MN MN - Nathaniel Williams, 21, Morris, 28 Sept 2004

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Nate Williams has been missing for eleven years now. He told his roommate he was going on a fishing trip and would return in a week but he hasn't been heard from since then. Investigators don't believe he committed suicide but he is missing under suspicious circumstances. NamUs lists his date last seen as October 9, 2004.

11 Years Later, Police Still Look for Tips in Missing UM-Morris Student Case

NamUs

Charley Project

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
• Missing Since: September 28, 2004 from Morris, Minnesota
• Classification: Endangered Missing
• Date of Birth: May 29, 1983
• Age: 21 years old
• Height and Weight: 6'0, 160 pounds
• Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian male. Brown hair, hazel eyes. Williams wears contact lenses or thick eyeglasses with metal rims. His head was shaved at the time of his disappearance and he has a mustache. Williams has scar on the right side of his chin and above his eyebrow near his hairline. His nickname is Nate.
• Clothing/Jewelry Description: A black shirt and blue jeans.

Details of Disappearance
Williams was last seen on September 28, 2004 in the 400 block of east 10th Street in Morris, Minnesota, on the campus of the University of Minnesota at Morris. He was planning to go on a fishing and hunting trip in Two Harbors, Minnesota. He was apparently traveling alone. Two days later, some sheriff's deputies saw his teal and white 1966 Ford F-150 pickup truck on the Kawishiwi Lake Road off County Road 7 in Lake County, Minnesota, north of Two Harbors. Williams never returned home and he has never been heard from again. He was reported missing on October 7. A photograph of his truck is posted below this case summary.

Williams's truck was later found parked along a back road near Kawishiwi Lake near the Boundary Waters curve area; there was no sign of him at the scene. He and his family resided in Silver Springs, Maryland in 2004, but he was a student at the University of Minnesota at Morris and lived in Morris with roommates during the school year. He is described as an avid fisherman who has taken several extended fishing trips before. Authorities do not believe Williams committed suicide, but the circumstances surrounding his disappearance are unclear. Both Morris and Lake County authorities are investigating his case.

Above: Williams's 1966 Ford F-150 truck

2004 case of missing Morris student still unsolved - October 2007

Nathan Williams was the kind of kid who would take off on a whim and disappear for days, mostly to fish or knock around in the woods. He even told friends he dreamed of living off the land, disappearing into the wilds and living off his own means, like a Special Forces soldier.

But three years later, both Williams' parents and authorities say they've mostly given up hope that Nathan simply is living as a hermit or hiding somewhere. They concede he is probably dead, but they would like to now exactly where and how.

All Nathan Williams is known to have with him when he left on his trip are two fishing rods and a single shot Harington & Richardson 12 gauge shotgun -- in case he saw a grouse. He didn't even have a sleeping bag - just a blue, down comforter from his bed. There's no sign he stopped anywhere to buy any additional camping or fishing gear.

But if he fell into a lake or became lost and then perished, where are the fishing rods? Where is the gun or the comforter?

"We don't know if he might have tried to walk out on the road, or walk into the woods to fish at (a nearby lake) or if he got a ride after he was stuck,'' Dave Williams said. "After all the searches that they conducted, it make us think that he's not there'' where his truck was found.

Footprints At The River's Edge Blog Post

 

[ontheclock]

Was he attending classes at the time? He told his roommate he would be gone for a week? In late Sept?

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Was he attending classes at the time? He told his roommate he would be gone for a week? In late Sept?

They seem to gloss over that fact. At first I thought the university operated through "quarters" and not "semesters" but according to the school's calendar, the first day of classes that year was August 30th. If he was living in a dorm, he had to be taking classes but perhaps he had a different schedule.

 

[ontheclock]

Bumping this story.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Bumping for Nate. I wish there was more information available.

 

[Gardener1850]

MORRIS, Minn.— Nathaniel Williams left Morris in late September 2004. His friends and family never saw him again.


When the remains of Jacob Wetterling were found September, 27 years after Wetterling was abducted, local law enforcement and Williams' friends couldn't help but be reminded about Williams and wonder yet again what might have happened to him all those years ago.


Williams, a University of Minnesota Morris student, was last seen in Morris on Sept. 28, 2004. Williams told friends he was going on a fishing and hunting trip in northern Minnesota. He was reported as missing nine days later.

