SMITHFIELD, N.C. (WNCN) — Two weeks after Cole Thomas went missing in Benson, someone used his email address to register to take a standardized test in New Jersey, according to an investigator who asked a judge to issue a warrant.
In late November, two men told police that Thomas was driving the car they were riding in when he parked in a Benson intersection and ran from the car, taking the keys with him. Thomas was on an an interstate road trip to visit a friend for Thanksgiving, they told authorities.
Law enforcement officers and volunteers conducted dozens of searches in the Benson area in the months following his disappearance but never found Thomas.
A location history provided by Google showed Thomas’…