NY NY - Nieko Lisi, 18, Jasper, 30 Sept 2011

Can't believe its been this long..
 
There is a lot of info missing. Some info is scattered and stories seem to change in different articles. Have not been able to see how this friend passed away yet. I found where Lisi did live in Tenn in 2009 with family and went to high school there. He spent the night at a friends house in Tenn. Parents of this friend confirmed this. His mother stated Lisi was driving and did not have permission to drive truck. I also saw where it was in a different article that his friend was driving. They did not list whos exact truck this was. His mother ended up with his phone back and called numbers he called in Tenn. That is how she found out that he spent the night there and was there.His friend made it to where he needed and told his family lisi stole his cell phone. It was under his grandfathers plan and so the family turned service off after he said it was stolen. One place states Lisis licence was found in hornell next to post office and another state it was on a street adjacent from home. Hornell post office mailed it to his address. They state it was found on ground outside the post office. Most would assume post office would mail it to the address on the license of course. I feel so bad for his mother. I am a mother as well and not trying to seem negative at all. Just stating the facts. I will devote hours into searching for him as a mother I could not imaging this. He told his uncle he was leaving town. I know why people from this area travel to Rochester and his mother stated he had hung with the wrong crowd but was a good person and of course teenagers go through so much. There must had been a reason for him moving to Tenn back in 2009. Maybe he needed to get away then. Lisi was under a lot of stress when he went missing. Theory of bad happening to him is possible yes . So from what I gathered he told his uncle he needed to get away for awhile. So it may be possible that him driving around that day was to get ready for his trip and his friend and him needed to get away . Maybe to clear minds. Lisi was on a conditional discharge when he left state. He was leaving illegally. Could it be possible that Lisi dropped his licence in front of hornell post office so it would get sent to his mother? He told his uncle he was leaving for a bit . Seems maybe he was saying goodbye. They stole a truck to leave in. Maybe he said goodbye to the girlfriend or young girl he was seeing? The girls mother found out her daughter was having sex with him and reported him. He was taken into custody and released on condition discharge with her being under the age of 14. Maybe he could not face his mother not wanting to hurt her by leaving. He has a active warrant listed in the county I live in and his court date was close to coming up.Could it be he was stressed and talking with a friend ,taken some drugs and talked together about wanting to leave the state? Dropped id off as a way of not being able to have identity or he would had been arrested for leaving state and also letting his mother know. Dropped friend off on the way and made it to his friends spent the night and after that there is no contact. He was young being 18 most kids would fear that court date. Not wanting to be a offender their whole life or many kill themselves. Maybe he made plans already knowing people in Tenn but needed that one night with his friend from school there to be the last person to see him. Not wanting to have blame fall on the one he left with. Foul play suspected after missing teen's phone traced to Franklin Steuben County Maybe a scared confused kid left to avoid facing his upcoming court date. Maybe him and his friend did not want to live. Maybe they planned suicide or just scared and felt disappointment from being in a small town being a sex offender where it will label you for life at such a young age. Not feeling his 20 year old friend killed him when he was seen in Tenn. Why did his friend need to leave town? Maybe Lisi ran from facing everything. I am hoping for his mother that he is alive. She deserves her son back . A happy ending to this story would be so much better and him being able to live a good life with his family who love him. This is one of his friends police reports a year prior ..
Sheriff deputies of Steuben County reports the arrest of a Jasper resident on April 30 for one county of petit larceny. Robert N. Knight, 18, of County Route 71 was charged after an investigation into a report of a larceny from a vehicle in the town of Troupsburg. The charge filed against Knight alleged that he stole property of another. Knight was processed and released with an appearance ticket to appear in the town of Troupsburg court at a later date. This last one is proof where it says in our local paper that lisi took his granfathers truck. Could be they were down and planned on suicide. Could be Lisi crashed his truck trying. Maybe he went to friends to avoid taking drugs to do so or maybe he tried to crash truck and was unsuccessful. He would not have had a ID so would be John Doe. So much info not being told and story seems to be different and parts that kept adding but also left out. Going to keep going until this mother has closer and can have him back or lay him to rest.Sorry for this long post
His friend definitely did not kill him. Neiko’s grandma last spoke with him at 4:08pm on Oct. 1, 2011, which is about 6 hours after Robert (friend who OD’d) arrived at the house in Michigan. I didn’t know Nieko spent the night at his old friend’s house in TN. Interesting. Knowing that, it’s pretty clear (to me, at least) that his choice to dispose of his phone/discontinue use of his old phone number was intentional. He
I think ANYONE would be scared of that upcoming court date, btw, not just a teenager smh. If you have to register as a sex offender, the rest of your life is likely going to be a real struggle socially, financially, living-wise, employment-wise, everything and Nieko probably knew that. Not to mention, you’re facing the possibility of incarceration. I think it’s safe to say that Nieko was very worried about what his future would hold if he stayed in Addison.
I don’t think Nieko crashed the truck - it was reported stolen, so somebody woulda noticed a big crashed truck and there woulda been a a police/accident report. I think Nieko sold it to some shadester, who then stripped its own and sold the parts. Happens all the time. I think he also probably sold his phone and Rob’s phone and, with the money he made from the car and phones, he bought a bus ticket to go somewhere and used the rest of the money to try to start a new life.
I think it’s safe to say he was alive for at least a couple months after that, because he deleted his Facebook.
Whether he’s alive today (nearly 9 years later), who knows, it’s been 9 years. He could be anywhere, really.
 
