhere in Wayne County, which means whatever happened to Cole. [music] It sounds like it didn't end in Benson.
Now, at some point when Cole's phone is turned back on, for some odd reason, Jeremy and Julian just start repeatedly
calling it. >> I mean, to make it like look like they were looking for him, maybe. Or
investigators think it might be that they were trying to get into the phone possibly to get rid of stuff. Like maybe
they thought somehow like if if they could if it was locked, right? If you answer it while it's a call, could they
break into it? I don't know. Like it's password protected. That's not how it works.
>> Yeah, that's >> it doesn't make sense to me. I know. And I don't think they were actually able to
access anything. That's just the theory that police have. [music] So now investigators are looking at a group of
people who had Cole's phone, maybe tried to access it, and didn't turn it over right away.
>> Yeah, >> that sounds a lot like interfering with an investigation, my friends.
>> So, fast forward to mid 2017. A grand jury indictments lead to the arrests of
the four guys that they know about so far who they believe are connected to Cole's case. Julian Vayz Jr., Jeremy
Carpenter, Rudalfo Deleon Jr. aka Rudy, and Anthony James Jr. known as TJ. They are all charged with concealing Cole's
death. And all but Rudy also get hit with obstruction of justice charges. All of the suspects plead not guilty to all
the charges. And this was more than just like a small win to like get on the board. This was a strategic move on
behalf of law enforcement. Police were hoping that [music] separated and maybe under pressure, maybe, just maybe, the
weakest link might finally break. [music] But even with all four of these guys in custody, the case doesn't just
magically fall into place. [music] It takes some serious leg work and a dedicated PI to come to the realization
that these four guys are actually just a [music] piece of the puzzle, not the whole thing. And to even get there, it
was dangerous. The PI, David, had to basically infiltrate [music] this network of people. And his presence
didn't go unnoticed. I mean, once he started learning more and asking more questions, he says that he started
receiving threats, including this voicemail that he shared with us. >> Look, I'm calling you because I know you
investigator for this case. Somebody supposed to be calling you today. If they don't call you today, I will find
out. I want you to answer this phone at 9:00 tonight. If you don't answer this phone,
it's going to be personal stuff between me and you. David believes that whoever that was who
called him is part of something bigger and that this was more than just a one-off drug deal gone wrong. Through
all of the conversations that he has had and the phone data that he's mapped out,
David starts to piece together what he now believes may have been the plan all along. He thinks it's possible that
Julian may have been double crossing everyone. >> Meaning what? >> Based on everything David's hearing,
Cole and honestly maybe even Jeremy probably thought that the plan was simple. They were going to go there, pay
for drugs, [music] bring them back to Minnesota, maybe even sell them to like the guys at the job site. But like
that's what they thought. >> Yeah. But David believes that maybe Julian was working with the guys that
they met up with and the plan was actually for them to sell the guys this like meth and then somehow someway that
night steal the drugs back. [music] >> So they get paid for the drugs they sold, but they get to keep their supply.
>> Precisely. And according to David, there are a couple of things that could have
thrown off this whole plan. First of which is Cole himself. Everyone we spoke to still believes that when Cole agreed
to drive his co-workers down to North Carolina, he probably had no idea the level of danger that he was actually
getting himself into. But according to David, it seems like Cole may have slowly and surely been figuring it out
like on the fly. You see, Julian didn't know something about Cole. he'd only known him for a month and might have
made some assumptions about him. Like for instance, that this [music] premed white kid from rural Florida only spoke
English, but that wasn't the case. And it's very possible that Cole picked up on the fact that he was in danger that
night before he was supposed to ever even know. From what we heard, Cole actually knew a
good bit of Spanish. Enough that if Julian, Rudy, or their guys started talking about the real plan around him,
Cole might have been able to pick up on it, >> which could have been why he was [music]
panicked on that drive back. Like, it could have been warranted, >> right? David believes that could explain
why Cole was so freaked out. Maybe why they were cutting through Benson to begin with. Why he didn't just think
that they were being followed. He may have known that they were being followed. >> And it wasn't the cops he was afraid of.
It was the drug dealers following them >> potentially. And there's a possibility
that they didn't even have all of the drugs to give back to them if the dealers caught [music] up with them. Cuz
you see, depending on who you talked to, at some point during that drive, apparently some of the drugs got thrown
out of the car, probably by Cole, possibly by Jeremy, >> trying to get rid of them
>> or just like I don't know, they're scared. I don't know if that's giving them back, trying to get them off their
hands, something. >> And David believes that some of the drugs may have even been hidden by
Julian without everyone knowing. So, like say they catch up with them, they realize everything's not actually there.
They wouldn't know who had it. But who's the easiest to blame? The person who probably tossed the drugs out. The same
person who doesn't really belong there to begin with. >> Cole. >> Cole. And our police [music] bought in
with this David theory. >> So, our reporter Madison asked Chief Percy about this. And while he says it's
definitely possible, he thinks it's also possible that whatever went down could have been even way less complicated than
double crossing. But he does think that whatever happened involved missing drugs. He said that there is a world
where maybe Julian's boys had fronted them money for drugs and then said drugs were thrown out the window. Well, now
someone's got to pay up. >> It's also possible that harming Cole wasn't part of the original plan. Chief
Percy says that he got intel that Cole may have fought back when confronted about the missing meth and maybe things
just escalated from there. But even if there are multiple possibilities about what led up to Cole walking away from
the car after 1:00 in the morning, everyone seems to agree on one point after the fact that there was likely
someone else there. Someone who encountered Cole after Jeremy lost sight of him. According to what David
uncovers, [music] there is another guy who keeps popping up. A guy everyone calls Gordo, and he is one of the guys
that Julian and Rudy may have been coordinating [music] with throughout the night once things took a turn. So, it
sounds like Cole really did take off like of his own free will, but then he and Jeremy supposedly get separated and
