Found Deceased LA - Michael Nickelotte, 21, Baton Rouge, 18 Sept 2017

[AMDG]

Apparently Caleb (one of his roommates) saw notecards all over his room like he had gotten frustrated.

What were on these notecards? School related or military?

 

[Laffy Taffy]

Because of ROTC and the fact that he was sometimes contacted late hours of the night for various reasons (I specifically remember one time there was a shooting at southern and he got a call late at night about it by his commander), he would have had his phone. He had an energy drink out on his desk I think. I doubt he would have taken his bike to a convenience store because I'm pretty sure you can get Arizona iced tea at Outtakes, which is on campus not far from his apartment (so close I probably wouldn't consider it worth biking to). But if he needed something and he was in the middle of studying he would typically give up on studying over getting a drink.



Tiffany is saying that he was less organized now than when he and I dated lately, in a way that makes her think that something was amiss. She says it seemed like something was up that he didn't want to talk about. Apparently Caleb (one of his roommates) saw notecards all over his room like he had gotten frustrated. There are also green strings on the floor? I don't think the strings are significant but Tiffany is somehow convinced they are. I don't know what they look like so all I'm picturing is green thread. Apparently they're like thicker thread friendship bracelets.

Has Tiffany said what she thinks is significant about the green cord?

 

[Concernedlsumom]

He leaves apartment at 1:00 am. By 7pm, the post on Facebook went up that he was missing. Did his roommates notify his parents? What made them so concerned so quickly? I recall college years where I wouldn't see a roommate all day and wouldn't have thought much of it. We had different schedules and activities. Also I believe this was midterm week so kids have such weird schedules studying at library etc. Maybe they just looked in his room and saw his phone and wallet and thought it was very odd which it is. Just wondering if there was more concern about how Michael was doing than is being told considering how quickly he was reported missing.
His parents thought it was unusual that he brought books home to study. It was mentioned that notecards were around his room. Sounds like he could have had the pressures of midterms. Possibly he just needed to get fresh air or get a snack. I wonder if the circle k cameras were checked. That is about the only place open on a Sunday night/Monday morning close to him. I heard that the chimes cameras did not pick up anything which he would have passed if he travelled highland. But, from his apartment couldn't he have travelled down his street, crossed dalrymple and end up at the circle by Figi and SAE. I think there is a gate that he could have gone through that would have placed him on Carlotta Street. Could he get to circle k from there wiithout getting onto highland( through parking lots)?
Also, does anyone know if collision centers are being checked to see if any vehicles have come in with repairs that may be consistent with a bike collision? Just a thought.

 

[mamaof3boysinMs]

I ask and the Calvin guy told me it was him KAIN and Anthony? Is there another roommate also?? And one more question IF Michael "gave up" do you think he would hide himself or make his family worry like this? I believe the notecards and the green strings will be a huge clue down the road!!

 

[golden_darkness]

Has Tiffany said what she thinks is significant about the green cord?

I think she is overthinking it. She thinks it's some sort of sign. That's it. She thinks they're a sign. No idea what specifically is significant about them. I have asked her time and time again what she thinks it is and she has no idea, just thinks it's weird and significant.

 

[golden_darkness]

I ask and the Calvin guy told me it was him KAIN and Anthony? Is there another roommate also?? And one more question IF Michael "gave up" do you think he would hide himself or make his family worry like this? I believe the notecards and the green strings will be a huge clue down the road!!

The only roommate I know is Anthony (went on a trip with him since he is friends with my classmate). I thought one of the roommates names was Caleb, later learned it was Calvin. I have forgotten the other roommate's name (but I remember he is a theater major with Anthony). I've met all three but I suck with names.

No idea why notecards and cord would be important (after asking I have learned that it is the same type of cord but thinner, and also only like 3in long) other than showing he was in a rush. Notecards I think were for studying. Cord could have something to do with maybe a survival pack, like maybe he is trying to prove something to himself since he failed his PFT? I only see that sort of situation should he be under duress or some sort of cognitive dissonance. Andreas, Tiffany, and Russell all think that Michael just left to get away from it all and that he doesn't want to be found, especially since it's been so long and we have found nothing.