I listened to an interview with Nieko's mother on a podcast called "Unfound." It is the most information I have heard of about this case. There is a lot of background information not shared on other sites. I highly recommend checking that out.

There are so many complexities and possibilities in this case. I have my most likely theory. Neiko was in a bad place with an upcoming case where he was accused of rape of a minor. He was very upset to the point of hiding inside his mother's home too embarrassed to be seen in public. He then went to stay at his Grandmother's cabin. He was not working at this time, thus having no money. Neiko invited his friend, Rob Knight, to come stay at the cabin about a week before going missing. Rob had a bad reputation. They had girlfriends who helped them out with rides, etc.

On September 30, 2011, Neiko's uncle saw the two men in a truck. They claimed it belonged to Rob's grandfather. They also said they were going to Buffalo, NY to meet a couple of girls that met on the internet to go camping. They then left. By the next day, Neiko's mother read in a newspaper about a stolen truck. After getting a description of the truck from the uncle, she began to suspect that it was the stolen truck. More details in the podcast interview indicated that it was true.

Neiko's mother reported her son and Rob Knight to the police. She identified them from police photos of them with the stolen truck.

On October 5th, Rob was taken into custody at his parent's home in Michigan. He ended up in the hospital having a breakdown. He was released on October 9th and died from an overdose on October 10th. Rob's father said his son showed up unannounced on the morning of October 1st and Neiko was not with him.

Neiko's phone records and pings showed that he traveled north and then to the Michigan town where Rob lived on the morning of October 1st. His phone then traveled to Franklin, Tennessee later the same day. Phone records led to an old friend of Neiko's in Franklin. The friend confirmed that Neiko was there alone and stayed a night with him and then left. This friend's name begins with the letter E.

This E friend was associated with a guy with a name beginning with the letter J. In December 2011, a facebook tip led Neiko's mother to contact J. J and his father said they had no knowledge of what happened to Neiko. J died of a drug overdose in 2014. In 2016, the stolen truck was found stripped with vin numbers removed in J's father's garage at his Nashville property. The only part left of the truck was the frame. How is it that J and his father had no knowledge about Neiko in 2011, but yet the stolen truck was found on his father's property in 2016?

There are many possibilities, but I have a theory. Neiko was in a bad place over this rape allegation and he was hiding in a cabin basically broke. After the truck was stolen, I suspect that he and Rob may have wanted to joy ride and possibly sell the truck on the streets or to someone who may be interested in chopping up vehicles for parts.

On October 1st, Neiko's mother figured out that he was with Rob in a stolen truck. She and other family were blowing up his phone. The men probably realized that they were going to be busted. Now Neiko would also be charged with Grand theft. Rob already had a rapeseed so he too knew the prison time he would be facing. They parted ways in Michigan as Rob went to his parents house on the morning of October 1st. Neiko continued to Tennessee making numerous calls to his friends there. He pinged in Franklin near friend E's house in the afternoon of that same day. After that, his phone was turned off.