then Jeremy thinks he hears a car door. Maybe a gun right somewhere like in the distance,
>> right? >> Well, when Cole had first taken off, it sounds like Julian may have contacted
Rudy, who then gets in touch with some of his guys to include Gordo. And they set out to try and track Cole down, who
is now on foot, possibly to try to figure out what happened to their missing drugs, see if they can find out
where they were tossed, if that is what happened. >> The thinking is maybe that car door that
Jeremy heard was real. Maybe they got Cole into another car and maybe it was Gordo's car. David's able to track Gordo
down and gets him to work with the police. Maybe in exchange for some kind of deal. He talks. He never ends up with
any charges related to Cole's case. That simple. >> Cuz no one else will say a word and
investigators need someone on the inside. So eventually he says yes, he was there that night and he along with
some other guys were instructed to find Cole, which they did. And per his story,
Cole just gets into the car willingly. >> I doubt that. >> Yeah. Pi David knows an already paranoid
Cole ain't going to be getting in the car with strangers. >> So like he keeps pressing him when
they're having this conversation. And the story evolves like so many of the stories in this case keep doing. At one
point, he says they threaten him with a gun. Then in another version, they catch
up to him, disorient him by hitting him with a baseball bat, and they take Cole into the car with them.
>> Okay, but take him where, though? >> That's [music] the milliondoll question.
According to Gordo, they are instructed to take Cole and hold him until the rest
of the guys get back to do whatever they're going to do with him, I guess. But he claims that he doesn't know what
happened after that. Whatever it was can't be good, though. [music] >> But does he say where he took Cole to?
>> This is the thing. It's not clear. Like just some guy's house in Wayne County,
>> which is the area where the phone was. >> Right now, here's where things get tricky, though. Investigators get a
warrant for the car in question that he was supposedly like transported in. >> They search it. They're looking for
blood, DNA, anything that could confirm this story that Gordo is telling. They don't [music] end up finding anything
definitive. So, they're still seemingly not telling the whole truth. Cole's dad,
Chris, and the PI David feel so close yet so far. And they know what they really need is one of those like core
four to flip. They believe that they know what happened. So, they start thinking outside of the box. Like, how
do we get someone to finally give it up and what they come up with is out of the
box and has to be [music] so painful for Cole's dad. They decide to hone in on TJ
because compared to the others, he doesn't seem as deeply tied into this drug scene. Not necessarily totally
innocent, but maybe less culpable. So, Chris makes a decision. David is a PI and a bondsman, and Chris puts up the
money, essentially taking on the risk of bonding out someone who may have been involved in whatever happened to his own
son to get him out of prison, to get him away from the other three guys who are tied up in this. The thinking being that
maybe if you can separate him, he could [music] think for himself, >> save himself if he was given the chance.
[music] So they free TJ and for a little while it actually seems like it might work because once he's away from the
others he is willing to do a long sit down with them. David recorded this conversation legally I might add North
Carolina is a one party consent state and Cole's family shared that audio with us. So here's TJ. Only thing I know
exactly. >> Mhm. >> When he went when the um when the drugs got missing, he got missing. [clears throat]
I don't know where he's at. I really don't know. I don't know what he what they did with him.
>> He's sort of hinting something went wrong, but they already knew that. >> He just won't say what. But minute by
minute, you can tell that something's slowly shifting, though. And at a certain point, they decide to bring in
someone else, Kathy, Cole's mom, thinking that maybe she can appeal more to his emotions, convince him to tell
the whole truth. And when she sits down with him, she doesn't come in all aggressive or angry. She just talks to
him as a mom, asking about her son, [music] asking what happened, trying to get him to understand what this has done
to their family. >> That'd be so hard. >> And according to what they describe, this is when they sense that TJ is
starting to break. Now, he doesn't tell [music] them everything, but he does say
something. Something that [music] sticks. >> He's [snorts] gone. What did they do to him? Tell me.
He's gone, y'all. >> This makes it feel all the more real. Now they know what everyone already
suspected, but they won't get to know anymore [music] cuz TJ won't go much further. They get fragments, but nothing
that could actually hold up in court. [music] And that continues to be the pattern
with just about everyone connected to this case. People talk, but only to a point. And so far, no one is willing to
give this family what they really need, proof, or even a body to bury. >> All four men served some time, but
eventually the concealment and obstruction charges against TJ Anthony James Jr. and Rudy Rudolph Deleon Jr.,
Julian Viz Jr., [music] and Jeremy Carpenter. They all end up getting dropped. According to Chief Percy, this
was done at least in part to avoid compromising any potential future homicide prosecutions. Now, we tried
reaching out to everyone named in this episode, every which way we could think of, [music] but as of this recording, we
haven't heard back. Julian Vayz Jr. is currently behind bars on drug charges unrelated to Cole's case. Still, we sent
him a message. So far, no response. And unfortunately, we will never be able to talk to Jeremy Carpenter. Per an online
obituary, he passed away in 2024. Now, some people believe that Jeremy may have been in the same boat as Cole, that he
was just as surprised by the turn that things took, and that everything he did that night, his silence and the evolving
stories that followed were out of both fear and survival. But it means that we will never be able to ask him the one
question we have for everyone in this case. Where's Cole? Because when it comes to that detail, the part that
matters most, everyone conveniently claims they just don't know that whatever happened next happened in
secret. But with this many people possibly involved with some of their phones moving together, that's hard for
me to believe because somebody knows where Cole is. And it's time that they say it out loud before the data does the
talking for them because no one is done with this case. Not Cole's parents, not Benson PD. They are on a mission and
they might be closer than ever to answers. >> [music] >> So, if there ever was a deal to be made,
I think someone's running out of time to make it. So, if anyone out there knows what happened to Christopher Cold
Thomas, you can contact the Benson Police Department at 9198942091 or you can email info@benson
pd.org. You can also contact the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation at
919-7798188.

