May 16, 2023 • 51 mins
Trevor Michael Nichols was a young man from Tremont City, Ohio who was 24 when he vanished in 2017. He had come from a military family and wanted to follow in his other family members footsteps and join the U.S. Army after high school. Before he disappeared, Trevor got married and had a son who he loved dearly. Unfortunately, his marriage wouldn’t last. His mother Erin said her daughter in law had a difficult time adjusting to being a soldier’s wife and handling Trevor’s deployments. He was a cook in the Army and served in Afghanistan and Iraq.
His mother told said Trevor had a passion for cooking and could cook a great meal with just a few ingredients. He also enjoyed going for long walks, which is something he had always done.
She also said he loved his son more than anything else and was bothered that he would be moving farther away from his son once he transferred to Fort Riley. But his mother said he welcomed the challenge of having a fresh start in a new location.
Unfortunately, Trevor would never make it to his new duty station in Fort Riley, Kansas. Erin has said she last spoke to her son on November 14, 2017. However, it’s unknown when he was actually last seen. The last person to be seen with Trevor was supposedly a friend who was also in the Army.
The friend said he dropped Trevor off at an Amtrak station in Syracuse, NY. Erin believes the date to be November 17, 2017. However, she doesn’t know if her son ever made it to the train station because there is no proof. Only the word of Trevor’s friend. Erin also said that Trevor left behind his driver’s license, U.S. Military Identification Card and his cell phone. If he was leaving town, why would he not take his phone and identification information?
What really happened to Trevor Nichols? He’s been missing for over five years. No one has seen or heard from him.
His family is heartbroken over Trevor’s disappearance and will continue in their search for him. Someone out there knows what happened to him. Do you know what happened to Trevor? Are you the person with the key to solving this stranger mystery? If know anything about this case, please contact the Tremont City Police Department in Ohio at 937-328-2560.
And if you would like to know more about this case, you can also visit the Missing: Trevor Nichols Facebook page.
Please also visit my website for more information about my true crime and paranormal newspaper columns at www.themarcabe.com. You can also help support my podcast by purchasing a cup of $5 coffee every month. To help support the podcast, please visit https://www.buymeacoffee.com/catchmykiller. If you would like to contact me about this podcast, please visit my websites www.catchmykiller.com or www.themarcabe.com where you can submit a case.
His mother told said Trevor had a passion for cooking and could cook a great meal with just a few ingredients. He also enjoyed going for long walks, which is something he had always done.
She also said he loved his son more than anything else and was bothered that he would be moving farther away from his son once he transferred to Fort Riley. But his mother said he welcomed the challenge of having a fresh start in a new location.
Unfortunately, Trevor would never make it to his new duty station in Fort Riley, Kansas. Erin has said she last spoke to her son on November 14, 2017. However, it’s unknown when he was actually last seen. The last person to be seen with Trevor was supposedly a friend who was also in the Army.
The friend said he dropped Trevor off at an Amtrak station in Syracuse, NY. Erin believes the date to be November 17, 2017. However, she doesn’t know if her son ever made it to the train station because there is no proof. Only the word of Trevor’s friend. Erin also said that Trevor left behind his driver’s license, U.S. Military Identification Card and his cell phone. If he was leaving town, why would he not take his phone and identification information?
What really happened to Trevor Nichols? He’s been missing for over five years. No one has seen or heard from him.
His family is heartbroken over Trevor’s disappearance and will continue in their search for him. Someone out there knows what happened to him. Do you know what happened to Trevor? Are you the person with the key to solving this stranger mystery? If know anything about this case, please contact the Tremont City Police Department in Ohio at 937-328-2560.
And if you would like to know more about this case, you can also visit the Missing: Trevor Nichols Facebook page.