At this point I have no idea how helpful I am actually being. I feel like I am speculating over and over and not actually adding anything of worth to the conversation, especially since I have no immediate way of testing any hypothesis besides thinking about if the theory sounds like something Michael would do, and honestly none of us are in his head to know what he was thinking. I'm overly frustrated at this point.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

“Update: Family of Michael Nickelotte to host press conference, update search efforts
Staff Reports Sep 28, 2017 Updated 3 hrs ago

Updated 9/28 8:20 p.m.

The Nickelotte family will host a press conference to address the public on the ongoing search of missing student Michael Nickelotte, Jr. Friday at 1 p.m. on the levee at the corner of River Road and Skip Bertman Drive in Baton Rouge, according to KlaasKids Foundation president Marc Klaas in an email.

The KlaasKids Foundation Search and Rescue Team are assisting LSUPD with the search effort. The foundation is conducting police dog searches under the direction of LSUPD, according to Klaas.”

http://www.lsunow.com/daily/update-...cle_8c4c2e80-9d47-11e7-b781-532e15aa990d.html

 

[golden_darkness]

He leaves apartment at 1:00 am. By 7pm, the post on Facebook went up that he was missing. Did his roommates notify his parents? What made them so concerned so quickly? I recall college years where I wouldn't see a roommate all day and wouldn't have thought much of it. We had different schedules and activities. Also I believe this was midterm week so kids have such weird schedules studying at library etc. Maybe they just looked in his room and saw his phone and wallet and thought it was very odd which it is. Just wondering if there was more concern about how Michael was doing than is being told considering how quickly he was reported missing.
His parents thought it was unusual that he brought books home to study. It was mentioned that notecards were around his room. Sounds like he could have had the pressures of midterms. Possibly he just needed to get fresh air or get a snack. I wonder if the circle k cameras were checked. That is about the only place open on a Sunday night/Monday morning close to him. I heard that the chimes cameras did not pick up anything which he would have passed if he travelled highland. But, from his apartment couldn't he have travelled down his street, crossed dalrymple and end up at the circle by Figi and SAE. I think there is a gate that he could have gone through that would have placed him on Carlotta Street. Could he get to circle k from there wiithout getting onto highland( through parking lots)?
Also, does anyone know if collision centers are being checked to see if any vehicles have come in with repairs that may be consistent with a bike collision? Just a thought.

He didn't show up to physical training, which is mandatory for ROTC/Marines. He had to get up around 4am to go to Southern to be on time for it, so I think it was around 5ish in the morning. Which explains the 7am fb post. It wasn't midterms. He could have had tests though, although I think most students have been having tests this week rather than last week. But Michael and I are in very different classes (he is sociology and I am physics, so none of our classes are similar). Looking at his test schedule is definitely a good idea though, and I think it's something worth considering if he was under extra stress after all that has been going on with the knee. You can get to circle k by going down dalrymple and turning onto east state. The google maps is here: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Eas...46dad929f24a3ac!2m2!1d-91.1763818!2d30.418494
I feel like any other route other than Highland is out of the way, but dalrymple is predicted to only be about 5 minutes so not by too much. Still not something I think highly probable but yes, possible.
What defines consistent with a bike collision? Good path but where to start?

 

[golden_darkness]

What were on these notecards? School related or military?

He typically used notecards for Latin so that's what I think they are for.

 

[Concernedlsumom]

Collision center employees can often tell if damage to a vehicle was caused by a collision with another car versus another object. Sometime there are obvious signs like damage from the bike impact and then damage on the hood if the biker was thrown up on hood.

 

[mamaof3boysinMs]

Because of ROTC and the fact that he was sometimes contacted late hours of the night for various reasons (I specifically remember one time there was a shooting at southern and he got a call late at night about it by his commander), he would have had his phone. He had an energy drink out on his desk I think. I doubt he would have taken his bike to a convenience store because I'm pretty sure you can get Arizona iced tea at Outtakes, which is on campus not far from his apartment (so close I probably wouldn't consider it worth biking to). But if he needed something and he was in the middle of studying he would typically give up on studying over getting a drink.