On November 25, 2016, just after 3:00 a.m. in Benson, North Carolina, 22-year-old Christopher “Cole” Thomas was reported missing by two coworkers. Their story is that he panicked, pulled over, jumped out of the car… and disappeared into the night .But that story kept changing.

In this episode, Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat break down a case where the only witnesses may also be the ones hiding the truth. They explore, Cole Thomas’ last known movements between Mount Olive and Benson, North Carolina on November 24–25, 2016 the shifting accounts from Julian Valles Jr. and Jeremy Carpenter, the surveillance footage that proves Cole was not alone when he left the vehicle, the drug deal that may have set everything in motion, and the phone data that suggests Cole didn’t disappear where everyone said he did.

Investigators uncovered evidence that Cole’s phone was left behind, then later moved, connections to additional individuals, including Rudolfo “Rudy” DeLeon Jr. and Anthony “TJ” James Jr., testimony suggesting Cole may have been taken from the area, and a pattern of incomplete stories, contradictions, and withheld information. Despite arrests for obstruction and concealment…no one has ever been charged in connection with Cole Thomas’ disappearance. And his family is still searching for answers.

If you know something, you can contact the Benson Police Department at 919-894-2091 or at info@bensonpd.org or you can call the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation at 919-779-8188. -------- Follow Crime Junkie: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crimejunkiepodcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CrimeJunkiePodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrimeJunkiePod Crime Junkie is created and hosted by Ashley Flowers.

About Ashley Flowers Ashley Flowers is the top female podcaster in the U.S. and the host of Crime Junkie, the #1 podcast among women and the #1 true crime podcast globally. As the Founder of Audiochuck, she has built a top-tier podcast production company that has garnered over 2.6 billion downloads, captivating audiences with its gripping storytelling through 10+ chart topping podcasts. Ashley and her team are dedicated to creating responsible true crime content that respects victims and their families.

Follow Ashley: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ASHLEYFLOWERS/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ash_flowers TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ashleyflowerscrimejunkie Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashleyflowers.af/

Check out these other great crime channels: @annieelise Still Missing at Sea, 48 Stab Wounds & Family Annihilation Plot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmigMs0toIk @KendallRae Craiglist, Cyberstalking & Catfishing: The Story Of Michelle Hadley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDkIhnTpkCM @bellafiori The Case of Russell Stager https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0LoFOvK358 @48hours Justice Prevails | "48 Hours" Full Episodes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpGy29QYIkQ

Brief Summary

Christopher Cole Thomas disappeared during a drug deal gone wrong, leading to conflicting stories and an ongoing search for answers.

Key points

The Mysterious Disappearance of Cole Thomas. A young man vanishes in front of friends, leading to a complex investigation.
A Shocking Revelation. Cole's father learns disturbing details about his son's last moments.
The Search for Truth. Cole's parents embark on a desperate search after learning he is missing.
Cole's Phone Discovery. The shocking revelation that Jeremy and Julian had Cole's phone all along raises questions.
The Tension of Leaving Behind. Cole's decision to leave his phone behind adds to the mystery of his disappearance.
TJ's Emotional Break. In a conversation with Cole's mom, TJ hints at the grim reality of Cole's fate.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Jeez, what friends?

Reaction to the behavior of Cole's friends after he goes missing.

3:56WatchMay 18, 2026

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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