FL FL - Nick Downey, 37, Bristol/Liberty County, rental car found abandoned on a trail in a leased hunting area, 27 February 2023

[danij614]

On February 27th, 2023, the Liberty County Sheriff's Department (Florida) received information regarding an abandoned vehicle in a hunting lease near Turkey Creek Road. A search of the area was conducted by Liberty County CI K9 Team and an aerial search was performed by Florida Fish and Game on the day the vehicle was located. The following day, Liberty County deputies and the Liberty County Search and Rescue Team deployed on foot while Florida Fish and Wildlife searched from above for the occupants of the abandoned vehicle.

The occupant of the vehicle is believed to be Nicholas Downey based on items found inside. Downey was later reported missing from Gulfport, Mississippi, on March 3rd, 2023. He remains missing at this time.

https://cljnews.com/abandoned-tesla-found-in-the-middle-of-16000-acre-track-in-liberty-co/

https://cljnews.com/driver-missing-after-tesla-abandoned/

483 | Mississippi Repository for Missing and Unidentified Persons

www.missinginms.msstate.edu

Liberty County Sheriff's Office, Florida

** Missing Person** On February 27th, 2023, the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office received information regarding an abandoned vehicle in a hunting lease near Turkey Creek Road. Immediately after...

www.facebook.com

 

[Elliot_Alderson]

View attachment 470484

On February 27th, 2023, the Liberty County Sheriff's Department (Florida) received information regarding an abandoned vehicle in a hunting lease near Turkey Creek Road. A search of the area was conducted by Liberty County CI K9 Team and an aerial search was performed by Florida Fish and Game on the day the vehicle was located. The following day, Liberty County deputies and the Liberty County Search and Rescue Team deployed on foot while Florida Fish and Wildlife searched from above for the occupants of the abandoned vehicle.

The occupant of the vehicle is believed to be Nicholas Downey based on items found inside. Downey was later reported missing from Gulfport, Mississippi, on March 3rd, 2023. He remains missing at this time.

https://cljnews.com/abandoned-tesla-found-in-the-middle-of-16000-acre-track-in-liberty-co/

https://cljnews.com/driver-missing-after-tesla-abandoned/

483 | Mississippi Repository for Missing and Unidentified Persons

www.missinginms.msstate.edu

Liberty County Sheriff's Office, Florida

** Missing Person** On February 27th, 2023, the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office received information regarding an abandoned vehicle in a hunting lease near Turkey Creek Road. Immediately after...

www.facebook.com

Saw this case on another forum, am trying to get a VI over here.

 

[Behindblueyez1]

Still missing.

 

[Cagle]

Interesting. I'm not far from this and have never heard of it. That town is super small, and there's lots of hunters in this area so you'd think something would've been found by now.

 

[Cagle]

DRIVER MISSING AFTER TESLA ABANDONED
This article linked from a local paper above has different/additional details.

It won't let me copy anything from the site, so I'm having to paraphrase here.

He was driving a rented (through Turo) Tesla from Tampa to Mississippi to see his wife. Stopped to charge it in Marianna behind a McDonald's. Instead of getting back on I-10, it started heading south. The owner sent messages through the app to the car that reads the questions outload. He asked him if he was headed back to Tampa. There was no response from the driver. The car went down a two trail road and over a cable. He went about a half mile past the cable. There was paint transfer on the cable and damage to the upper part of the windshield, and the car was out of power (220 mile range). A change of clothes, his drone used for work, and his and his wife's cell phones were inside the vehicle. There was also a small amount of an unknown substance that was being tested. Sheriff said there were hardly any footprints around the car.
ETA: He has two teenage children.

FYI - Marianna (where the McD's is) is in Jackson County and Liberty County (where the car was) is south of it and not very far at all.

 

[rob525]

Just listened to this Vanished Episode. JMO- I find The Vanished Pod Cast to be frustrating at times as potentially important information is left out. For instance, the podcast mentions substance abuse issues however doesn't mention what substance. The first thing that pops into my head two years later is that it was either a robbery gone wrong or an accident overdose. Knowing what addictions ND was dealing with might help with the probabilities of those scenarios thus providing a direction to look at.

