Presumed Located NC - Nathaniel Sample, 27, Traveling from NY to GA, Auto Accident in Gastonia, 26 Sept 2019

[KatzEye]

His wrecked car was found near Gastonia. He's not been seen since.
Posted Jan 8, 2020 at 4:55 PM

On a sweltering day in September, 27-year-old Nathaniel Sample simply vanished.

The recording artist, known as Big Upgrade, had been on his way from Long Island to Atlanta in a black Mercedes coupe.

SNIP

...last known to be in the Carolinas headed to Atlanta...

SNIP

...may have been in the Asheville area prior to his wreck in or near Gastonia.

More at link including an interview with {Snipped} Todd Matthews, NamUS director of Case Management and Communications.

Also of interest from your article :

Neither the Gastonia Police Department, nor Gaston County Police Department appear to have records from late September related to Sample’s auto crash. Sgt. Christopher Knox, Public Information Officer for the North Carolina Highway Patrol, indicated that no records related to Sample or a crash in or near Gaston County in that time frame were recorded, but allowed that instances where drivers were unknown at the time of a crash could complicate a records search.

Ummm - wouldn't a records search for a black Mercedes coupe with NY plates produce something ? I know the Interstate in that area is heavily travelled, but still . . . .

JMO, but it's always bugged me that I've never seen the location of the accident released. It's entirely possible that he had serious injuries but was still able to walk away and will be in the general area. I've seen too many of those type cases here on WS. Prayers for answers for Nathaniel's family.

 

[carbuff]

The whole case is very odd. Most likely he wandered away after the accident and died of complications, but it seems like there might be more to the story.

 

[YaYa_521]

Bumping for Nathaniel.

Missing on Long Island

 

[MimosaMornings]

Was his phone found in the car?
Where was he going to stay in Atlanta?
Secrecy about where the car was found?

 

[Attempt2Locate]

I came across this case last night, does anyone know how thorough the area was searched?

 

[KatzEye]

I came across this case last night, does anyone know how thorough the area was searched?

I have not been able to find information about any searches ever being conducted. Also, refer to my post #21 - there appears to be no official reports regarding the vehicle crash. JMOO since there could be info I have missed.

 

[TrueCrimeTrapQueen]

A friend of mine lives in Long Island and has multiple mutual friends with Nathaniel. After his disappearance this text about his car’s movements based on plate readers was posted to a community fb page. I hope someone can make something of this.

 

[KatzEye]

A friend of mine lives in Long Island and has multiple mutual friends with Nathaniel. After his disappearance this text about his car’s movements based on plate readers was posted to a community fb page. I hope someone can make something of this.

Would you mind sharing the name of the community page ? If it's a public page, we may be able to discuss it here. I'm interested either way - this case has puzzled me for quite a while. Thanks in advance.

 

[TrueCrimeTrapQueen]

Sorry I don’t have the FB group info since it was posted so long ago. It’s crazy to me bc I’m from the area (been living out of state for a while now) and knowing so many people who had mutual connections to him and then just poof vanish into thin air. I REALLY don’t like the secrecy of where the car was found and how everyone is so sure he was involved in an accident when there are no reports. My honest op is that he was prob robbed and the person responsible crashed the car. He could still be out there

A friend of mine lives in Long Island and has multiple mutual friends with Nathaniel. After his disappearance this text about his car’s movements based on plate readers was posted to a community fb page. I hope someone can make something of this.

Let me also say idk who posted this information and how accurate it is. My friends and I just remember people circulating this information shortly after his disappearance.

Would you mind sharing the name of the community page ? If it's a public page, we may be able to discuss it here. I'm interested either way - this case has puzzled me for quite a while. Thanks in advance.

 

[carbuff]

A friend of mine lives in Long Island and has multiple mutual friends with Nathaniel. After his disappearance this text about his car’s movements based on plate readers was posted to a community fb page. I hope someone can make something of this.

Okay, that looks like he probably took i-85 south and arrived in Gastonia at 10pm on Sept 26.

Stayed there overnight.

At 10am on the 27th he probably got back on I-85 doubling back to Raleigh, where he arrives at 12:21pm. That's about right; Googlemaps says it's two and a half hours but he's not driving a slow car.

The other two times are harder to figure out. It doesn't say which direction he was going or what highway he was getting on/off. The simplest sequence would probably be that he exited in Raleigh and drove to Asheville via a route that didn't have plate readers (could have spent the night anywhere), then got on I-40 to go back to Gastonia.

I say "he" but it could have been anybody driving the car. After going through this, I have a sinking feeling he was killed in Gastonia that first night and somebody else was driving his car when it wrecked. Of course the driver wouldn't stick around a stolen car.

p.s. rough map of one possible set of routes Google Maps

 

[TrueCrimeTrapQueen]

I have the same sinking feeling. Again, the lack of investigation into this (prob because he was a man and he was black) really leaves huge gaps in this story. Who/where did he stay in Gastonia, did they check his card use between the 26th and 27th, anything that could lead them to someone who wasn’t Nathaniel. ***sigh*** I will prod my friend again to see if there’s anything she knows that hasn’t been posted online yet.

