In this episode of Crime Watch Daily Updates: Christopher Thomas, who went by Cole, was about to graduate from the University of Florida when he dropped out and moved to Minnesota to become an electrician. On November 24, 2016, Cole and two of his co-workers, Julian Valles and Jeremy Carpenter, road-tripped from Pine Island, Minnesota, to Durham, North Carolina.
At one point in the drive, Cole got out of the car in Benson, North Carolina, and disappeared. He was last seen alive in the early morning hours of November 25, 2016.
Cole’s family in Florida found out he was missing, so they traveled to North Carolina. One of the two men traveling with Cole allegedly told police Cole had a panic attack and just walked away and disappeared. The men, however, kept offering up different stories.
Julian, one of Cole’s co-workers, reportedly sold drugs, and took the trip down to North Carolina in order to buy more. The alleged drug deal supposedly freaked Cole out, and Cole and Jeremy got out of the car to calm down. Surveillance video shows the two men walking through Benson at around 1 a.m.
Jeremy reportedly told Cole’s father they ended up at a church, and Cole left to use the bathroom, but was never seen again.
State and local officials began investigating the missing person case. In 2017, Julian Valles, Jeremy Carpenter, Anthony James Jr., and Rudolfo DeLeon were arrested and charged with felony concealment of a death concerning Cole’s disappearance. Prosecutors also charged Julian, Jeremy, and Anthony with obstruction of justice.
In September 2019, the Johnston County District Attorney’s Office dropped the charges against the four men, but said the investigation remains ongoing.
Cole is reportedly presumed dead, though his body has still never been found.
Let’s take a look back at the case of a young man who seemed to vanish into thin air on Thanksgiving.
"My heart literally dropped to my chest." Where the hell does this woman think the heart normally resides? The neck?
People just don't vanish, someone used Coles email for over a week after he got out of the car. Something happened and the three others know exactly what happened to Cole. Regardless of the situation nobody deserves to get murdered. Someone needs to speak up and give his family the justice they deserve if it was one of their own they would want the same.
Omg this will be so agonizing for his parents I lost my son I I know it was a car accident and I still devastating even know what happened to my baby boy I couldn’t even imagine what’s this family is going through not knowing what happened with his boy it is so sad they need clouser is someone knowing what happened please anonymously let this family knows what and where he is it is so sad leaving don’t know where you’re love one are I’m a mom in pain too❤my blessings for this family from the bottom of my heart
i wish they would not have hurt Cole. I would like to be his drinking buddy
Its simple…Homie that got the dope knows wtf happened to this guy an so do the people he got the drugs from. CJNG
How do they know he got out and disappeared?? Im suspicious of the coworkers. Maybe he od and died and they hid him to cover it up. Thats my least nefarious scenario.
Sad suspect never got charged for murder. Well karma come them because i bet they went jail dui or sell drugs
His body was probably put in a dumpster, and picked up when garbage man came and now he's at the local landfill. Just a thought.
💔😪
Coles daddy tho👀👀👀
War is good for nothing. Edwin Starr
Move to Mexico folks, if retired or can work online.
I have always had 6 months stock up of food. Water. And money tp pay rent etc. For 6 months. When ATM is down and banks are closed
Move to Mexico.
R. I. P. Everyone.
Greed is the reason for high prices.Happy I moved to Mexico in 2021 at 79..Washington D.C. is stealing zillions. Rents, utilities, gas etc. Get the heck out of the USA if retired or can work online
acajudi100 for my YouTube videos from age 70.75
So sad….😢
how is this update when there is no update at all
They probably did something to him. Tragically.
I think he over dosed..? They killed him..
Anyone involved in drugs… even transporting, picking up drugs… ooooo..
people do not disappear into thin air some one killed him it's sooo sad a young good-looking guy smart and everything going for him jealousy and envy are real people becareful who you allow into your circle !!!!🙏🙏🙏
Benson is where i40 and i95 meet. Its a small family town but drugs have ravaged our county. It's caused so much devastation
I lived in Benson 7 years. I still live in the same county. I remember seeing signs all over for Cole. This hurts my soul
I think his girlfriend is a phony person who likes attention.
If Im the father I will exact justice from his co workers one by one , my own way until ill get my answers. Ive got nothing to lose Im already old.
Why was he dressed all sexual? His fault for flaunting his body off in public
Guys, please use this as a learning lesson. He was raised right and became a wonderful young man but in the end, he befriended some disgusting creeps who ended his life. It's heartbreaking bc he obviously was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He didn't even know about the drug deal & he sought refuge in a church. Omg, my heart breaks for his family! Life is so fragile, please take great care when choosing your friends or acquaintances bc all it takes is a series of bad decisions & you may not have a way back to the light! RIP Cole 🕊️🕊️
His GF is strange. I'm sorry her intro on why she liked him was I thought he was pretty attractive & he was pretty muscular; so I liked that?… It's super off-topic it just surprised me that she indicated those attributes as why she liked him. I think he was extremely handsome. Besides that this whole story is absolutely heartbreaking. Parents & family raised him up to be a great guy, he became a wonderful, intelligent & ambitious young man who seemingly made great life decisions but in spite of that, he still met a terrible fate. He even sought refuge in a church. This breaks my heart. My sincere prayers go out to his loved ones especially his grandma (I can see the anguish in her face and it's so apparent that she adored him)! RIP Fly High 🕊️❤️🩹🕊️
Did the cops investigate the bathroom in the church for any clues or talk to anybody at that church? I wonder, if there was any clues left there or around that church! I pray for ur Family n Chris! 🖤
Tragic that Cole Thomas didn't know that Durham Raleigh area is like Charlotte and Fayetteville NC….illegal drugs, gangs.
Durham NC is a high crime area. Tragic how a nice person is taken advantage of by drug pushers.
They used him that’s sad 😢 his girlfriend has a weird way of talking about him ‼️
🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾praying for family and friends to get closure
How come no mention of his phone "pinging"? When and where did it ping last?
I hope the detectives are actively investigating this case. This is so horrible.
First of all -all the people with Cole are guilty of his death & concealment. All of them are guilty
I was supposed to go on a ski trip with some dues I met at a meet up. The day before the trip I got a text, "FYI, there's going to be a bunch of cocaine and we're going to party and serve up the whole ski hill."
Didn't sound like a small amount and I want nothing to do with that scene, so I bailed. I never heard from them again and I kept searching for news articles about a drug bust in the area we were going. I'm sure it was nothing, but sure glad I didn't go on a trip with a bunch of strangers who mess around with large amounts of cocaine.
Is Julian Velez one of Obozo's amazing DACA Dreamers?
Yeah right. "Just disappeared".Love this new way of getting rid of people. Blame the victim.
Hope that it's not steroids usage; seems like he freaked out of the blue… He could probably be out there
Try a known psychic
Who’s to say Cole made it out of that house? 🤔
No good deed goes unpunished – I hate to say it, but it’s time to be selfish and keep to oneself and their family. Best wishes for Cole and his family – may they all find Peace ☮️
Sounds like narrator is doing this from bathroom
I’m so sorry to you all. This is horrible. My heart goes out to you ❤
He knew why they were taking the trip. He looked like a user
Parents you don’t need a college education to be successful. I’m sorry for your loss, hopefully he will be found and his friends will really start talking.
I miss the old format. It's sad they do this because it's cheaper , basically zero production costs.