Please also visit my website for more information about my true crime and paranormal newspaper columns at www.themarcabe.com. You can also help support my podcast by purchasing a cup of $5 coffee every month. To help support the podcast, please visit https://www.buymeacoffee.com/catchmykiller. If you would like to contact me about this podcast, please visit my websites www.catchmykiller.com or www.themarcabe.com where you can submit a case.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:10):
So don't don't don't get Hello andwelcome to the Catch My Killer Podcast.
(01:48):
Thank you for listening. My nameis Mark. For nearly eight years,
I've written a weekly newspaper column abouttrue crimes and missing people for the Claremont
Sun newspaper in Ohio. With thecolumn and podcast, my objective has always
been to bring attention to cases thathaven't received much media attention, if any.
(02:09):
This week's story involves a missing youngsoldier named Trevor Nichols, who was
a specialist with the tenth Mountain Division'sfirst Brigade Combat Team at Fort Drum,
New York. He had recently learnedthat he had been transferred to Fort Riley,
Kansas. However, Trevor never madeit to Fort Riley. He was
(02:30):
twenty four years old when he disappearedin two seventeen and has not been seen
or heard from since. Trevor MichaelNichols was a young man from Tremont City,
Ohio, who was twenty four whenhe vanished in two seventeen. He
(02:53):
had come from a military family andwanted to follow in his other family members
footsteps and joined the United States Armyafter high school. Before he had disappeared.
Trevor had gotten married and had ason who he loved dearly. Unfortunately,
his marriage wouldn't last. His mother, Aaron, said that her daughter
(03:15):
in law had a difficult time adjustingto being a soldier's wife in handling Trevor's
deployments. He was a cook inthe army and served in both Afghanistan and
Iraq. His mother, Aaron saidthat Trevor had a passion for cooking,
and he could cook a great mealwith just a few ingredients. He also
enjoyed going for long walks, whichis something he had always done. She
(03:38):
also said that he loved his sonmore than anything else in the world,
and he was bothered that he wouldbe moving farther away from his son once
he transferred to Fort Riley, buthis mother did say he welcomed the challenge
of having a fresh start in anew location. Unfortunately, the six foot
to two hundred pounds soldier with brownhair and hazel eyes would never make it
(04:03):
to his new duty station in FortRiley, Kansas. Aaron has said that
she last spoke to her son onNovember fourteenth, twenty seventeen. However,
it's unknown when he was actually lastseen. The last person to have been
seen with Trevor was a friend whowas also in the army. The friend
(04:25):
said that he had dropped Trevor offat an Amtrak station in Syracuse, New
York. Aaron believes the date tohave been November seventeenth, twenty seventeen.
However, she doesn't know if herson ever made it to the train station
because there is no proof, onlythe word of Trevor's friend. Aaron also
(04:46):
said that he left behind his driver'slicense United States Military identification card in his
cell phone. If he was leavingtown, why would he not take his
phone and identification with him. Shehas said that none of this makes any
sense to her. Trevor was considereda wall and then labeled as a deserter.
(05:08):
On December eighteenth, twenty seventeen,Aaron tried to file a missing person's
report on her son in New York, but she said that law enforcement refused
to do so. She eventually filedthe missionary report with law enforcement in Tremont
City, Ohio, where the reportwas accepted. Aaron has said that she
was told by Army investigators known asCID that Trevor was seen on video at
(05:32):
a Burger King in Pulaski, NewYork, which she found odd because she
said that he didn't know anyone there. He was also allegedly seen at different
ATM machines withdrawing money. According toAaron, the Army investigators have since closed
their investigation on Trevor. She hasnever seen the video footage of him at
(05:54):
Burger King or any of the ATMmachines. She has said that no one
has shared any information with her abouther son, and she has been left
in the dark about Trevor's final moments. What really happened to Trevor Nichols.
