Mystery Persists of Father Found Dead in a Creek Behind Super Bowl Stadium

A missing California father who was last seen with his friends miles from the Super Bowl, but was mysteriously found dead six days later in a creek behind the big game’s stadium, is being investigated as a possible homicide.

Thomas Simpkins, 44, had been partying with friends and then taken an Uber home at around 9 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday before his body was found almost a week later behind Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, his sister Brandi Stroud told the San Francisco Bay Area’s NBC outlet.

The family or authorities so far have no answer as to how he ended up in San Thomas Aquino Creek near the sports venue about six miles from his home.

Simpkins did not attend the game, only a barbecue at a friend’s home, also miles from the stadium.

“When he got home, we have no idea who picked him up or how he got all the way to Levi’s Stadium,” the sister said. “I don’t believe that my brother just decided to throw himself into a creek. I don’t have any answers when it comes down to really what happened to him.”

According to Stroud, who was texting with her brother, Simpkins told her he was home after the game had ended and planned to relax for the rest of the night. His family never heard from him again after he returned to his residence.

The family considered him missing after Simpkins’ 19-year-old son went to the Palo Alto restaurant where his father worked and learned that he didn’t show up for his shift, according to the California Post.

Stroud, who lives in Oregon, flew to the Bay Area to help search for her brother with no luck until a stranger sent a message on Facebook containing audio of a police scanner that a body had been found in the creek on February 14.

“I wasn’t aware that there had even been a body to be recovered behind Levi’s Stadium until some random lady on Facebook sent me a link,” Stroud told the NBC outlet.

She then contacted the medical examiner’s office and identified her brother by a large tattoo of his last name across his back.

Simpkins’ cellphone and wallet were missing when police found his body, Stroud said. She also said police told her they are investigating Simpkins’ death as a possible homicide.

A medical examiner is investigating the cause of death, but so far there has not been a determination, which authorities told Stroud could take weeks for a conclusive finding.

Autopsies that involve comprehensive toxicology screening for drugs and alcohol typically can take one to six months.

Stroud claimed “there was a huge delay” in the missing person case as various law enforcement agencies in the area didn’t take the investigation seriously and were passing the case between each other until the San Jose Police took over.

Simpkins leaves behind three stepchildren and one biological son. He was in the middle of a divorce, according to his sister.

Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times true crime best seller House of Secrets and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.