Found Deceased CO - Kevin Rudnicki, 20, hiker, Mount Herman, Pike National Forest, 3 Sep 2018

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Angleterre said:
Welcome Kevin’s mom98
I’m sorry that we meet you in these circumstances as I’m sure it is a horrible time for you with your son missing and you just not knowing ( which to me personally is the worst because at least if you have answers then you can deal with them ). God bless you and your family and I sincerely hope that Kevin can be located very soon and that we at WS can assist you in this.
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Thank you. We hope that all of you will keep an eye out. He could be anywhere by now, if he is still alive. It sounds kind of hokey, but my friends took me to an intuitive healer. She said his energy was still alive. She saw drugs, old motels, dirty gas stations. She felt he was somewhere warm, dry, dusty, and desert like. Said he was struggling with the little boy in him that wants to come home. She also felt he would come home when the drugs ran out. She also said things she couldn't have known about me and him... it was very weird. And at this point , I'll take anything that doesnt suggest he's on the mountain, right out my front door, tucked away, after taking his life...I just want some kimd of resolution. Please. ....
 
PalmerLakeAnon said:
If Kevin was running away (out of the area) >> he probably would not spend time backtracking/looping to confuse the dogs; he would have most likely hiked a straight path to make it as far away as possible before people began looking for him.

If Kevin went into the forest to hide >> he may very well have tried to confuse SAR.

If Kevin went to take his own life >> he may have tried to confuse SAR

Kevin had mentioned to our mom back in high school that if he ever did kill himself, "we would never find" him. If he is still back there, he may have taken a one-way trip into a boulder field or off a cliff, with the intention of never walking out, and thus SAR would not be able to get in and out.
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Do you and Kevinsmom know how thoroughly the Ice Caves area may have been searched, since from your info on his past thoughts and actions would point me there first. I admit, I haven't a clue if the hits from the dogs and his known path went anywhere near that area.

I was surprised that the vial found apparently wasn't tested, for fingerprints or contents.
 
Elainera said:
You did some good sleuthing there! I have seen this type of packaging/lid used to hold tablets/capsules in place so they don't break during transport. Sometimes a small ball of cotton also lies on top of the medications, held down by that lid. I don't think it is used for liquid/syropy medication. But the residue you saw in the vial might have been from leftover tablets/capsules that dissolved due to moisture.

I agree with Angleterre that the vial should be tested. Where is it now? If you have it in your posession could you post a picture here?
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Yes I’ve seen the same Elainera , as you describe with the cotton wool ball within, and
I did a little research and Nembutal would come in a crushed tablet like format, resembling crystals, that you add to , thus enabling it to turn into liquid to injest via needle ( there appears to be other formats too, depending upon what the drug is being prescribed for), all of which in the USA , have to be legally prescribed by a medically qualified practitioner. So Andrews guess regarding the parcel package content received from India, may well be correct.
 
Kevinsmom98 said:
Thank you. We hope that all of you will keep an eye out. He could be anywhere by now, if he is still alive. It sounds kind of hokey, but my friends took me to an intuitive healer. She said his energy was still alive. She saw drugs, old motels, dirty gas stations. She felt he was somewhere warm, dry, dusty, and desert like. Said he was struggling with the little boy in him that wants to come home. She also felt he would come home when the drugs ran out. She also said things she couldn't have known about me and him... it was very weird. And at this point , I'll take anything that doesn't suggest he's on the mountain, right out my front door, tucked away, after taking his life...I just want some kind of resolution. Please. ....
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Oh I hope this is true! I also wonder about the "underground drug" place he mentioned - did he mean literally underground, or a group he fell into? There are a lot of communes in the CA desert that may have attracted him, but am I right in thinking his heart belongs to the forest? Had he ever travelled to New Mexico or knows anyone there? (for some reason that seems more like a direction he would go vs west)

I wonder if public pleas from his father would bring him out, as that loss seems to be a huge catalyst. Is that something dad is open to?

