MN MN - Nathaniel Williams, 21, Morris, 28 Sept 2004

Nate Williams has been missing for eleven years now. He told his roommate he was going on a fishing trip and would return in a week but he hasn't been heard from since then. Investigators don't believe he committed suicide but he is missing under suspicious circumstances. NamUs lists his date last seen as October 9, 2004.

11 Years Later, Police Still Look for Tips in Missing UM-Morris Student Case

NamUs

Charley Project



Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
• Missing Since: September 28, 2004 from Morris, Minnesota
• Classification: Endangered Missing
• Date of Birth: May 29, 1983
• Age: 21 years old
• Height and Weight: 6'0, 160 pounds
• Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian male. Brown hair, hazel eyes. Williams wears contact lenses or thick eyeglasses with metal rims. His head was shaved at the time of his disappearance and he has a mustache. Williams has scar on the right side of his chin and above his eyebrow near his hairline. His nickname is Nate.
• Clothing/Jewelry Description: A black shirt and blue jeans.

Details of Disappearance
Williams was last seen on September 28, 2004 in the 400 block of east 10th Street in Morris, Minnesota, on the campus of the University of Minnesota at Morris. He was planning to go on a fishing and hunting trip in Two Harbors, Minnesota. He was apparently traveling alone. Two days later, some sheriff's deputies saw his teal and white 1966 Ford F-150 pickup truck on the Kawishiwi Lake Road off County Road 7 in Lake County, Minnesota, north of Two Harbors. Williams never returned home and he has never been heard from again. He was reported missing on October 7. A photograph of his truck is posted below this case summary.

Williams's truck was later found parked along a back road near Kawishiwi Lake near the Boundary Waters curve area; there was no sign of him at the scene. He and his family resided in Silver Springs, Maryland in 2004, but he was a student at the University of Minnesota at Morris and lived in Morris with roommates during the school year. He is described as an avid fisherman who has taken several extended fishing trips before. Authorities do not believe Williams committed suicide, but the circumstances surrounding his disappearance are unclear. Both Morris and Lake County authorities are investigating his case.


Above: Williams's 1966 Ford F-150 truck

2004 case of missing Morris student still unsolved - October 2007

Nathan Williams was the kind of kid who would take off on a whim and disappear for days, mostly to fish or knock around in the woods. He even told friends he dreamed of living off the land, disappearing into the wilds and living off his own means, like a Special Forces soldier.

But three years later, both Williams' parents and authorities say they've mostly given up hope that Nathan simply is living as a hermit or hiding somewhere. They concede he is probably dead, but they would like to now exactly where and how.

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All Nathan Williams is known to have with him when he left on his trip are two fishing rods and a single shot Harington & Richardson 12 gauge shotgun -- in case he saw a grouse. He didn't even have a sleeping bag - just a blue, down comforter from his bed. There's no sign he stopped anywhere to buy any additional camping or fishing gear.

But if he fell into a lake or became lost and then perished, where are the fishing rods? Where is the gun or the comforter?

"We don't know if he might have tried to walk out on the road, or walk into the woods to fish at (a nearby lake) or if he got a ride after he was stuck,'' Dave Williams said. "After all the searches that they conducted, it make us think that he's not there'' where his truck was found.

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Footprints At The River's Edge Blog Post

Was he attending classes at the time? He told his roommate he would be gone for a week? In late Sept?

ontheclock said:

Was he attending classes at the time? He told his roommate he would be gone for a week? In late Sept?

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They seem to gloss over that fact. At first I thought the university operated through "quarters" and not "semesters" but according to the school's calendar, the first day of classes that year was August 30th. If he was living in a dorm, he had to be taking classes but perhaps he had a different schedule.

Bumping this story.

Bumping for Nate. I wish there was more information available.

MORRIS, Minn.— Nathaniel Williams left Morris in late September 2004. His friends and family never saw him again.


When the remains of Jacob Wetterling were found September, 27 years after Wetterling was abducted, local law enforcement and Williams' friends couldn't help but be reminded about Williams and wonder yet again what might have happened to him all those years ago.


Williams, a University of Minnesota Morris student, was last seen in Morris on Sept. 28, 2004. Williams told friends he was going on a fishing and hunting trip in northern Minnesota. He was reported as missing nine days later.

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Read more here: http://www.grandforksherald.com/news/4138221-missing-2004-mn-student-hasnt-been-forgotten

Gardener1850 said:

Read more here: http://www.grandforksherald.com/news/4138221-missing-2004-mn-student-hasnt-been-forgotten

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So with this case he could have gotten lost, fell, or had an encounter with a bull moose or a bear. The problem is we seem to have no trail.

Let this be a lesson for all of us. Never go into bear country or let alone the minnesota northwoods alone. Especially if you are a non resident. I think the best thing you can do is look at where his truck was left then try to determine where he is going to walk to go fishing.

"Nathan Williams was the kind of kid who would take off on a whim and disappear for days, mostly to fish or knock around in the woods. He even told friends he dreamed of living off the land, disappearing into the wilds and living off his own means, like a Special Forces soldier."

This paragraph right here may just say it all about this case. And if that is the case, he is possibly alive and living his dream up there still today.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/mar/15/stranger-in-the-woods-christopher-knight-hermit-maine

Knight parked the car and tossed the keys on the centre console. He had a tent and a backpack but no compass, no map. Without knowing where he was going, with no particular place in mind, he stepped into the trees and walked away.

This link has some pretty good information.
Minnesota Fisherman Missing Since 2004

Nathaniel Edison Williams – The Charley Project

Bumping case up.

Bumping up one more time. The article from 2016 was a good one:

May 4, 2022