Any lakes,ponds (water) close by?
some background info from a friend:
He always wanted to make it big in acting and stuff like that. We had the same passion for theater, so us sharing the stage together gave us that bond together.
He would tell his parents This is what I what to do. His family fully supported him going into acting but they also support the idea of reality because the chances of becoming an actor anywhere -- theres a 95 percent chance of failure. So they wanted him to get some education at home before going out to make it big with acting.
With his parents' advice in mind, Pratico enrolled in Mercer County Community College for the fall of 2017. His heart was still set on acting, though, and hed even recently gotten accepted to a theater college in New York City. Him getting accepted to the college in New York was a really big deal -- he got really excited about that, I supported him with those dreams.
"A couple of weeks ago, I got a text from our friend who went to high school with us, and he texted saying he thought that Nick was acting off because he hadnt heard from him. I basically told him not to worry about it, Nicks phone probably died or he was busy. I said Id reach out to Nick the next day to see if I got a response. But the next day, he was missing.
https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/mis...ch-out-someone-family-missing-college-n809086
Yes. MCCC is adjacent to Mercer County Park (which is somewhat infamous in the true crime world as the park where Megan Kanka of Megan's Law was dumped). Mercer County Park is a very large park surrounding a big lake, Mercer Lake, where they hold regattas and the NJ triathalon, among other things.
I have been very worried about Nick. Happy to see the NBC report and very much appreciate his friend's honest, insightful comments, especially the following:
"A couple of weeks ago, I got a text from our friend Dan, who went to high school with us, and he texted saying he thought that Nick was acting 'off' because he hadnt heard from him,' Pierson told Dateline. 'I basically told him not to worry about it, Nicks phone probably died or he was busy. I said Id reach out to Nick the next day to see if I got a response. But the next day, he was missing.'"
Also from the article:
"According to a post on the Find Nick Pratico Facebook page,
family and friends have been 'searching in a smaller group around the Mercer County and Hamilton areas.' Authorities said a volunteer searcher found the ID card on a campus lawn. The ID was brought to police headquarters and examined, but no fingerprints were found. That wasnt unexpected, they said, since hed only received the ID that day at freshman orientation.
Sgt. Brian Schroeder of the Hamilton Police Division tells Dateline the 'Mercer County Sheriffs Office K-9 unit, in conjunction with the Mercer County Prosecutors Office
helped us with a search of the grounds at the Mercer County Community College early in the investigation. He adds that 'the Mercer County Community College security staff have also been very helpful and
conducted multiple sweeps of their facilities.'
[...]
Sgt. Schroeder also told Dateline that
'the New Jersey State Police Cyber Unit and their Missing Persons Unit have worked with us tirelessly to locate a digital trail. That has also been unsuccessful thus far, but they are continuing to assist.'" (BBM)
Additional information on the discovery of Nick's college ID from a nj.com article published two days ago:
"One tidbit the police confirmed was that Pratico's Mercer County Community College identification card was found near the college by a searcher on Sept. 22 - two days after he went missing - but the lead did not pan out.
[...]
A volunteer searcher found the ID card on a campus lawn near the Edinburg Road entrance, Hamilton police Sgt. Brian Schroeder." (BBM)
http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2017/10/missing_2_weeks_loved_ones_holding_out_hope_for_mi.html
While the NBC report states volunteers have been searching "around the Mercer County and Hamilton areas," I wonder if they have looked at all in Mercer County Park or Mercer Lake.
According to Google Maps, the distance between the Edinburgh Road entrance and the Boathouse at Mercer Lake is only 1.7 road miles:
https://goo.gl/maps/XDJQEGvDTaU2
Also located just 2 miles southeast of MCCC campus is Miry Run, a tributary of the Delaware River called Assunpink Creek, which actually flows into Mercer Lake upstream:
https://goo.gl/maps/ogA1vZbvBgT2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assunpink_Creek
While hoping for a positive outcome, it worries me that he apparently stopped communicating with friends prior to his disappearance ....
