📍Herdon, Virginia.

🎧 Chapter 22: The Final Trace of Tommy Burkett

When 21-year-old Tommy Burkett was found dead, police told his parents the story was simple: suicide.

But nothing about the scene felt simple.

Or believable.

His sweater was torn.

His ear was bruised and bloody.

There were signs of a struggle, blood on the stairs, and footprints leading toward a ravine where witnesses saw an ambulance stop before responders ever arrived at the house.

Even the gun in Tommy's lap was in a position that shouldn't have fired.

Crucial evidence disappeared - piece by piece.

Autopsy photos went missing.

Clothing was destroyed.

Reports conflicted.

And every attempt by the family to ask questions was met with silence or resistance.

For years, Tommy's parents tried to uncover what really happened inside their home that day... and why so many details were ignored, erased, or rewritten.

This is the story of a case that never made sense - and a family who refused to let their son vanish into a narrative that didn't belong to him.

Sources

• The Roanoke Times — “Was It Suicide — Or Murder?” (1993)

https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1993/rt9306/930614/06140290.htm

• The Washington Post — “Piecing Together the Truth” (2002)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2002/08/04/piecing-together-the-truth/68eb06e6-4b74-45f8-a10b-ca371c5b1ed8/

• CG Crime – Substack Investigation (2021)

https://cgcrime.substack.com/p/why-hasnt-this-case-been-reopened-the-death-of-tommy-burkett-a453330da581

• Unsolved Mysteries Wiki – Case Summary

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Thomas_Burkett

• Find A Grave – Thomas Calvin “Tommy” Burkett

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/71179584/thomas_calvin-burkett