NY NY - Colin Gillis, 18, Tupper Lake, 11 March 2012

[Nugget]

These boys' story coincides with the information that Colin had phone activity around 1:30 am--who did he call for a ride?? Or someone called him and then agreed to come and get him. Who is this person?

Afaik, no one has come forward to say, "yeah, but when we got to where he said he was, he was gone."

Someone help me with this.

1:30 is the last time he was heard from by phone.

My only comprehension of this is because 1:30 was they last time any one heard from him. NOT because they looked at his phone records.

Did they look at his records?
Did they ever try to ping his phone?

I find it hard to believe he had his own phone plan already. I guess I didn't catch if he brought in enough income for that? I was on my parents plan for the first few college years. I know many who are still on their parents into their 20s with no real question. So wouldn't it be easy to pull his records if he shares a plan with family?

JMO. Someone set me straight!

 

[Kadence]

Hi everyone, I'm wondering if it's possible that no evidence would be found of Colin being hit by a car if he was "tapped" from behind. Maybe that would leave no blood or broken glass/plastic?

I would also like to know more about his last phone contact, who it was with and what it was about.

roses - interesting about a large animal attack, are there bears in the area that could have gotten him and drug him off into the preserve?

I wish we could get a verified insider in Colin's case, it would be very helpful in answering a lot of our questions.

RSOs in Tupper Lake:

http://www.homefacts.com/offenders/New-York/Franklin-County/Tupper-Lake.html

I would assume they have all been checked out?

Is it possible he was roofied? More info, includes flailing of arms:

"Videos of people who have taken GHB show individuals who are completely unaware of their surroundings and their own well-being. The GHB users may be utterly unable to communicate coherently, and may engage in wild body motions, falling repeatedly or flailing arms and legs around in an uncontrolled manner."

http://www.narconon.org/drug-abuse/signs-symptoms-rohypnol-use.html

Were/are bath salts prevalent in the area? Crazy stuff!

Maybe the argument and the reason he left on foot is because he found out someone put something in his drink? That would tick me off!

How did he get to the party again? I don't think I remember reading that?! Did he ride with someone? Who?

Someone else missing from the same area, Wesley Wamsganz, three years, where are these young men (I do note that they are similar in age, stature, and looks) is there a possible connection in their disappearance?

NY NY - Wesley A. Wamsganz, 22, Saranac Lake, 21 Nov 2010 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

Just throwing stuff out to see if anything sticks. This child disappeared within approximately 10 minutes - the editor and his mother saw him walking, they drove to the police station and reported it and the police responded to the scene. HOW does that happen???

So many questions...

 

[rosesfromangels]

Despite massive search efforts, you can walk past remains and miss them. Very hard to find in the woods. You need dogs.

 

[Nugget]

Kadence - so many good points. I don't know how many I will get to tonight but I will be back tomorrow to really think this out. Probably from my laptop instead of my iPhone.

Anyway.

Good point about being "tapped" by a car rather than full-on hit. I guess when I think "hit and run" I think pretty drastic terms. Maybe he fell over and twisted an ankle or got bumped by a side view mirror. Either may hurt and cause a minor injury, but maybe no blood or even no tire marks.

One time my friend accidentally "ran me over" but he only got the tip of my shoe. He was going slow and it was a complete accident. Had we of been more unlucky, I could've gotten my foot smashed or worse. But probably not a lot of "evidence" left behind.

Also - maybe someone pulled over heckling him and he was trying to walk away from the car so they tapped him to knock him over so they could apprehend him without a big struggle. Could explain a shoe being left behind.

Good thoughts!

 

[Nugget]

Despite massive search efforts, you can walk past remains and miss them. Very hard to find in the woods. You need dogs.

You're so right. We see it happen all the time. I don't know what all of the listed members who searched bring with them but the article didn't outright list any K9s. Wonder if they didn't bring any out? Or maybe one of those units has K9s and they weren't listed? Seems like a pretty big effort for them to just forget to try K9s. But I'm sure it's happened plenty of times.

 

[Nugget]

Kadence:

Regarding bath salts:
I found a lot of articles about it causing people to flail arms, being agitated, talking quickly, being aggressive and fighting.

Of course I assume many drugs could have similar effects.

So if he took anything at the party there's a good possibility he couldn't provoked a fight.

Or on the other hand, if other people did drugs and he didn't, it's possible they started a fight.

Or if all or many did - same.

Or even just alcohol - that's a good aggressor.

These could've been friends and he just got uncomfortable and wanted to leave (but not alert his family so he didn't have to explain). Or he could've been the trouble maker and again, didn't want to bring it up to family to come pick him up.

Seems like he wanted to get as far away from the scene of the party, regardless what happened or how or what part he played.

Either he wasn't thinking logically or he thought he was making a good choice and didn't anticipate the cold, long walk and possible dangers of being out so late.

 

[Nugget]

Kadence: the Wesley A. Wamsganz seems very similar in a lot of ways! What is it about this area? Are there enough steep slopes and rocks, etc that it's possible to tumble down and be wedged out of sight? I wouldn't be surprised.

They do look very similar.

 

[Nugget]

Kadence:

Trying to think what could happen in 10 minutes.