Tiffany is saying that he was less organized now than when he and I dated lately, in a way that makes her think that something was amiss. She says it seemed like something was up that he didn't want to talk about. Apparently Caleb (one of his roommates) saw notecards all over his room like he had gotten frustrated. There are also green strings on the floor? I don't think the strings are significant but Tiffany is somehow convinced they are. I don't know what they look like so all I'm picturing is green thread. Apparently they're like thicker thread friendship bracelets.

I hate to be the one to say it but the note cards and strings scattered around his room sound like sign of a struggle. Either he got frustrated OR somebody was in his room studying/gaming with him and something happened. Or maybe at 1:00 Am he walked in on something.. We don't know...it's a lot of "ifs" but IMO it's very significant.. when somebody goes missing they start the investigation from the time he was last seen. In this case a roommate says 1:00AM but that was only said by one roommate. And actually he said he heard the door shut so did he SEE him or just hear something he THOUGHT was him? Maybe they need to go back to a time when more than one roommate saw him. I don't think a matured ROTC & senior in college would just "walk away" and leave his phone, wallet and glasses behind.. Praying they find him soon!!

 

[Silversulhpur]

Just wondering if Michael smoked? Maybe he was hiding it? And went out to smoke a cigarette- that's why he only had card to get back in? Another question, is it possible he went to get something out of his car?
If the roommates heard the door at 1 am, could he have possibly returned without them hearing him come in.. If he had to be at pt at 5am maybe from lack of sleep he was in rush and forgot phone and wallet- How far is PT? Which route did he take?
Just a few thoughts...

 

[golden_darkness]

I hate to be the one to say it but the note cards and strings scattered around his room sound like sign of a struggle. Either he got frustrated OR somebody was in his room studying/gaming with him and something happened. Or maybe at 1:00 Am he walked in on something.. We don't know...it's a lot of "ifs" but IMO it's very significant.. when somebody goes missing they start the investigation from the time he was last seen. In this case a roommate says 1:00AM but that was only said by one roommate. And actually he said he heard the door shut so did he SEE him or just hear something he THOUGHT was him? Maybe they need to go back to a time when more than one roommate saw him. I don't think a matured ROTC & senior in college would just "walk away" and leave his phone, wallet and glasses behind.. Praying they find him soon!!

He was last seen at 1am but was heard leaving at 1:30am.

Michael WOULD NOT keep quiet during a struggle, he too smart for that. Also there's no blood, clumps of hair, torn clothing (we now know the "string" is actually cord). He was gaming prior to leaving to my understanding and so he was physically playing with his friends, but it was online over his PS4 with his friends from Mandeville.

 

[golden_darkness]

Collision center employees can often tell if damage to a vehicle was caused by a collision with another car versus another object. Sometime there are obvious signs like damage from the bike impact and then damage on the hood if the biker was thrown up on hood.

We'll have to see.

 

[Laffy Taffy]

He was last seen at 1am but was heard leaving at 1:30am.

Michael WOULD NOT keep quiet during a struggle, he too smart for that. Also there's no blood, clumps of hair, torn clothing (we now know the "string" is actually cord). He was gaming prior to leaving to my understanding and so he was physically playing with his friends, but it was online over his PS4 with his friends from Mandeville.

Is this the type of cord that was found?

 

[always reading]

I think the roommates story is suspect. Are there any cameras around the dorms?

 

[Kennareese]

Just some logical thoughts and the last one is not logical but an off the wall theory. Stranger things have happened.

There are not infinite possibilities about what happened there are only a few.

1. Assumption: He left his room at 1 am as assumed by a roommate hearing the door open.
Fact: He left items behind that would indicate he would not be gone for a extended period of time.
Assumption: He left on his bike
Fact: Bike is missing
Assumption: Some unexpected harm came to him when he left his room briefly at 1 am.

