NE NE - Chance Englebert, 25, Gering, 6 July 2019 (new father)

[mlhenn]

I could swear there was a poster on this board who lives in the area and said thats not the way the rain water works here. That is huge, if I am remembering correctly. Thats impossible where I live, too, so it made sense to me. If the water doesn't fill and run like that, then that theory can be tossed out.

Wow, this is terrible. I know the Gering/Scottsbluff area, though I haven't been there for a few years. I certainly know the bride and river and YMCA area. My fear is that he may have gone into the river, intentionally or accidentally. The North Platte is running a bit high right now. The fact that his phone's last location was in that area could mean he and the phone went into the water.

Here is a chart of the North Platte River depth from the last week:

USGS Current Conditions for USGS 06680500 North Platte River at Scottsbluff, Nebr.

View attachment 193235

I don't know this river, so I have no idea how dangerous almost 7 feet would be. Are there strong currents in this river? Is the water extremely cold?

It's high fast and cold right now. Warnings have been issued for popular areas of the river for water activities. High Water Levels on North Platte Pose Danger

I was able to find these posts at the beginning of the thread; one being from someone quite familiar with the area. I will keep looking as I go back and reread through Chance’s thread.

 

[Quill]

After a certain amount of time she *knew* he was dead because she believed he would never leave his baby son.
I assume that she was hoping that she could apply for Social Security survivor benefits since she and the baby no longer had any income.
I've seen similar reactions in young widows with young children. They move quickly from grieving to a survival mode in order to financially and emotionally care for the child/children they will now be raising on their own.
JMO.

A "certain amount of time" would be understandable, maybe. However, this happened extremely early in this timeline. It was quite shocking how early it was. ( I don't have the time to dig back through the threads and find the exact point in time, but I have been here since early on + listened to a podcast) She wanted the police to give her a death certificate during the initial investigation.

I have said it until I am blue in the face: I have no idea that she was involved in his death, but I firmly believe that she knows much more than she is saying.

 

[rkendmar]

A "certain amount of time" would be understandable, maybe. However, this happened extremely early in this timeline. It was quite shocking how early it was. ( I don't have the time to dig back through the threads and find the exact point in time, but I have been here since early on + listened to a podcast) She wanted the police to give her a death certificate during the initial investigation.

I have said it until I am blue in the face: I have no idea that she was involved in his death, but I firmly believe that she knows much more than she is saying.

“Honestly,” she said. “I think he’s either severely injured or dead. He would never leave his son. He loved being a dad.”
Wife of Missing Moorcroft Man Fears the Worst
Wife of Missing Moorcroft Man Fears the Worst | County 17

 

[K9Enzo]

IMO

I might be odd one out overall, but I feel an enormous amount of sympathy for the wife, who is also a mom of their young child. I'm sure she was panicked over finances (home, cars, every day living expenses, etc.). There's no way I can throw shade at her for that.

 

[Quill]

After a certain amount of time she *knew* he was dead because she believed he would never leave his baby son.
I assume that she was hoping that she could apply for Social Security survivor benefits since she and the baby no longer had any income.
I've seen similar reactions in young widows with young children. They move quickly from grieving to a survival mode in order to financially and emotionally care for the child/children they will now be raising on their own.
JMO.

A "certain amount of time" would be understandable, maybe. However, this happened extremely early in this timeline. It was quite shocking how early it was. ( I don't have the time to dig back through the threads and find the exact point in time, but I have been here since early on + listened to a podcast) She wanted the police to give her a death certificate during the initial investigation.

I have said it until I am blue in the face: I have no idea that she was involved in his death, but I firmly believe that she knows much more than she is saying.

“Honestly,” she said. “I think he’s either severely injured or dead. He would never leave his son. He loved being a dad.”
Wife of Missing Moorcroft Man Fears the Worst
Wife of Missing Moorcroft Man Fears the Worst | County 17

Yes, I am familiar with that article.

 

[Kittybunny]

A "certain amount of time" would be understandable, maybe. However, this happened extremely early in this timeline. It was quite shocking how early it was. ( I don't have the time to dig back through the threads and find the exact point in time, but I have been here since early on + listened to a podcast) She wanted the police to give her a death certificate during the initial investigation.

I have said it until I am blue in the face: I have no idea that she was involved in his death, but I firmly believe that she knows much more than she is saying.


Yes, I am familiar with that article.

I agree with you. From following so many missing person cases here through the years, the default position for loved ones is HOPE that the missing person is alive, even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary - ESPECIALLY early on. I don't really but that she thinks he would never leave her and the baby - by many accounts their relationship was quite volatile. Why does she not think that maybe he walked out on her rather than being dead?

I'll just close with this: Male relatives can be super over-protective of the young females in their family. And young babies.

 

[rkendmar]

A "certain amount of time" would be understandable, maybe. However, this happened extremely early in this timeline. It was quite shocking how early it was. ( I don't have the time to dig back through the threads and find the exact point in time, but I have been here since early on + listened to a podcast) She wanted the police to give her a death certificate during the initial investigation.

I have said it until I am blue in the face: I have no idea that she was involved in his death, but I firmly believe that she knows much more than she is saying.


Yes, I am familiar with that article.

You can certainly "firmly believe" whatever you choose.
However, there is no evidence to support that belief.
No offense meant, but IMO it is best to look at the evidence and draw conclusions from it.

 

[rkendmar]

IMO, ambiguous loss and arrested grief can devastate families of missing loved ones.
I hope that all of CE's loved ones can, at some point, find peace.
JMO.

