WI WI - Nicholas Hietpas, 22, & dog, vehicle found abandoned in Oconto Co., Appleton, 1 Apr 2019

[moonriverfarm]

Bumping for Nicholas and Samantha.

 

[Luckyzmom]

Stopped by to bump for Nicholas and Samantha. Always in my prayers <3

 

[Luckyzmom]

Bumping for Nicholas and Samantha

 

[Rosiebones]

How can someone just disappear like this and there be no reasonable resolution shared as to why? Could family and close friends know and since there is no MSM reports the resolution hasn't reached here? This haunts me.

 

[PayrollNerd]

How can someone just disappear like this and there be no reasonable resolution shared as to why? Could family and close friends know and since there is no MSM reports the resolution hasn't reached here? This haunts me.

I often wonder if those who plan a remote suicide pre-plan their visit to the area. As in, they go hike there, pick a remote spot, and return when they’re ready. Had Nicholas been to this area previously to hike, hunt, camp?

 

[StarEyes]

I still think there’s a good possibility that he and his dog fell into the water. If the dog fell, Nicholas likely would’ve went in after him, thinking nothing of it. He wouldn’t have had time to think. Or, he himself somehow fell in, and the dog either followed or who knows where he is. Of course, I could be wrong, as it’s just my speculation. JMO

 

[Rosiebones]

I still think there’s a good possibility that he and his dog fell into the water. If the dog fell, Nicholas likely would’ve went in after him, thinking nothing of it. He wouldn’t have had time to think. Or, he himself somehow fell in, and the dog either followed or who knows where he is. Of course, I could be wrong, as it’s just my speculation. JMO

I don't think you are wrong as a theory, but how did the dog's collar become unclasped and was found in the middle of the road nearly a half mile away?

 

[CaseyLPC]

I don't think you are wrong as a theory, but how did the dog's collar become unclasped and was found in the middle of the road nearly a half mile away?

I don't remember reading that the dog was ever found. How long after he went missing did she resurface?

 

[Rosiebones]

I don't remember reading that the dog was ever found. How long after he went missing did she resurface?

I don't believe, or I have never read that she was found or recovered. I know I checked with dog rescue sites for white female GS dogs for many months after and although there were some listed, never Samantha.

My comment was that if the two of them met with an accident, water or otherwise, how did her unclasped collar make it to the middle of a road a half mile away from where the camp site was partially set up.

 

[CaseyLPC]

I don't believe, or I have never read that she was found or recovered. I know I checked with dog rescue sites for white female GS dogs for many months after and although there were some listed, never Samantha.

My comment was that if the two of them met with an accident, water or otherwise, how did her unclasped collar make it to the middle of a road a half mile away from where the camp site was partially set up.

Gotcha. I just misread the comment and thought she had been found.

 

[Luckyzmom]

I think she's with Nicholas , surely wish they can be found and go home . Very sad , lots and lots of woods and water out there . Still looking and praying. MOO ;(

 

[Luckyzmom]

Firearm deer season opens here in Michigan today, hoping Wisconsin is hunting as well. Maybe someone will find signs of Nicholas and Samantha soon. Always in my prayers, and the family and friends as well. MOO

 

[Luckyzmom]

Bumping for Nicholas and Samantha. Where are you ?

 

[PayrollNerd]

MibSAR Facebook update dated 10/22/2020:

Michael Neiger

NICHOLAS HIETPAS CASE UPDATE (Mountain, Wisconsin): Team MibSAR recently completed a multi-day ground search for any sign of Nick Hietpas, who has been missing without a trace in the 1.5-million-acre Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in Northern Wisconsin. Unfortunately Nick remains missing. MibSAR would like to thank Raphael J. Kelling for his man-tracking assistance with this search.
>> CASE SUMMARY: Nick was last heard from on April 1, 2019. An ATV rider found his black, 2012 Ford Fusion along a forest road near the junction of Highway 64 and Shadow Lake Road, west of Mountain, Wisconsin, in Oconto County. A tarp and camping gear were found near the vehicle, and his dog’s unclasped collar was found a half mile away. Investigators and Nick's parents describe him as follows: hometown of Appleton, Wisconsin; age 22; white male; 6'; 200 lbs; normal build; brown eyes; short brown hair; small ribbon-type tattoo on inside of left wrist; likely wearing a green-lettered “Get Your Gooch On” black hooded sweatshirt, American Eagle blue jeans, and mustard-colored steel-toed work boots. Nick was accompanied by Samantha, his white German Shepard (65 lbs, brown eyes, spayed, not chipped).
>> TIPS: If you know anything about Nick's disappearance, or his current whereabouts, report it to the Oconto County Sheriff’s Office at 920.834.6900 or anonymously via Crime Stoppers at TipSubmit.com.
>> NICK'S MISSING-PERSON WEBPAGE ON MIBSAR: Nick Heitpas' Missing-Person Page
>> NICK'S MISSING-PERSON WEBPAGE ON NAMUS: The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
>> NICK'S CASE IN THE MEDIA...
• April 24, 2019 Green Bay Press Gazette (Green Bay, Wisconsin): Appleton man missing; car found in Oconto County
• April 25, 2019 Green Bay Press Gazette (Green Bay, Wisconsin): Three searches conducted in northern Oconto County for missing Appleton man Nicholas Hietpas
• May 2, 2019 Green Bay Press Gazette (Green Bay, Wisconsin): Weekend visitors to Oconto Co. could help in search for missing Appleton man
___________________________________
>> FREE WILDERNESS SKILLS CLASSES, BUSH TRIPS, AND CANADIAN EXPEDITIONS: Michigan Backcountry Search & Rescue (MibSAR): Calendar
>> ABOUT MibSAR: Team MibSAR assists victims, their families, and agencies in the search for answers to select, long-term, missing-person cases and cold-case murders in the bush between the Upper Great Lakes and Canada’s Arctic Ocean. All investigations, searches, missing-person websites, full-color posters, work products, consults, outdoor skills and wilderness survival classes, and wilderness trips and expeditions are free. Team MibSAR does NOT collect rewards or accept donations for its work — if you want to support the search-and-rescue community, please donate to your local, regional, national, or international SAR team, or to Team MibSAR's home team: Marquette County Search and Rescue (MCSAR) at the Marquette County Sheriff's Office.
— Michael Neiger, NASAR-certified SARTECH I and Crew Leader, Lead Investigator, Long Range Special Operations Group (LRSOG), Michigan Backcountry Search and Rescue (MibSAR), Marquette, Michigan, www.MibSAR.com, mneiger@hotmail.com • #TeamMibSAR • #PayItForward

 

[Luckyzmom]

@PayrollNerd thanks very much, appreciate the info
Just an enormous wilderness . If he'd planned this it seems a perfect choice, doesn't it. I go to Google Earth and check the area out.
Wish we had more to work with

 

[PayrollNerd]

@PayrollNerd thanks very much, appreciate the info
Just an enormous wilderness . If he'd planned this it seems a perfect choice, doesn't it. I go to Google Earth and check the area out.
Wish we had more to work with

I’m curious what they’re referring to when they say “....Raphael J. Kelling for his man-tracking assistance with this search.” Is this a new method related to drones, GPS or something we’ve not heard of yet? Or does it simply mean a crew of people were brought in for assistance?

 

[Vail]

I’m curious what they’re referring to when they say “....Raphael J. Kelling for his man-tracking assistance with this search.” Is this a new method related to drones, GPS or something we’ve not heard of yet? Or does it simply mean a crew of people were brought in for assistance?

Man tracking is a method of tracking human activity like footprints, disturbances in the terrain or brush, applying psycholgy of how people may walk or wander based on the environment.Some man trackers employ dogs with similar skills. Most professional SAR have man-tracking skills. Here is some good info if you're curious:
Visual Mantracking
Man Tracking SAR-Pro techniques.pdf
https://www.nevadacountysar.org/upl...wer_point_tracking_guidelines_update_2012.pdf
Man-Tracking 101: How to Find and Follow Tracks for Search and Rescue

 

[Luckyzmom]

@Vail thanks for the links, very interesting reading.

 

[Luckyzmom]

Bumping for Nicholas and Samantha

 

[Rosiebones]

Bumping for Nicholas and Samantha

Everytime I see that you have checked in here, I so hope it is with the best news. It seems he has dropped off the face of the earth for no apparent reason.