Read more here: http://www.grandforksherald.com/news/4138221-missing-2004-mn-student-hasnt-been-forgotten

 

[Sasquatch321]

Read more here: http://www.grandforksherald.com/news/4138221-missing-2004-mn-student-hasnt-been-forgotten

So with this case he could have gotten lost, fell, or had an encounter with a bull moose or a bear. The problem is we seem to have no trail.

 

[Sasquatch321]

Let this be a lesson for all of us. Never go into bear country or let alone the minnesota northwoods alone. Especially if you are a non resident. I think the best thing you can do is look at where his truck was left then try to determine where he is going to walk to go fishing.

 

[Sasquatch321]

"Nathan Williams was the kind of kid who would take off on a whim and disappear for days, mostly to fish or knock around in the woods. He even told friends he dreamed of living off the land, disappearing into the wilds and living off his own means, like a Special Forces soldier."

This paragraph right here may just say it all about this case. And if that is the case, he is possibly alive and living his dream up there still today.

 

[Sasquatch321]

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/mar/15/stranger-in-the-woods-christopher-knight-hermit-maine

Knight parked the car and tossed the keys on the centre console. He had a tent and a backpack but no compass, no map. Without knowing where he was going, with no particular place in mind, he stepped into the trees and walked away.

 

[Athena Grimes]

This link has some pretty good information.
Minnesota Fisherman Missing Since 2004

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Nathaniel Edison Williams – The Charley Project

Bumping case up.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Bumping up one more time. The article from 2016 was a good one:

Missing since 2004, MN student hasn't been forgotten

MORRIS, Minn.-- Nathaniel Williams left Morris in late September 2004. His friends and family never saw him again.When the remains of Jacob Wetterling were found September, 27 years after Wetterling was abducted, local law enforcement and William...

www.duluthnewstribune.com

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Nathaniel Edison Williams – The Charley Project

 

[Pennysmom1]

May 4, 2022

Nathan Williams went fishing in 2004 then vanished. The lone clue: his pickup, found near the Boundary Waters

All Nathan Williams is known to have had with him when he left on his trip are two fishing rods and a single shot Harrington & Richardson 12-gauge shotgun, in case he saw a grouse. He was wearing blue jeans and a black T-shirt. He didn't even have a sleeping bag — just a blue down comforter from…

www.inforum.com

 

[Pennysmom1]

Added 3/22/24

6082DMMN - Nathaniel Edison Williams

Name: Nathaniel Edison Williams
Nickname/Alias: Nate; Fish
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: September 28, 2004
Location Last Seen: Morris, Stevens County, Minnesota

Physical Description​

Date of Birth: May 29, 1983
Age: 21 years old
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 160 lbs
Hair Color: Brown, shaved; mustache
Eye Color: Hazel
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Small scar under chin; scar on forehead; wore thick glasses with metal rims or contact lenses

Identifiers​

Dentals: Unknown
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown

Clothing & Personal Items​

Clothing: Blue jeans; black t-shirt
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Two fishing rods; single shot Harington & Richardson 12-gauge shotgun; blue down comforter

Circumstances of Disappearance​

Nathaniel Williams, was last seen on September 28, 2004, leaving his residence at the University of Minnesota Morris in the 400 block of East 10th Street in Morris, MN. He told a roommate he was going fishing and would return by October 10, 2004. All Nathan is known to have had with him when he left on his trip are two fishing rods, a single shot Harington & Richardson 12-gauge shotgun, in case he saw a grouse, and a blue down comforter from his bed. There's no evidence that he stopped anywhere to buy any additional camping or fishing gear.

His parents and roommates reported him missing about a week later, when the fishing trip seemed to be lasting longer than usual and he had made no effort to check in.

On September 30, his vehicle, a teal and white 1966 Ford F-150 pickup, was seen by law enforcement on Kawishiwi Lake Road, just off of County Road 7, in Lake County, Minnesota, just north of Two Harbors. In October, the truck was found in Lake County, parked in a different location than it had initially been seen on September 30. When located, it was parked on a back road in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of Kawishiwi Lake. The truck was low on gas, and his fishing gear, gun, clothing, and bed comforter (which he had brought instead of a sleeping bag) were not in the truck, nor were they found in subsequent searches.

A multi-agency land, water and air search turned up no trace of Williams in a nearly 6-mile radius from the truck. Cadaver-tracking dogs trained to sniff out bodies found no scent.

There was no indication he was suicidal, no sign of trouble in school, and no sign of criminal activity or foul play.