1 - whoever he called finally picked him up

2 - someone hit him and threw him in their vehicle

3 - he stumbled into the woods and got lost. (He was walking along the edge so it wouldn't take much)

4 - a vehicle or semi pulled up and told him to hop in

5 - someone from the party saw him and picked him up

6 - he fell and someone took advantage of it and pulled him in their vehicle to rob him

7 - ....

Help me out. I think a lot could happen in ten minutes. Even within one minute, if you think about it!

 

[Nugget]

Not trying to hijack the thread LOL. Just trying to organize my thoughts and get people thinking. Even if it's just disagreeing - please stop in and prove me wrong or add to my thoughts!

I would love to get some good theories going that we can all expand on. Maybe we will be able to piece together something. Colin didn't disappear into thin air.

Good night y'all.

 

[Nugget]

*crickets*

Bump...

 

[rosesfromangels]

Kadence:

Trying to think what could happen in 10 minutes.

1 - whoever he called finally picked him up

2 - someone hit him and threw him in their vehicle

3 - he stumbled into the woods and got lost. (He was walking along the edge so it wouldn't take much)

4 - a vehicle or semi pulled up and told him to hop in

5 - someone from the party saw him and picked him up

6 - he fell and someone took advantage of it and pulled him in their vehicle to rob him

7 - ....

Help me out. I think a lot could happen in ten minutes. Even within one minute, if you think about it!

Items 2 or 3 ring most probable to me. I'm convinced he is in the woods close by.

 

[AngelaH]

Items 2 or 3 ring most probable to me. I'm convinced he is in the woods close by.

I agree completely. There are a lot of cases on here where they end up finding people where they have previously thoroughly searched.
I think the theory that he was hit by a car -intentionally or not - is most likely. They found 1 shoe if I recall correctly. He could have been running from something or could have been hit. After which he wandered into the woods or was removed by someone.
Very sad for his family and hopefully he will be found soon.

 

[Nugget]

Items 2 or 3 ring most probable to me. I'm convinced he is in the woods close by.

I agree, Roses. The more I think of it, 2 & 3 seem most probable.

Wonder if they stopped searching or if the family still searches from time to time. If my loved one went missing, I would be out there constantly. Months and years later. Not knocking them if they haven't been - but I would memorize the woods forwards and backwards with obsession.

Did they have ONE extension search or multiple follow-ups? I can't seem to find anything that says more than one search was done.

 

[Nugget]

I agree completely. There are a lot of cases on here where they end up finding people where they have previously thoroughly searched.
I think the theory that he was hit by a car -intentionally or not - is most likely. They found 1 shoe if I recall correctly. He could have been running from something or could have been hit. After which he wandered into the woods or was removed by someone.
Very sad for his family and hopefully he will be found soon.

I saw recently, and I don't remember which cases, but I think it was several families of missing guys in CA grouped together to do an awareness night. I would love to see that with this family and Wesley A. Wamsganz's family, if not more. They need to get their faces and situations back out into the public eye.

 

[rosesfromangels]

I'd sure like to know what happened at that party that caused this young man to set out in the middle of the night. And who might have taken after him? The answers are with the partygoers. Someone there needs to step up and speak.

 

[Hap]

What is it about fights at parties.... ? I don't understand how "friends" could let someone walk away on a freezing cold night. Poor Colin.

 

[Kadence]

Here is a link to the family's facebook page, Bring Colin Gillis Home, I'm glad I searched again! Much more here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/269264163154101/

 

[Kadence]

Great questions by everyone! Maybe we can find some answers on his FB page, will look ASAP!

 

[Wanting2Help]

I agree, Roses. The more I think of it, 2 & 3 seem most probable.

Wonder if they stopped searching or if the family still searches from time to time. If my loved one went missing, I would be out there constantly. Months and years later. Not knocking them if they haven't been - but I would memorize the woods forwards and backwards with obsession.

Did they have ONE extension search or multiple follow-ups? I can't seem to find anything that says more than one search was done.

I used to go to class with someone who was in Search and Rescue. I know that he and his friends (who are forest rangers in the Tupper Lake area) used to go on their days off to continue to search for Colin after the official search(es) ended. One of the guys has a search and rescue dog (not a cadaver dog) and he brought her with him. I'm not sure how long they continued to search but I do know they continued after the "offical search" ended.

RUMOR: I was told that in one of the 1st searches Colin's scent was traced going towards the lake but they lost the trail and there were NO signs of him falling through the ice.


Also, someone above asked about bears in the area. Yes there are bears in the area but I have not heard of anyone being attacked unless the bear was injured/provoked. They mostly raid garbage cans and occasionaly a camp. I have only seen a bear once in the wild and it was running so fast I could not focus my camera on it. They (brown bears) are usually more scared of humans than we are of them.

The shoe on the side of the road makes me think he was hit by a car or there was a struggle.

There was a case a while back where a teacher (Sherry Arnold) was out jogging and was pulled into a car and killed. They found her shoe on the side of the road but nothing else. I would like to know how far away they found the shoe compared to where Colin was seen on the road flailing his arms? Was he hurt and trying to flag down the driver?

 

[alreetlike]

I binge-read this thread yesterday. Unfortunately I don't have much to add, but it's yet another one that I'd really like to see resolved before too much more time passes.