"Ambiguous loss is caused when loved ones suddenly vanish. For the families left behind—when soldiers are declared missing in action or relatives disappear during political unrest and civil conflict—not knowing whether a loved one is dead or alive defies emotional comprehension."
Ambiguous loss in families of the missing
https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(02)11815-0.pdf

 

[Kstate96]

I could swear there was a poster on this board who lives in the area and said thats not the way the rain water works here. That is huge, if I am remembering correctly. Thats impossible where I live, too, so it made sense to me. If the water doesn't fill and run like that, then that theory can be tossed out.

You are correct, rain doesn’t work like that there. Average yearly rainfall is 15-16 inches total. The storm that rolled through on July 6th produced less than an inch of rain, around 0.93 inches at most.

 

[Rosiebones]

Early on the thread, I put Google Map street level views of the route he walked as he left. There were no places on the route that would have had a flash flood deep enough to sweep him away. The bridge over the river was high and safe and it would have been difficult for him to go down beside the river and actually, no reason to do that.
If you subscribe to the idea that the storm produced flash flooding which swept him away then he would have had to leave the sidewalk and the road he was following to walk back to Moorcroft and that doesn't make sense. Besides, his phone pinged in the area of the golf course (not the one he had been golfing on) but the one on the way back to Moorcroft. Again, Google maps street view doesn't show any areas that would have flash flooding. MOO MOO MOO

 

[rkendmar]

Wow, this is terrible. I know the Gering/Scottsbluff area, though I haven't been there for a few years. I certainly know the bride and river and YMCA area. My fear is that he may have gone into the river, intentionally or accidentally. The North Platte is running a bit high right now. The fact that his phone's last location was in that area could mean he and the phone went into the water.

 

[rkendmar]

There was a Flash Flood Warning that had been issued in the area that expired at 1 AM on July 7th. So, it is quite possible.
US National Weather Service Cheyenne Wyoming

As near as I can tell all the drainage (ditches, streams) empties to the North Platte River. Unless he is hung up on underwater debris he should be somewhere along the banks or islands or even as far as the large lake in the Ogallala area if he ended up in the water. It is doubtful he is beyond the dam just due to its configuration but if that occurred there is another lake on the other side of the dam because there is a second dam just below the first one. If he ended up in the water and is not caught in underwater debris his body should resurface soon.

If he attempted to cross here, for example, he most likely wouldn't make it.
Google Maps

 

[Bethan]

IMO, ambiguous loss and arrested grief can devastate families of missing loved ones.
I hope that all of CE's loved ones can, at some point, find peace.
JMO.

Ambiguous loss in families of the missing
https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(02)11815-0.pdf

Thank you for your post...respectfully snipped for brevity...and for the very interesting & informative article from the Lancet.

Having read it I have saved it for reference. This is relevant in a lot of our ‘long-term missing’cases. Thank you!

 

[Quill]

You can certainly "firmly believe" whatever you choose.
However, there is no evidence to support that belief.
No offense meant, but IMO it is best to look at the evidence and draw conclusions from it.

Yes, I can.
Yes, her own answers and comments in the podcast are inconsistent at best.
I followed this from the beginning and have looked at what was available to us here, which does not mean that we have seen all evidence. I draw conclusions from what has been made available, one source that made an impression was her own words in a podcast. I state nothing as fact, which is why I stated that "I firmly believe" so as to make note of that being my personal belief, therefore not fact. I have been here long enough to know that much. I have also been here long enough to know that it is abnormal for a family member to give up this easily. My Own Opinion.

At the end of the day, time will tell. Someone disappeared him. Hopefully one day we will know who that it is. Some one knows and I hope they are talking.

 

[Flight154]

IMO

I might be odd one out overall, but I feel an enormous amount of sympathy for the wife, who is also a mom of their young child. I'm sure she was panicked over finances (home, cars, every day living expenses, etc.). There's no way I can throw shade at her for that.

I am right there with you!

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

Chance Englebert Case Archive:
Chance Englebert -NE by amanda reckonwith

It's worth a look. Contains all the articles.

Cell phone users may have a glitch getting the link to work, so try this and scroll:
7/6/20 Pictures posted to the Let's Start With Chance facebook page. Click magnifier symbol to enlarge.

 

[Flight154]

Man with South Dakota ties missing for over a year | KELOLAND.com

 

[Dnp2be]

I have never lived in western Nebraska, only central and eastern. And I won’t claim to know much about how water runs or anything like that. However, I lost my house to the flooding as I lived right next to the platte River. I could absolutely see someone getting swept away. Our propane tanks were swept away. And around the same time as when chance disappeared, the town I lived in central Nebraska was experiencing terrible flooding as well. I will attach an article with pictures for reference.

I do not know what happened to chance but I can see both angles and I just really hope they find him soon.

Wood River advised to evacuate, flooding reaches Gibbon as streams overflow in central Nebraska

 

[Kstate96]

Less than 1 inch of rain won’t produce flash flooding bad enough to sweep away a full grown man, drunk or sober. The aren’t any “drainage ditches” there’s no need. There are irrigation ditches, and canals, but had he fallen in any of these, he would have been found by now. Here is a link to better understand how the irrigation system works
Ditch riders still important to irrigation

 

[Flight154]

IMO

I might be odd one out overall, but I feel an enormous amount of sympathy for the wife, who is also a mom of their young child. I'm sure she was panicked over finances (home, cars, every day living expenses, etc.). There's no way I can throw shade at her for that.

I whole heartedly agree with you 10000%