He's been missing for over five years. No one has seen or heard from
(06:14):
Trevor since twenty seventeen. His mother, Aaron, has dispelled rumors of suicide
or any involvement from her daughter inlaw. For this story, I spoke
to Aaron Nichols about the disappearance ofher beloved son, Trevor Michael Nichols,
and now on with the story ofTrevor Nichols as told by his mother,
(06:38):
Aaron. Trevor is the baby ofthe family. We've got three sons by
birth and three that we call ourextra children. They were not legally adopted
that they lived with us. Wewere mom and dad, so he's the
baby of them all. We alsohave a very strong military family, my
(06:59):
husbands and veteran. His grandparents,my husband's parents were both Air Force in
Vietnam grandparents military. His middle brotheris a marine. One of the extra
boys is maybe they went in ayear before Trevor back in him when he
was kid, very fun, lovingkid. He was in a learning disabled
(07:26):
class, but only because he stuckto himself, and he was more of
a loner, called all of all, but just so smart. When he
was in probably seventhentieth grade, hewas reading college level books. The teacher
would have to ask me permission tolet him read because he would want to
be reading the Stigian King novels andand things like that. And he was
(07:47):
seventh grade. He just had awealth of wanting more knowledge and so he
was my book love, najor,loves getting out and just he would walk
everywhere. He had just a couplefor him to mean, he was mainly
a loner, but him and Willwere best friends in high school. He
met his girlfriend Carla in senior yearand they were together all his senior year
(08:13):
and then a year after high school, he decided he wanted to go into
the military. By this time,his brothers Tim and Travis were both already
in for a year. And itwas June of two thousand and twelve and
he decided he wanted to join thearmy. So everybody really supported him because
(08:35):
being from a strong military family,the boys had this sense of rivalry,
like I said, the ones ofMarine ones maybe and now brought as his
army. So he went to FortVenns for basic, and then when he
graduated from basic, we actually tookCarlo with us and went down for his
graduation. So it was a familyaffair. Yeah, we were very proud
(08:58):
of I'm very proud of his accomplishments. He wanted to go into airborne training
so that he could get his jumpwinks, Yes, thank you. He
wanted to go airborne, but hewas injured on a very first show.
He heard his hip, and sohe was sideline for a while, and
so then they didn't let him continuebecause they were afraid that hip would cause
(09:22):
problems. So he ended up goingto Fort Drum, New York, and
he was a cook chef and hejust loved that. This kid has been
cooking from the time he was probablysevent eight years old. He of all
the kids, would be the onethat would come out and help me do
stuff in the kitchen. And itwas just amazing because he could throw food
(09:46):
together that you wouldn't even think wouldgo together, and just create magnificent meals.
It was just talented in the kitchen. Well, as it's been famously
said, the army travels on itsstomach. Yeah, two sixteen, I
think after he got back from Iraq, he actually had a short tour at
West Point and got to do thekitchen at West Point, and oh,
(10:09):
he'd loved that. Him and Carlgot married in twenty fourteen and Lucas was
born year and a half later.Lucas was born right after he got back
from well, actually he was stillin Iraq when Luke was born. He
loved it up in New York.We went up and visited several times,
and he'd loved the history up there, and he was a nature bus he'd
(10:33):
loved taking the walks and just beginaround all the finger lakes. And even
when he was home, he wouldwalk miles every day. That wasn't unheard
of at all. So and mypoint in that is the morning that he
disappeared. I even asked everybody,Yes, are you sure he's just not
out taken a walk, you know, because that was his thing. He
(10:54):
loved loved his getting mountain nature.So he was into photography much like his
mama. He took photography classes inhigh school. He said he was really
into that. He loved music.He played guitar. So when Trevor went
to airborne training, it was hisgoal to get his wings. And then
(11:16):
I'm assuming he may have had adesire to go to ranger school because it's
what a lot of young men wantto do. It's a challenge and it's
difficult, but once it's achieved andyou get your ranger tab and your Airborne
wings, that's very impressive, especiallyamong your peers because they realize how difficult
(11:37):
the training is to earn those accomplishments. So when he didn't get his jump
wings, was he really disappointed ordid he just take it and stride and
figure there will be an other opportunities. He was disappointed, but he still
took it well. So even thoughthe first time, thinks self, he
still didn't lose that motivation and hehad just re up in two sixteen when
(12:01):
he was over in Iraq. Whatdid he do in Iraq? Did he
work in the kitchen? Oh?Yes, he still worked in the kitchen.
