Bond lowered, suspects in Cole Thomas case likely to go free

Julian Valles Jr., of Dudley, Anthony Ridell James Jr., of Mount Olive, Rudolfo DeLeon Jr., of Mount Olive and Jeremy Carpenter are charged in connection with the disappearance of Cole Thomas. The four men have been charged with felony concealment of a death, while Valles, James and Carpenter also face obstruction of justice charges.

Thomas, 22, was on his way from Minnesota to Florida for Thanksgiving when he was reported missing on Nov. 25, 2016. Friends said he exited Interstate 95, got out of the car near North Elm and East Morgan streets in Benson and disappeared.

The two men who were with Thomas later told investigators that, after they had purchased methamphetamine from an acquaintance, Thomas became paranoid and started driving erratically before he stopped the car and ran off.

Thomas is presumed dead – Johnston County District Attorney Susan Doyle recently called it "a homicide case" – but authorities have never found his body. Relatives of Thomas held out hope that he would be found in the months after he initially disappeared.

On Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Tom Lock lowered Carpenter's bond from $500,000 to $75,000. The judge said the time he has been in jail exceeds the amount of time he would have been in prison if convicted on the charges he is facing.

The bond amount for James was lowered from $30,000 to $3,000. It was previously lowered in January from $200,000 to $30,000.

Valles was released from the county jail on Jan. 25, several hours after Lock sharply lowered his bond from $750,000 to $50,000. The bond amount for DeLeon was lowered to $40,000 from $500,000, and he, too, bonded out.