"I'll never lose that hope. It could be five years from today. The door is always open at our office for anything that will bring resolution to this case."

The original Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders squad burst onto the field back in 1972?the same year Title IX passed, the same year Deep Throat came out, and a year before Roe v. Wade. Sarah Hepola digs into the untold stories behind the global pop culture phenomenon, from the stripper who allegedly inspired the squad?s creation, to a scandalous Playboy cover shoot that was partly a battle over fair wages, to the ongoing debate about sexuality and women?s bodies in a post-#MeToo world. The result is a vibrant mix of history, cultural criticism, and storytelling, featuring interviews with New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino, award-winning novelist Ben Fountain, Oscar-nominated director Dana Adam Shapiro, local television sports legend Dale Hansen, folk-writing hero Joe Nick Patoski, and a whole bunch of cheerleaders whose names you don?t know yet?but should.

There have finally been a couple of developments in the case. But will they lead to the truth about what happened to Tom?

There?s something different about Texas. But how do you define it without resorting to cliches about cowboys and oilmen? At Texas Monthly, we think the answer is through stories ? stories like the ones we?ve been telling for almost 50 years. On State of Mind, you?ll hear those stories from our talented writers and from a wide array of other Texans. Each of them is a window into the experience of life here. Join us each week for a new story about life in the Lone Star State, from the Texas Monthly team behind ?Boomtown,? ?One by Willie,? and ?Tom Brown?s Body.?

"I'm definitely more paranoid wherever I go. I definitely watch my back more and pay attention to what's going on around me."

"The people of the town are calling us and saying, 'Do we have a monster that lives in our community?' I wish I could give them Solace."

"I'm like, 'What the heck is that?' So, I walk around some shrubs, and as I get closer I can see that it kind of looks like bone."

?It's kind of strange that your investigator calls this search, and lo and behold, right after he starts the search, a cell phone is found.?

"I'm sitting there thinking, 'Oh God, I'm so scared right now.' I couldn't convince them. And so I just let them hammer me."

"Makes you want to go to the church, get on your knees and say a few words, right?

"My gut tells me he hasn't left Hemphill County. I think he's here somewhere, and I don't know if he intends to come out in the next day or two."

?Someone is lying. And it?s hard to know who?s lying and who?s not.?