Case Details
- Photo URLs:
-
- Missing Since:
- Missing Since 12/03/2010
- Missing From:
- Missing From Peru, Nebraska
- Classification:
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Gender:
- Female
- Race:
- Race Black
- Date of Birth:
- Date of Birth 09/07/1991 (33)
- Age:
- Age 19 years old
- Height and Weight:
- Height and Weight 5’5, 140 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description:
- Clothing/Jewelry Description A teal long-sleeved shirt, dark green sweatpants, earmuffs and a black scarf.
- Distinguishing Characteristics:
- Distinguishing Characteristics African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes. Thomas’s ears, lip and right eyebrow are pierced. Her nickname is Ty.
- Details of Disappearance:
- On December 3, 2010, a college student named Thomas disappeared in Peru, Nebraska. She’d been at a party, got very drunk, argued with a friend, and left. She was last seen near her dorm, but never made it inside. It was cold (teens), and she wasn’t wearing a coat. Before disappearing, she texted a friend saying she was lost.
Another student, Joshua Keadle, became a suspect. He and Thomas had dated briefly, but she didn’t like him. Keadle was arrested for lying to the police and tampering with evidence. He was later charged with raping another woman a month before Thomas disappeared, and with raping a teenage girl a few years earlier. He also faced charges for indecent exposure.
Keadle gave conflicting stories about the night Thomas vanished. First, he said he saw her but didn’t talk to her. Then, he claimed they went to a boat dock, smoked marijuana, and had sex. He said she accused him of rape and left. Police found tire tracks and drag marks at the dock matching Keadle’s car.
Keadle was convicted of the earlier rape and sentenced to prison. Thomas’s mother sued both Keadle and the college. The college was dismissed from the suit, but Keadle was ordered to pay the Thomas family $2.64 billion in damages—though they’re unlikely to receive the money because he’s broke and in prison.
Years later, Keadle was charged with Thomas’s murder. He was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to 71 years in prison. The prosecution believed he killed Thomas at the dock and dumped her body in the river. Thomas’s family always believed she was harmed, because she left behind her purse and coat, and was happy and successful in college.
- Agency:
- Nemaha County Sheriff’s Office 402-274-3139
- Source Links:
This person was missing Missing Since 12/03/2010