He has been missing for nearly 3 months. LE has to be take this more seriously - even if he disappeared himself, he is under 21 and should be in NCIC and namus and listed as endangered. Please submit him yourself here if possible NamUs

And even though it is getting colder, winter reveals as much as it conceals. If someone can laminate some flyers and post them along the trails (or just make sure any already posted are refreshed) it helps keep Kevin in the minds of the rangers and hikers going through the area to keep a lookout.
 
Kevinsmom98 said:
I am Kevin's mom. I just want to say Thank you all for your kind words. Thank you for continuing to brainstorm about where Kevin could have gone. We really just don't have anything concrete to lead us in any direction. He may have set his disappearance up to look like a suicide to throw everyone off while he disappeared and went off the grid. We just don't know and that's what is so frustrating. SAR is even at a loss. They have said they have never had a case like this. He is a very smart kid, but also struggling with depression. I feel like anything is possible.
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As a mom with a son who struggles with depression, my heart breaks for you. I hope he is found soon.
 
Many questions to answer, so I'll do my best:

The El Paso County Sheriff was given the vial. The issue was that they would take several months to test it, so we never really pursued that as a viable option.

Regarding mail fraud/evading customs: I really have no idea what the country's laws are on this. All I know is that he received the New Delhi package, but also that he would buy experimental drugs (similar to LSD) from Canada. I don't know how often. We suspect he may have been selling drugs, too. Maybe his motivation to disappear came from paranoia that he would get into legal trouble.

The area around the Ice Caves was thoroughly searched, though there is no evidence that he was in this area, besides the hit up by the upper reservoir. As far as I know, the actual caves were never checked.

Kevin was hiking with a grey backpack with red lining. Even if the animals have scattered his remains, the backpack and clothes would remain. The surrounding area where the sunglasses and vial were found were thoroughly searched in early October. This would have been a month after his disappearance and it was still pretty warm, so his remains would have still smelled. There was one area where we could smell a decaying carcass of some sort in a very narrow part of Limbaugh Canyon, directly west of where the sunglasses were found. After a week of searching the area, the source was never found. A friend searched the area into mid-October when bad weather came in. He said he did a very thorough search too, and could not find anything.
 
Maybe a dumb question to Andrew and Kevin’s Mum but do you have missing fliers in the areas In and around the area/s frequented by K ?

Are there any more searches that can be done with help from professional search teams?

There’s people on this site who have great experience with helping you out when a person is missing - or have personal experience themselves and can give you help and or point you in the right direction to get the help that you need. Or there are organisations that can help that have been set up by family members of missing relatives that the more experienced members of WS can give you details of.....

Just shout out if you feel that WS can assist as the best approach on here is just to ask. Prayers for you all .
 
UPDATE:

I recently got in touch with a friend of mine from high school. We had been texting back and forth, on and off, for the last couple months. It was the 2nd week of September, the week after the initial search for Kevin, and my friend mentioned how his car was stolen; he was given counterfeit money and the guy who he was selling it to drove off before my friend noticed. The car was a matte black 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse.

My mom recently mentioned how Kevin had very little money in his bank accounts, indicating he probably withdrew most of it. One of the "rules" of disappearing is to only pay for things in cash.

Also, remember how I mentioned the SAR dogs were able to track Kevin's scent all the way down Mt. Herman Road, only to lose it suddenly near the Monument Hotshot Center? As if Kevin got in a car. Maybe he had a ride prearranged.

My friend said the man who he was selling his car to was dropped off by someone in a white pick-up truck. My mom mentioned how Kevin knew someone from working for the town of Monument who would give him rides to and from work. This coworker supposedly drove a white pickup. I know, there are many people who own white trucks, but his just adds to the coincidence here.