Okay, that looks like he probably took i-85 south and arrived in Gastonia at 10pm on Sept 26.

Stayed there overnight.

At 10am on the 27th he probably got back on I-85 doubling back to Raleigh, where he arrives at 12:21pm. That's about right; Googlemaps says it's two and a half hours but he's not driving a slow car.

The other two times are harder to figure out. It doesn't say which direction he was going or what highway he was getting on/off. The simplest sequence would probably be that he exited in Raleigh and drove to Asheville via a route that didn't have plate readers (could have spent the night anywhere), then got on I-40 to go back to Gastonia.

I say "he" but it could have been anybody driving the car. After going through this, I have a sinking feeling he was killed in Gastonia that first night and somebody else was driving his car when it wrecked. Of course the driver wouldn't stick around a stolen car.

p.s. rough map of one possible set of routes Google Maps

 

[KatzEye]

Okay, I found the community group, but can't share the post as it's by an individual. However, the community group is public and is searchable. Post date is 10-1-19.

LONG ISLAND MISSING PEOPLE

 

[TrueCrimeTrapQueen]

Went to the post- are the two map pics a little confusing? I feel like they don’t make sense according to the plate reader information found in the text. I’m thinking maybe this was posted before they knew all the details?

Okay, I found the community group, but can't share the post as it's by an individual. However, the community group is public and is searchable. Post date is 10-1-19.

LONG ISLAND MISSING PEOPLE

 

[carbuff]

Went to the post- are the two map pics a little confusing? I feel like they don’t make sense according to the plate reader information found in the text. I’m thinking maybe this was posted before they knew all the details?

I think the first one only covers the last two times on the plate reader info, plus where the car wrecked as "end." But I'm not sure that checks out. If the accident was Sept. 26, then those other times have to be from *after* he disappeared?

What is the source of the information about the car being in the woods? I know the family has said they have the car, but who told them where to go if there's no police report? (Not challenging the family. I'm just looking to clarify the timeline.)

 

[MimosaMornings]

Why was the location of the car a secret?

 

[TrueCrimeTrapQueen]

“TBarton” (who commented twice earlier in this thread) seems to be related to him. She seems to be the most active online of the family. That is where the car being found in the woods came from. Not sure how they would know that if the police had no report of an accident. That part is confusing. To me, it seems the police are giving little bits (if any) of information to the family. Being that this case was apparently bounced back and forth between Nassau County PD, Gaston County PD AND Atlanta PD idk that any of these departments are actively investigating this anymore and I’m not sure which department gave that information to the family.

I think the first one only covers the last two times on the plate reader info, plus where the car wrecked as "end." But I'm not sure that checks out. If the accident was Sept. 26, then those other times have to be from *after* he disappeared?

What is the source of the information about the car being in the woods? I know the family has said they have the car, but who told them where to go if there's no police report? (Not challenging the family. I'm just looking to clarify the timeline.)

 

[TrueCrimeTrapQueen]

I don’t necessarily know that it was meant to be “secret” there is just so much mystery surrounding the actual location of where the car was found. Being that this should be a significant part of the investigation makes the lack of information look suspicious.

Why was the location of the car a secret?

 

[carbuff]

“TBarton” (who commented twice earlier in this thread) seems to be related to him. She seems to be the most active online of the family. That is where the car being found in the woods came from. Not sure how they would know that if the police had no report of an accident. That part is confusing. To me, it seems the police are giving little bits (if any) of information to the family. Being that this case was apparently bounced back and forth between Nassau County PD, Gaston County PD AND Atlanta PD idk that any of these departments are actively investigating this anymore and I’m not sure which department gave that information to the family.

Yeah, I know his relatives and friends are still looking for him. I was wondering who told them where the car was, and when, for a more precise time and date on the timeline.

Nassau PD is listed as the investigating agency on the Namus page.

 

[KatzEye]

Being that this case was apparently bounced back and forth between Nassau County PD, Gaston County PD AND Atlanta PD idk that any of these departments are actively investigating this anymore and I’m not sure which department gave that information to the family.

This ^^^^ I believe is a large part of the problem in this case. Nathaniel would have travelled through many states on his trip from NY to GA. Unless there's credible video of him somewhere between those two places, this is probably a jurisdictional nightmare - one no one wants to take on, it seems. Also, at 1.5 years out, any video of places he may have stopped along the way may no longer exist. Not saying he did stop, but that's a long trip IMO.

Not sure if his cell phone has been mentioned, but I believe getting info from that would be the family's best bet this far out. At least pings should be able to be determined if he had a phone with him. That said, even that wouldn't determine exactly who had possession of the phone.

It saddens me that only one MSM article (posted by @YaYa_521 previously) can be found about this disappearance. I wish I had more ideas, but I'm back to being puzzled. IMO, though, whatever went wrong most likely went bad in or around the Gastonia area.

 

[MimosaMornings]

CUE – Community United Effort – Serving Missing Persons Nationwide

Cue is based in North Carolina.