I imagine Neiko may have wanted to get rid of the truck there and hide out for awhile. Maybe E introduced Neiko to the J guy about selling the truck. I suspect one of two things happened. Neiko met J to sell the truck and J had no intentions of paying Neiko. Maybe J and E worked together, maybe not. I imagine that if J had taken this truck and then realized that the law had traced Neiko to E in Franklin, J's fear of eventually being caught and given a charge of receiving stolen property at minimum would possibly have become a motive to get rid of Neiko to stop the trail. E probably knew that J took the truck, but E would not snitch. Maybe J was afraid that Neiko would. I strongly believe Neiko's disappearance is connected to this J guy. Too bad that J is now deceased. I hope that witnesses come forward that may resolve this case for Neiko's suffering family. Again, this is simply a theory
 
$20,000 reward offered for info leading to Nieko Lisi's remains. 18 year old Nieko disappeared in September 2011. This week would have been his 28th birthday.
===
STEUBEN COUNTY, #NewYork - Just before 5:00 p.m. on Friday, June 11th, the mother of Nieko Lisi, who has been missing for 10 years this September, announced a rapid cash reward.
On the "Search for Nieko Lisi" Facebook group, Monica Button, Nieko's mother, announced the reward in line with Nieko's birthday.
"The family's offering a $20,000 reward to whomever calls the TBI [sic, Tennessee Bureau of Investigations] and tells them the location of my son's remains," Button said during the Facebook Live.
As WENY News previously reported, Nieko's cellphone was last pinged in Franklin, Tennessee in 2016 after he had been missing since 2011.
In 2016, investigators also found the truck Nieko had disappeared in, stripped to nothing but the frame.
During a previous Facebook Live recording, which was cut-short - prompting a new video, Button explained she wanted to do something different and actionable this year for Nieko's birthday.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations phone number: 1-800-TBI-FIND
The CUE Center for the Missing can be reached here: 910-343-1131
There is Facebook page set up for Nieko Lisi's case, which can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/235131836543343/
====
Details of Disappearance - Nieko Lisi was last seen in Addison, New York on September 30, 2011. He and a 20-year-old friend, Robert Nicholas Neil Knight III, stopped at Lisi's uncle's home at 2:00 p.m. and said they were going to Buffalo, New York to possibly go camping.
They were driving a gray 2004 GMC Canyon pickup truck with the New York license plate number EGY 7316. They said they'd borrowed it from Knight's grandfather, but Knight's grandfather doesn't own such a vehicle.
Lisi had phone contact with his family the next day, October 1. He may have been sighted in the Franklin/Nashville area of Tennessee that day. His phone pinged off a cell tower in Franklin at or near a residence on Flintlock Drive at 4:08 p.m.; this was the last signal from it.
Lisi had lived with relatives in Franklin in 2009 and attended the eleventh grade at Franklin High School for a few months before he moved back to New York. He has never been seen or heard from again.
On the morning of October 1, Knight arrived at his parents' home in Romulus, Michigan. He said Lisi had dropped him off there, but no one actually saw Lisi.
On October 3, Lisi's mother got his driver's license in the mail. Someone had found it on a street in Hornell, New York, about fifteen minutes from Lisi's home, and mailed it back. His mother, who was already worried because she hadn't heard from her son in several days, got even more concerned after receiving the license. Lisi's Facebook page had been shut down without warning around that same time.
Lisi's family reported him missing on October 5, and the Michigan police questioned Knight on October 8. While he was being interviewed, the police decided to take him to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.
Knight was released from the hospital the next day. At 8:00 p.m. On October 10, he was found dead of a drug overdose at his parents' home. Authorities haven't said whether they think Knight's death is related to Lisi's disappearance.
The pickup truck Lisi had been driving in when he vanished could not be found after his disappearance. In July 2016, four and a half years after Lisi's disappearance, authorities finally located it, completely stripped down and locked inside a garage in a private home in Franklin, Tennessee. Foul play is suspected in Lisi's case, which remains unsolved.

$20,000 reward offered for info leading to Nieko Lisi's remains
 
I think Nieko was running from his rape trial and sold the stolen truck to scrappers he knew from being in that area of Tennessee in the past. I think the entire reason he went down there was to sell that truck for parts. Personally I think Nieko went to Mexico.
 
Nieko Lisi had only been missing for six months when his mother, Monica Button, attended an event for another missing child, one who had been missing for five years.

