A Santa Clara father who went missing after Super Bowl Sunday was found dead six days later in San Tomas Aquino Creek next to Levi’s Stadium, and police said they are investigating how he ended up in the water.
Thomas Simpkins, 44, was last heard from Feb. 8 and was found Feb. 14, according to Santa Clara police. Investigators have not released a cause of death, and officials have not said whether the case involves foul play or an accident. Simpkins’ family says his cellphone and wallet were missing when he was recovered, and they have raised questions about how his case moved between neighboring police agencies during one of the region’s biggest events of the year.
Simpkins spent part of Feb. 8 at a friend’s barbecue in South San Jose, his sister, Brandi Stroud, said. She said she and her brother exchanged text messages earlier that day. “Me and my brother text messaged a lot,” Stroud said. She said Simpkins took an Uber back to his home in Santa Clara around 9 p.m. and told her he planned to relax for the night. By the next day, Stroud said, Simpkins did not show up for work and did not call in. His 19-year-old son went to his father’s workplace in Palo Alto and learned he had missed his shift, Stroud said. The family reported him missing soon after and began searching, posting flyers and sharing his photo online as days passed without word.
Santa Clara police said Simpkins’ body was found in the afternoon Feb. 14 in San Tomas Aquino Creek, a channel that runs alongside Levi’s Stadium. The stadium hosted Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8 and sits at 4900 Marie P. DeBartolo Way in Santa Clara. Police described the case as an active death investigation and said the cause and manner of death had not been determined. The Santa Clara County medical examiner’s office is handling the autopsy and additional testing, and Stroud said her family was told final results could take months. Investigators have not said whether Simpkins showed signs of injury, whether he fell into the creek, or how long he had been there before he was discovered. Police also have not said whether Simpkins died in the creek or elsewhere before ending up in the water.
The early days of the search left Simpkins’ relatives frustrated, Stroud said, because they believed the case bounced between jurisdictions. She said San Jose and Santa Clara police passed the matter back and forth for about three days before San Jose police took the missing person report. Stroud said she viewed that handoff as a delay during a critical window. San Jose police said the agencies coordinated because the circumstances touched more than one city, and the department said in a statement that the case was not dismissed or ignored. After Simpkins was found, Santa Clara police took the lead and said the investigation followed required protocols and steps. Officials have not said whether detectives have recovered the missing phone or wallet, or whether surveillance video, ride records or other data has helped establish a clearer timeline after Simpkins returned home.
The location where Simpkins was recovered has deepened the family’s questions. The creek sits near a tightly managed complex during major events, and Super Bowl week brought heavy security, crowd controls and added surveillance around the stadium and nearby roads. San Tomas Aquino Creek also runs through parts of San Jose and Santa Clara and connects to a paved trail used by cyclists and walkers. Public descriptions of the watershed show the creek runs about 13.6 miles from the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains through several cities in Santa Clara County. In some stretches the waterway is open, while other sections run through covered or underground channels. The mix of trail access, open water and hidden segments means the creek can pass through busy neighborhoods while still having areas that are difficult to see from the street. Stroud said the distance from Simpkins’ home to the stadium area, about 6 miles, is hard for the family to explain.
Stroud said she learned about the recovery in a way that still angers her family. She said she did not realize a body had been found near the stadium until a stranger reached out on Facebook with a link to scanner audio about a recovery in the creek. “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 said. She said she then contacted the medical examiner’s office and identified her brother by a large tattoo of his last name, “Simpkins,” stretched across his back. Authorities later confirmed the identity, she said. Stroud said Simpkins’ cellphone and wallet were missing when he was found, and she has pressed investigators for details about where he was in the days after Feb. 8. “When he got home, we have no idea who picked him up or how he got all the way to Levi’s Stadium,” she said.
Family members described Simpkins as a steady presence who put work and family first. Stroud said he was in the middle of a divorce, and a fundraising page created to help with funeral costs said he is survived by his wife, Claudia Simpkins, three stepchildren and one biological son. The fundraiser called his death unexpected and said he was a deeply loved son, brother, husband, father and friend. Stroud said her brother loved going to the beach, taking his boxer dog, Kobe, on outings, and playing basketball with his 19-year-old son, who considered his father his best friend. She said Simpkins had planned to visit her and their mother in Oregon this spring. The family has said it plans to bring him from the Bay Area to Redding for burial while awaiting more information from investigators about what happened after Super Bowl Sunday.
Police have announced no arrests and have not released a suspected cause of death. As of Monday, investigators were awaiting further findings from the medical examiner’s office, and Stroud said her family was preparing memorial arrangements while waiting for the next update.
Author note: Last updated March 2, 2026.