 

[GraceG]

Just listened to this Vanished Episode. JMO- I find The Vanished Pod Cast to be frustrating at times as potentially important information is left out. For instance, the podcast mentions substance abuse issues however doesn't mention what substance. The first thing that pops into my head two years later is that it was either a robbery gone wrong or an accident overdose. Knowing what addictions ND was dealing with might help with the probabilities of those scenarios thus providing a direction to look at.

I couldn't find any court records that might have indicated either a drug associated arrest or required treatment for addition as a court outcome for a crime in the county he was living at the time. But I don't have his residence history to check other counties.

As to a possible overdose. Because of its potency and low cost, drug dealers have been mixing fentanyl with other drugs including heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine, increasing the likelihood of a fatal interaction. So he MAY have used an illegal drug in an amount that would be "safe" from an overdose standpoint only to have significant risk (and possible death) due to fentanyl contamination. More info on fentanyl contamination of street drugs at www.dea.gov.. My personal opinion, I don't think he would have driven out to the area the car was found to partake in some illegal substance, then wandered off and overdosed. I'm leaning more towards either a crime where the vehicle wsa taken and abandoned or self harm. Seems more likely IMO than driving out in a great expanse of isolated area to accidentally overdose.

 

[rob525]

I couldn't find any court records that might have indicated either a drug associated arrest or required treatment for addition as a court outcome for a crime in the county he was living at the time. But I don't have his residence history to check other counties.

As to a possible overdose. Because of its potency and low cost, drug dealers have been mixing fentanyl with other drugs including heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine, increasing the likelihood of a fatal interaction. So he MAY have used an illegal drug in an amount that would be "safe" from an overdose standpoint only to have significant risk (and possible death) due to fentanyl contamination. More info on fentanyl contamination of street drugs at www.dea.gov.. My personal opinion, I don't think he would have driven out to the area the car was found to partake in some illegal substance, then wandered off and overdosed. I'm leaning more towards either a crime where the vehicle wsa taken and abandoned or self harm. Seems more likely IMO than driving out in a great expanse of isolated area to accidentally overdose.

ND would likely not know of that location so I was thinking that this drug use was relatively spontaneous. I.e. he was stressed out from spending all of the time and money renting a car to travel 9 hours to Miss. to see his wife in rehab only to find out after arriving that he could not do so and had to drive 9 hours back. Perhaps, he is stopped for a charge and is approached by a dealer thus making the unexpected purchase. I was also thinking that he may have overdosed on the spot and a local dealer, not wanting to be tied to the incident, drove him somewhere, disposed of the body and then ditched the car.

 

[rungirl]

I am wondering if he was driving from charging station to charging station. The first one he stopped at was off of route 71. The next charging station would've been closer had he turned south on 71 in Blountstown vs getting back on highway 10. Today, the charging station in Blountstown is open 24 hours a day, but would it have been back in 2023? If he got back on 71, then the next one would've been closer to Tallahassee back on highway 10. He should've turned on to route 65 at Hosford but he turned left before that. My guess is that he was running out of electric charge and that is why he.turned there. I am also thinking he might not have seen the wire that he hit with the car because he might have been looking at his phone or just simply because it was so dark. I am assuming that he may not have had a phone signal where he was or was his phone not charged. I know that people have speculated drugs, but I feel like he decided to get out and see if he could find someone to help him since he didn't know the area and he might have had some sort of accident hiking to find someone. He also probably didn't answer the car's owner because he was trying to make it back for work on Monday and knew that he was struggling with the charging issue.

 

[rungirl]

I am wondering if he was driving from charging station to charging station. The first one he stopped at was off of route 71. The next charging station would've been closer had he turned south on 71 in Blountstown vs getting back on highway 10. Today, the charging station in Blountstown is open 24 hours a day, but would it have been back in 2023? If he got back on 71, then the next one would've been closer to Tallahassee back on highway 10. He should've turned on to route 65 at Hosford but he turned left before that. My guess is that he was running out of electric charge and that is why he.turned there. I am also thinking he might not have seen the wire that he hit with the car because he might have been looking at his phone or just simply because it was so dark. I am assuming that he may not have had a phone signal where he was or was his phone not charged. I know that people have speculated drugs, but I feel like he decided to get out and see if he could find someone to help him since he didn't know the area and he might have had some sort of accident hiking to find someone. He also probably didn't answer the car's owner because he was trying to make it back for work on Monday and knew that he was struggling with the charging issue.

I am sure it is too late now but I wonder if the charging station at Blountstown would have shown his car on cameras.