The New York mother told Dateline that she was heartbroken for the family, but felt like she didn’t belong in the community of parents with missing children.

“When I left the family’s home that night, I told my sister, ‘That’s not me. That’s not me,’” Monica recalled. “’I’m not one of them, I don’t belong here. Nieko will be back. He’s coming home.’”

More at 10 years later, disappearance of Nieko Lisi remains a mystery
 
Eight years of Dateline's Missing in America: 169 still missing

nieko_lisi_cropped.png


In September 2011, Nieko Lisi left rural Steuben County, New York, where he lived, in a 2004 GMC Canyon pickup truck with his friend, Robert Knight, heading to Buffalo to meet women they had met online. But they ended up at Knight’s father’s house in Michigan. Nieko's phone pinged for the last time at 5:05 p.m. on October 1, from Flintlock Drive in Franklin, Tennessee. He was never seen again. Knight died of a possible overdose in Michigan about 10 days after Nieko disappeared. For years, Nieko’s mother, Monica Button, continued to conduct her own investigation into his disappearance, but his case seemingly went cold until the summer of 2016 when New York State Police investigators and Franklin Police Department detectives got a break in the case. The dismantled and stripped down 2004 GMC pickup truck Nieko had been traveling in had been found stored in a residential detached garage in Nashville. In October 2017, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations (TBI) took over as the lead agency and in 2020 released a video stating they believe there are people who know how the truck got to the garage and know what possibly happened to Nieko. A $30,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to Nieko’s whereabouts. Nieko is described as 5’10”, weighing about 165 lbs, with a muscular build. He has brown hair and brown eyes and has an unfinished tattoo of a guardian angel on his left side, and four Chinese symbols on the back of his upper right arm. Anyone with information on Nieko’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations at 1-800-TBI-FIND, or submit a tip online by emailing TipsToTBI@tn.gov.
 
Marking my spot. Tricia will be discussing this case Saturday 8/27/22
 
Hey Everyone,
We are interviewing Nieko's mom tonight at 10:30 PM Eastern. Hope you will join us.
 
DEC 5, 2022
Nieko Lisi

In September 2011, Nieko Lisi left rural Steuben County, New York, where he lived, in a 2004 GMC Canyon pickup truck with his friend, Robert Knight, heading to Buffalo to meet up with women they had met online. But they ended up at Knight’s father’s house in Michigan. Nieko's phone pinged for the last time at 5:05 p.m. on October 1, from Flintlock Drive in Franklin, Tennessee. He was never heard from again. Robert Knight died of a possible overdose in Michigan about 10 days after Nieko disappeared. For years, Nieko’s mother, Monica Button, continued to conduct her own investigation into her son’s disappearance, but his case seemingly went cold until the summer of 2016 when New York State Police investigators and Franklin Police Department detectives got a break in the case. The dismantled and stripped down 2004 GMC pickup truck Nieko had been traveling in was found stored in a residential detached garage in Nashville. In October 2017, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations (TBI) took over as the lead agency and in 2020 released a video stating they believe there are people who know how the truck got to the garage and possibly know what happened to Nieko. Last week, Monica Button was notified by law enforcement that a hunter found human remains near the location where Nieko was last believed to be. While Monica was hopeful the remains belonged to her son, she was notified over the weekend that the remains did not belong to her son. “To say that I am crushed is an understatement,” she wrote on the ‘Search for Nieko Lisi’ Facebook page. “I want to bring my son home where he belongs. I was really hoping this was going to be it.” The identity of the remains found has not yet been released. In addition to the Facebook page, the family also runs a website to provide information and updates in the case. A $30,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to Nieko’s whereabouts. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations PIO Susan Niland told Dateline in December of 2022, that they are in contact with Nieko’s mother regularly and their department will investigate any tips called in about his case. Nieko is described as 5’10”, weighing about 165 lbs., with a muscular build. He has brown hair and eyes and has an unfinished tattoo of a guardian angel on his left side, and four Chinese symbols on the back of his upper right arm. Anyone with information on Nieko’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations at 1-800-TBI-FIND, or submit a tip online by emailing TipsToTBI@tn.gov.
 