He was in Afghanistan for his firsttour and his second tour was in
Iraq. Can you tell me abouthis experiences while he was in Iraq and
Afghanistan? Did he share anything withyou about what he did over there,
(12:24):
or what he saw or his overallexperiences. She didn't say a whole lot
about it. And I really dofeel that he came home with some post
traumatic not diagnoses, but I feelthat he was dealing with something, because
even his wife said she could tellthat he had changed. Things were different
on his first tour in Afghanistry andeven though he was a chef, he
(12:48):
still had to do some of thepatrol. And he said one night when
he was out on patrol, amortar shell fell within feet of where he
and one of the other soldiers were, and thank god it was a bed,
or he probably would have come upona body bag, because he said
it was that close and that hedid tell me about that, but it
(13:09):
took very good six months before heeven told me about that happening. And
you could just tell he said,Mama's seeing things that you know that you
know well. I can tell youthat when a soldier returns home from combat,
their lives are never the same,because I can remember when my father
came home from Vietnam. I mean, my brothers and I were younger,
(13:31):
but I still remember my dad justbeing I don't know, I want to
say, maybe a little bit bitter, a little bit angry about how he
was treated or just how the publicwas towards the war. And until the
day he died, I think hecarried that with him, and he truly
was never the same person. Hewas drafted when he was about nineteen,
(13:54):
I believe, and he did twotours. But from what I understand,
he was a fun loving guy beforehe was sent to Vietnam, but after
he returned, it aged him andhe was just never the same. And
he had told me several times becausewe had talked about it, and he
said that those experiences that he hadin Vietnam had shaped him for the rest
(14:16):
of his life. It sounds likeyour son may have experienced something similar to
what my father experienced, right,And I didn't get that overall vibe with
Trevor but I could just tell herhe was more quiet. He and I
have always been close, and youcould tell he was more quiet when he
got back. And I didn't seeit, of course, because we live
(14:39):
in Ohio and he was in NewYork. But his wife did say that
he was drinking more. Yeah,that sounds pretty common with a lot of
vets returning home from more. Iknow my dad. I can remember he
did drink and smoke a lot afterhe came home. So I think your
son's experience with drinking isn't uncommon becausethey do it to soothe their pain,
(15:05):
I guess is a good way ofsaying it. So where was he going
to after leaving for Drum? Wherewas he supposed to be going Fort Riley,
Kansas? And what were his thoughtsabout being transferred to Kansas? Was
he angry or did he accept itas a new challenge? What were his
(15:26):
thoughts about leaving New York? Okay, So gon do a little backpedaling,
just a little bit. In twentysixteen, Lucas was born in March and
he had the three months stint atWest Point. His wife came home because
of the baby and being up therealone, so she came back home here
(15:48):
to Ohio and stayed with her parents. So he gets back from West Point
and he came here to Ohio toget her and the baby, and she
breaks an this to him that shewants to break things off. She just
didn't think she was cut out tobe a military wife with him having so
many deployments and being away from home, and she's the homebody type girl,
(16:15):
and she just couldn't deal with it. She told him that she wanted a
divorce. So he goes back upto New York alone. I was still
remember kicking him home that day.It was just so hard on him.
And when he got into orders totransfer, he was frustrated because he said,
I'm already so far away from Lucas. Now I'm going to be even
(16:37):
further away in the opposite direction.So he didn't want to leave his baby.
He just adored that baby, andLucas was so important to him,
and that's why. So that wasthe process to everything that happened afterward.
I can't accept it in my ownheart. And he was trying to work
(16:59):
things out with Mala, So that'swhy I'm saying he just didn't get up
and leave because he was so upsetabout being transferred further away from Lucas.