2. Assumption: He never left the apartment.
Fact: It wasn't in his nature to do so
Fact: Nobody saw him leave and he was not seen on video
Fact: His personal items were in the apartment.
Assumption: Some harm came to him inside the apartment that has been covered up.

3. Assumption: He left the apartment with intentions of harming himself.
Fact: He left his belongings behind, He had failed his PFT. He is introverted.
Obstacle: He seems to be close to his family and to date no suicide note has been found to the public's knowledge. It seems likely he would have left a note.

Another theory I've seen is he walked away to disappear on his own or with the help of someone else. If he wanted to disappear on his own, there had to be some sort of plan. Maybe google searches, other forms of ID, access to cash etc. If he did it alone, he clearly left on foot or on his bicycle as his car was left behind. If he was assisted in his own disappearance, he may have been picked up in a vehicle. In which case there would be another party involved. From what I've read about him, I don't see him doing this just to have some time, it doesn't seem likely he wouldn't by now have let someone know somehow that he was safe.

This is a little far fetched (I admit) but I have read similar unsolved disappearances of college students who were into gaming. Seems a motivating factor for him is the military. Given this and his gaming connections, there could be a possibility (although slim given he has strong family connections) that he was recruited by a foreign agency.

 

[ktgirl]

Hi all,
I'm not as active on WS as I once was, but I was so glad to see Michael's thread here when I logged on and activity on it. I did grad school at LSU (and at one point lived right outside the north gates of LSU in an-off campus apartment). I also taught as LSU as an adjunct u/part-time until a few years ago (it conflicted with my other full-time job teaching at another college).

I'm really surprised there seems to be NO security camera footage of Michael. It seems like if someone's Tiger Card (ID card that you can also load money on to use drink machines/snack machines/etc on campus) is stolen and used to buy a coke, LSUPD had pictures of the person using the stolen card from cameras near the vending machines going out in broadcast emails within 24 hours. They almost always have footage from parking lots, etc if someone is a victim of a crime there on campus (I'll include some links here below from past crimes on campus/near dowms where they've had security footage).

I can't imagine how Michael may have gotten off campus without passing under or by some secutiry camera somewhere. I'm shocked there aren't cameras around the entrance/exit to his dorm/on-campus apartment. The lack of security camera footage in this case is....troubling, to say the least....I really hope he's okay...my guess is if Michael was a young woman missing from campus, we'd see a lot more coverage of this.

Links to examples of recent cases with security camera footage on LSU campus:
http://www.wafb.com/story/36477661/who-was-the-peeping-tom-spying-on-coeds-at-lsu-dorm
http://www.lsunow.com/crime-briefs-...cle_8eafee2a-6890-11e5-aa57-1b96ad005d7b.html
http://www.lsunow.com/daily/female-...cle_51468406-5eee-11e4-be34-0017a43b2370.html
http://www.kptv.com/story/27748905/lsupd-releases-image-of-man-wanted-for-questioning

 

[ktgirl]

Also, just throwing it out there....BR has a lot of crime and a lot of the area right off campus on the side of campus where the ECA (Michael's on-campus apartment) has pretty high crimes rates. If he left with his Tiger Card (but nothing else) he could still get in/out of the ECA (I believe)...and he may have had Tiger Cash (money loaded onto his Tiger Card) he could use to grab something from the vending machines somewhere, etc....but never made it to wherever he was heading.... Since Tiger Cards can function as keys and mini-credit cards, I'm not so sure the fact that he didn't take his wallet/keys points to much either way.....maybe he was robbed...and an angry thieft was upset he only had "his LSU ID." You can look at LSUPD's crime reports on their websites and see that robberies and other crimes are fairly common on and very close to campus, particularly at night.

Golden,
Do you know if Michael took Ambien or some other Rx to help him sleep ever? I know I've ending up "sleep-shopping" and ordering random things from Amazon & eBay a few times when I was prescribed Ambien (so I didn't take it very long) and I know others have reported sleep-driving, sleep-eating, sleep-walking, etc....

 

[Mommaflorence]

Yes is the same Michael Nickelotte