Hi Brenda,
I suspect that if the vine was dried up, that the leaves were as well? My first thought is possibly too little or too much water which can cause the leaves and stems to dry out.
If you cut open that dried up stem and see some brown discoloration, there may be some potential for disease.
Fusarium wilt and fusarium crown rot are two tomato plant diseases caused by a fungus. Fusarium crown rot turns the leaves brown and causes them to wilt. Fusarium wilt causes yellowed, droopy leaves. One way to determine that the plant has a fusarium infection and isn't just suffering the effects of too little water is to cut into the stem. Infected stems will have brown spots inside.
So next time, cut those vines open and see what you can find out.
