Allegheny County—where Crooks lived with his parents, Matthew and Mary Crooks—provided the call to Headline USA on Friday after a four-month legal process.

The call lasts roughly 2 minutes before abruptly ending. Matthew Crooks initially called Allegheny County 911 dispatch, which transferred him to the Bethel Park Police Department.

"Hi, yes. Uh, my name is Matthew Crooks. I was calling in regards to my son, Thomas. Uh, he belongs to the Clairton Sportsman Club in Clairton, and I don't have the number for Jefferson Police on hand. The reason I'm calling is he left the house here at about a quarter to two this afternoon, and we've gotten no contact from him, no text messages, nothing's been returned, and he's not home yet," Matthew said.

"That's totally not like him. So we're kind of worried, not really sure what we should do."

The recording ended after Matthew confirmed his son was 20 years old. Headline USA is filing an appeal in an attempt to obtain the rest of the recording—if it exists.

Obtaining the 2-minute recording was a lengthy process in the first place.

After requesting the call on Aug. 12, Bethel Park Police denied disclosure nine days later— citing Section 708(b)(18) of the RTKL, which exempts 911 recordings from public disclosure.

However, the exact same RTKL paragraph cited by Bethel Police also states that law enforcement can release 911 recordings that are in the public interest.

Headline USA appealed accordingly, but an appeals officer ruled that he didn't have the power to force disclosure. Only a police department or a court has the power to force disclosure of 911 calls, the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records ruled in October. The Office of Open Records made a similar ruling that same month in an appeal filed by NBC News, which also sought the call.