Nieko Lisi /// Part 1 /// 617 - PodText

I really went down the rabbit hole on this case. IMO I think either Nieko died in Tennessee and his death was covered up or he's on the run. This dude was quite a character and the timeline of his disappearance is really complex. True Crime Garage provides an excellent overview of this case. This might be a 2 part post. The link is my source

2008-2009: Nieko suffers from a neck injury during his sophomore year of high school and has to give up wrestling. Some people in his family think this was the beginning of Nieko's troubles. IMO I think the injury caused a BIG personality change.

2008-2009: After being injured, Nieko starts hanging out with a "bad crowd". He also gives up baseball. Around this time, Nieko's grandfather and his best friend both pass away which leaves him devastated. His personality changes are noted by close ones. Some point out that Nieko is quite brash in addition to being extremely self-confident. He bucks at anyone who has a position of authoirty over him. Nieko's mother worries that his "arrogant and cocky" personality will get him into trouble.

Summer 2009: Nieko is sent to live with his paternal aunt in Franklin, Tennessee to separate him from the bad influence of his friends. He attends the local high school and works as a lifeguard at his cousins' pool. However, Nieko quickly become rebellious- he ignores curfew, skips school, and fights with his aunt and her family. He gets placed in a program for teens with anger issues and is prescribed medication for a "defiant disorder" (Nieko doesn't take it).

February 2010: Nieko's mother, Monica Button, receives a call from him saying that she needs to pick him up from the airport. He had used his in-law's credit card without permission to buy a plane ticket home. His mother wonders whether something happened in Tennessee that caused Nieko to suddenly return home.

2010: Back home in New York, Nieko gets into fights which occassionally require police to break up. He then gets arrested after throwing a brick through a convenience store window and gets charged with burglary. Nieko serves 8 months at Steuben County jail. He earns his GED while imprisoned.

May 2011: Nieko is released from jail and he returns home.

END OF PART ONE
 
PART TWO

August 2011: Nieko gets a call from the police asking him to come down to the police station. His infuriated mother drives him over there. Nieko later calls her from the station and flatly tells her that he is being charged with rape. A 14-year-old girl has reported the names of several boys that she had intercourse with and he's among them. A date provided by her puts Nieko at 18 when he and the girl slept together which is illegal.

August-September 2011: Nieko's family hires a lawyer to help him get rid of the rape charge. They both appear in court three times during August and September. So, true to his wrestling spirit, Nieko is determined to crush this charge. His next court appearance is October 15.

September 2011: Nieko spends a lot of time isolating himself in his house due to embarrassment over the rape charge. His mother tried to convince him to get a job, but he refuses. They both get into an argument and Nieko storms out of the house. He travels to his maternal grandmother's house outside of Addison, New York. On September 27, Nieko is seen at a family barbecue at his aunt Rachel's home. On September 29, he babysits his uncle Zach's daughter and after that he leaves.

September 30, 2011: At 2 PM, Nieko appears at his uncle Zach's home on Addison, New York. He is accompanied by a friend, Robbie Knight who's 2 years older than Nieko. They both arrive in a gold 2004 GMC Canyon extended cab pickup truck with New York plates. Robbie and Nieko say they are going camping in Buffalo, NY with some girls they met online. Nieko's uncle asks about the truck to which his nephew answers by claiming that it belongs to Robbie's grandpa. The truck however was actually stolen from a home on Stuban Street in Addison.

BUT BEFORE THAT...

Through grainy surveillance photos that were taken 4 AM of September 30th, Nieko and Robbie are seen at a Wegmans in Rochester, New York. They are then filmed at a truck stop in Canona (I could be misspelling the town because I couldn't find anything named Canona). Both of them then drive across into Pennsylvania where they drive around before heading to Nieko's uncle.

October 1, 2011: Nieko's mother realizes her son and his friend stole the truck and calls the police. Nieko's friend, Robbie, returns to his father's house in Romulus, Michigan around this time, between 6-10 AM. After a nap, Robbie tells his family that Nieko had dropped him off and then left. His grandmother, however, tells Nieko's mom that her son had put a gun to Robbie's head and demanded his phone, cash, and clothes. Nieko's mother finds this strange as her son didn't own any guns.

October 1, (5 PM): Nieko's grandmother calls his phone. Surprisingly, he answers but the call is very brief. Nieko basically states he can't talk at the moment and will call back later. This is the last time his family hears from him. His grandma would later say that now she's not even sure if the voice she heard was Nieko's.

END OF PART TWO
 

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