I decided to pursue this further and asked my friend several questions. My friend said the transaction occurred around 8pm, Sunday, September 2, in the Monument Safeway parking lot. The man appeared to be in his 20s or 30s, though he admitted he was rather bad at judging age. The man had long-ish, brown hair, a bit of scruff, average height, about average weight, and didn't talk much. He asked the man his name, and the man hesitated, then replied something "very generic." My friend thought nothing of it, though. This description somewhat matched that of Kevin. Although he does have red hair, it is a dark-red, that could easily appear brown in the dark, or when its just long and greasy. I showed my friend Kevin's picture, and he said "Yea the guy kinda looked like that." The man was wearing a dark hoodie, pants, and generic black shoes. Kevin could have easily had these clothes with him to change in to. My friend also said that the man was terrible at driving stick-shift. As far as we know, Kevin didn't know how to drive a stick, unless he had learned back in Wyoming. He may have also had a Wyoming ID.

My friend had also removed the plates prior to selling the car.

As far as I know, this friend knew who Kevin was, but did not know him very well. I do not think he would be able to recognize Kevin in his appearance at the time: long hair, some facial hair, taller, and heavier than Kevin was back in high school, when this friend would have been most likely to see him the most.

So here is a theory, and I must emphasize that this is just a THEORY:

-Kevin left for a hike Sunday, September 2, at 8:00 am
-Kevin was picked up on Mt. Herman Road by his coworker. Maybe he had another cellphone to arrange this, or maybe he just hitchhiked with some stranger. Regardless, he was driven to Safeway to buy this car which he found on Craigslist.
-Kevin buys the car from my friend around 8:00 pm, gives him fake money, and then speeds off.
-My friend calls the police, but Kevin is long gone, probably out of the county.

I think this was a very strange coincidence; that all of this happened the day Kevin went missing.
 
PalmerLakeAnon said:
UPDATE:

I recently got in touch with a friend of mine from high school. We had been texting back and forth, on and off, for the last couple months. It was the 2nd week of September, the week after the initial search for Kevin, and my friend mentioned how his car was stolen; he was given counterfeit money and the guy who he was selling it to drove off before my friend noticed. The car was a matte black 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse.

My mom recently mentioned how Kevin had very little money in his bank accounts, indicating he probably withdrew most of it. One of the "rules" of disappearing is to only pay for things in cash.

Also, remember how I mentioned the SAR dogs were able to track Kevin's scent all the way down Mt. Herman Road, only to lose it suddenly near the Monument Hotshot Center? As if Kevin got in a car. Maybe he had a ride prearranged.

My friend said the man who he was selling his car to was dropped off by someone in a white pick-up truck. My mom mentioned how Kevin knew someone from working for the town of Monument who would give him rides to and from work. This coworker supposedly drove a white pickup. I know, there are many people who own white trucks, but his just adds to the coincidence here.

I decided to pursue this further and asked my friend several questions. My friend said the transaction occurred around 8pm, Sunday, September 2, in the Monument Safeway parking lot. The man appeared to be in his 20s or 30s, though he admitted he was rather bad at judging age. The man had long-ish, brown hair, a bit of scruff, average height, about average weight, and didn't talk much. He asked the man his name, and the man hesitated, then replied something "very generic." My friend thought nothing of it, though. This description somewhat matched that of Kevin. Although he does have red hair, it is a dark-red, that could easily appear brown in the dark, or when its just long and greasy. I showed my friend Kevin's picture, and he said "Yea the guy kinda looked like that." The man was wearing a dark hoodie, pants, and generic black shoes. Kevin could have easily had these clothes with him to change in to. My friend also said that the man was terrible at driving stick-shift. As far as we know, Kevin didn't know how to drive a stick, unless he had learned back in Wyoming. He may have also had a Wyoming ID.

My friend had also removed the plates prior to selling the car.

As far as I know, this friend knew who Kevin was, but did not know him very well. I do not think he would be able to recognize Kevin in his appearance at the time: long hair, some facial hair, taller, and heavier than Kevin was back in high school, when this friend would have been most likely to see him the most.

