CO CO - Nathaniel Holmes, 17, Westminster, 19 December 2017

[dub]

Thank you for the info about the area. It’s always hard to decide when you know little about the area. I’ve been to Colorado but not spent a whole lot of time there and in general, anywhere seems much easier to hide and not be found than where I am. Out of curiosity, is it common for the homeless or transient population to go a long time without having a cell phone out there? I know it sounds like a dumb question but I have worked with a lot of homeless around here and I’d say a big majority of them have cell service even if it is inconsistent. Of course that is with the younger population mostly. I suppose if you don’t want found, no cell is a good way to stay unfound.

It’s not a dumb question at all, but I have no idea what the typical patterns on that are. I’d guess it was similar to your area, although again probably more common in outlying areas (Arvada, Boulder, etc) than in Denver.

Also in terms of the area, the school in question here is right on the Denver/Westminster border. Heavy suburbs to the N/E/W, slightly more open to the south for a mile or so until it gets into the city. There is a greenbelt along the light rail tracks a couple blocks from the school, but not many tucked away places that a body could be hidden for this long aside from that (and even there it probably wouldn’t be too hard to find one if you were looking for it.)

What this area IS good for, however, is getting out of it fast. He could have hopped that light rail to Union Station, then gotten on the flatiron flyer (bus) and been in Boulder within an hour and a half of walking out of the school. If he didn’t pay for the light rail (which is easy to get away with) the trip would have cost like 3 bucks.

By coincidence, if he took the light rail in the opposite direction, the terminus to the east is right by Mirage Recovery, but I have no idea why he would want to go there in that moment. Edit: sorry, this is incorrect. The B-line terminus is the station by the high school. I had looked it up before and there is SOME public transport route from the school to the area of Mirage but it wasn’t the light rail and I cant remember now what it was.

 

[dub]

Actually though what occurred to me in looking again at Mirage, if he did make his way in that direction by bus or whatever, it is directly across the street from the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. If this is a self-harm situation, the Arsenal would absolutely be a place where a body could remain concealed for this long.

 

[Skyblueday32]

I'm hoping he's still alive as well. Seems he was intent on leaving and the drugs distort your decision making. I'm wondering if his family provided their DNA, there are many unidentified remains and if sadly he passed they may be able to compare to an unidentified person. Just picked CA as that was the last possible sighting. The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[JSolt1210]

After watching the Disappeared episode, I have no idea what to think about this case, so here are my random thoughts:

I find it interesting that the episode made no mention about Nathaniel asking the principal to speak to another student. The episode mentions that Nathaniel got high the night before, and that the mom confiscated pills from him. So leaving out this detail would prevent first-time viewers from making the connection that most of us have made (and that I also agree with), namely, that Nathaniel maybe wanted to speak to that student about those pills. Was that student ever questioned?

The episode did mention that Nathaniel said his family were moving away, which was the first time I'd heard of this. Didn't the principal find this suspicious, though? I mean, I would if a kid told me that before his parents did—especially if he snuck out of school after saying that. I also can't believe the school knew he left and didn't bother to notify anyone. His entire disappearance might've been prevented with just one phone call.

I tend to discount the sightings, intriguing as they might be. That person who randomly searched for "Nate Holmes" on someone else's phone might've just recently seen his case somewhere. Mental illness or drugs could've also come into play, so I doubt it was him. Same goes for the young man selling bread in Texas. There's just not enough to go on.

With all this, I think the two likely possibilities are:
1) He took his own life because he was afraid of the guy the pills belonged to, and/or he was aware that his life was spiraling out of control and he didn't know how to stop it;
2) He got drugs from some other unknown dealers, overdosed, and they hid his body.

 

[cherrymeg]

I just watched the episode on Disappeared. It’s possible he got help and is alive somewhere living his life. I don’t think he was on the run from drug dealers. His one “friend” seemed overly eager to point fingers elsewhere and claim to have seen him. Does he feel guilty for getting him into coke or not doing more when he called him, maybe? Nathaniel sounded depressed if you go off drugs it can take a bit for your brain to readjust. How was he supporting drug use? It’s hard to OD from Cocaine alone. Heroin is more likely to cause ODs. Xanax withdrawal can be fatal or possibly taking too many. If he is living rough it’s likely do to drug use and mental illness. Hopefully he is still alive.

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

I just watched the episode on Disappeared. It’s possible he got help and is alive somewhere living his life. I don’t think he was on the run from drug dealers. His one “friend” seemed overly eager to point fingers elsewhere and claim to have seen him. Does he feel guilty for getting him into coke or not doing more when he called him, maybe? Nathaniel sounded depressed if you go off drugs it can take a bit for your brain to readjust. How was he supporting drug use? It’s hard to OD from Cocaine alone. Heroin is more likely to cause ODs. Xanax withdrawal can be fatal or possibly taking too many. If he is living rough it’s likely do to drug use and mental illness. Hopefully he is still alive.

An overdose just means that you took more of the drug than your body was able to tolerate. This can happen with any drug, including over the counter meds. With opiates, it's usually respiratory failure that will kill you. With cocaine, it's usually cardiovascular.