Sue Thomas was the first deaf person to work with the FBI as a lip-reader and inspired the TV show “Sue Thomas: F.B. Eye.”
- Died: December 13, 2022 (Who else died on December 13?)
- Details of death: Died at a hospital in Boardman, Ohio at the age of 72.
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Law enforcement innovation
Thomas became deaf at the age of 18 months, and she grew up learning both English and American Sign Language. She was also a skilled lip-reader, a talent that was discovered after she began working for the FBI in 1979 as a fingerprint examiner. Thomas began consulting in undercover cases, using her lip-reading ability to determine what suspects were saying. She later wrote the autobiography “Silent Night,” and the books’ descriptions of her work with the FBI became the basis for the 2002 PAX TV series “Sue Thomas, F.B. Eye.” In the show, Thomas was portrayed by deaf actress Deanne Bray, and she appeared in two episodes of the show herself. Thomas was also a motivational speaker and the founder of Sue Thomas Ministries.
Thomas on her work for the FBI
“They were working on a case in which they videofilmed the suspect. But in this particular case, when the camera activated, the sound mechanism failed. They had all this film with the bad guy talking, but they couldn’t hear him. They wanted to know if I would watch it and write down any words. … From that day on I never went back to reading fingerprints. I read lips for the FBI. … I became known as ‘the secret weapon for the FBI.’” —from an interview with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth
Tributes to Sue Thomas
Full obituary: Mahoning Matters