So here is a theory, and I must emphasize that this is just a THEORY:

-Kevin left for a hike Sunday, September 2, at 8:00 am
-Kevin was picked up on Mt. Herman Road by his coworker. Maybe he had another cellphone to arrange this, or maybe he just hitchhiked with some stranger. Regardless, he was driven to Safeway to buy this car which he found on Craigslist.
-Kevin buys the car from my friend around 8:00 pm, gives him fake money, and then speeds off.
-My friend calls the police, but Kevin is long gone, probably out of the county.

I think this was a very strange coincidence; that all of this happened the day Kevin went missing.
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I have done quite a bit of searching for this in the news or on the Monument police website, but have not found anything yet. If people could search the internet for anything regarding the stolen 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse out of Monument, Colorado, from very early September, 2018, this would be a huge help.
 
PalmerLakeAnon said:
I have done quite a bit of searching for this in the news or on the Monument police website, but have not found anything yet. If people could search the internet for anything regarding the stolen 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse out of Monument, Colorado, from very early September, 2018, this would be a huge help.
Click to expand...
As for the vial and sunglasses: Kevin simply may have tried to fake his death, making us believe he was (and still is) somewhere back in the forest, and thus we would search an area where he was not. What is strange is that besides the sunglasses and the vial, there was not any other pieces of evidence in the forest.
 
PalmerLakeAnon
Has anyone been able to personally speak face-to-face with the teacher that saw and supposedly talked to him on the trail? (I might’ve missed this in earlier posts, and I apologize if I have, maybe it will help to bring to bring it forward again.)
The last person that sees a missing person may really hold a clue they don’t even know they do. In this case, a conversation with his mother and/or brother may trigger other thoughts or ideas for them.
 
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PalmerLakeAnon said:
I have done quite a bit of searching for this in the news or on the Monument police website, but have not found anything yet. If people could search the internet for anything regarding the stolen 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse out of Monument, Colorado, from very early September, 2018, this would be a huge help.
Click to expand...
PalmerLakeAnon said:
As for the vial and sunglasses: Kevin simply may have tried to fake his death, making us believe he was (and still is) somewhere back in the forest, and thus we would search an area where he was not. What is strange is that besides the sunglasses and the vial, there was not any other pieces of evidence in the forest.
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I’m torn..I feel many of the issues and circumstances leading up to Kevin’s hike lean towards a suicide situation, but...many things lead me to think he may not have gone through with it when the time came.
*The odd drugs he was on, ordering or whatever was going on, more than likely made is feelings more intense at times and possibly didn’t help his suicidal tendencies or thoughts. Not to mention, who knows what anything is laced with these days?? Maybe he went out with one intention BUT changed his mind and had to figure out a new plan?
*Someone stated in an earlier post, brother I’m fairly sure (sorry I’m not positive) the only items found belonging to him was his sunglasses and a vial?? Where is at least a torn shred of everything else he had on and with him? SAR went out quickly, seems something would be left? I’m thinking he wasn’t trying to really mislead searchers, but there again, changed his mind.
*Kevin wasn’t 21 yet so he possibly had many fake ids stating he was 21. I know from my own children, these ids can be from any state and they are such good “replicas” the bar codes on the back work when being scanned. This would make running off much easier.
*Kevin was bright and it seems he developed many coping skills over the years to deal with life occurrences. I feel this would make it much easier for him to figure out how to get out of the woods after he possibly changed his mind to self-harm.
*Too many questions and odd coincidences surrounding this whole situation. Many thoughts and ideas run through 18-21 year olds minds. Hard time in life, I think; time to grow up and handle things on your own but many times, you’re just not ready or able to.
JMO.. just brainstorming to maybe trigger thoughts!
 
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PalmerLakeAnon said:
I have done quite a bit of searching for this in the news or on the Monument police website, but have not found anything yet. If people could search the internet for anything regarding the stolen 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse out of Monument, Colorado, from very early September, 2018, this would be a huge help.
Click to expand...
Would it be ok to post and ask other threads for help with this? Some people are really really good at stuff like this.
 
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