Why would he just desert and nothave anything to do with any of us
and not be able to see Lucasforever. That just doesn't make sense right,
And based on media reports he vanishedfrom a train station in New York
(17:26):
is can you confirm that is beingtrue? Is that what happened to him?
We honestly don't know. We haveno proof. I have no purse
of life after Tuesday night, Soas of now, you really don't know
if he actually made it to thetrain station. All I have is the
word of this one friend that saidthat he took him and dropped him off
(17:47):
there by the time I tried tofile him, this person report to Timeline.
Trevor called on Tuesday night, Novemberfourteenth, and says that he was
trying to move Carlos things in thestorage and he didn't know if he was
going to be able to come homeand see us before he transferred to Riley.
Then Wednesday morning was the morning thatI get a call from one of
(18:10):
his army buddies and said Trevor didn'tshow up for drill this morning. We
don't know where he's at and thiswas while Trevor was still in New York.
Correct, yes, so that wasWednesday morning. They called and said
that he didn't show up for drill. They went to the apartment there on
Port dram and they found his keys, his military ide, his driver's license,
(18:36):
his wallet, everything was left therein the apartment that he was gone.
So the Army Buddy and ninth Gagewe walked back and forth for a
couple of days and we're trying tofigure out where was he, what was
going on. Nobody heard from him. And then on Friday, November seventeenth,
Gage called me and said that theyfound him in Pulaski, which is
(19:02):
not quite anowledged about a half hoursouth of Watertown where a Fort Dramas and
they met up with Charvor's there.They found him there. Aaron would learn
more about her son's alleged sighting inPulaski, New York. However, she
has her doubts because as far asshe knows, he didn't know anyone there,
(19:23):
and she has never seen any videoto actually confirm that it was her
son. At a Pulaski Burger King. We will take a short break and
be right back with her thoughts abouther son allegedly being seen in Pulaski,
New York. So how did youfind out that he was in Pulaski?
(20:00):
How did you know that? Didsomeone tell you that he was there or
did someone see him there? Whatwere the circumstances behind you finding out that
he was in Pulaski? There wasactivity on his debit card and they notified
the wife. Carla called me andsaid, do you have any family in
Pulaski? I said, no,we don't know anybody in the New Yorkers.
(20:22):
I do guys, and so thenthat's when I called Gauge, and
Gauge and a couple of the otherbuddies went to Puloski, supposed to legal
look for Trevor, and they saidthat they found him, but they said
that he wouldn't talk to me onthe phone. But he's okay. So
no proof of life other than theirword for it. So, including your
(20:44):
son's friend, how many guys wentup there looking for Trevor? To my
understanding, three, But I don'tknow the names of the other two.
I don't even know if they wereall guys for that matter. I just
know it was Gauge and two otherpeople. Two other army friends supposedly went
to find him in Pulaski. Soafter the friend found Trevor and Pulaski,
(21:07):
what was the time period from whenhe found Trevor in Pulaski when he supposedly
dropped him off at the train stationonly an hour or so? He called
me back another hour or so andsaid, well, Trevor just got on
the train and he's headed out ofthe state, that he wouldn't talk to
you, okay. So then thatbrings me to this question that doesn't sound
(21:29):
to me as being truthful because Iwas in the military, as was other
family members of yours, and Ican tell you that from my own personal
experience, you didn't go anywhere withoutyour wallet, your military ID, and
your money. I mean especially yourmilitary ID, because it was always stressed
(21:49):
upon you about how important it wasfor you to always carry that with you.
And I never went anywhere without mymilitary ID, so I find it
unusual that your son would actually goanywhere without his. And I'm not familiar
with taking to the amtrack, butI'm assuming that you would probably have to
(22:12):
have some type of ID with youto board without, especially Postale eleven you
can't get on a train without yourID, So don't you find it strange
that your son would board a trainwithout his ID, money, or even
a cell phone. I mean,who goes anywhere without their cell phone?
(22:36):
I know I don't go anywhere.Even the youngest teenagers who have a cell
phone, they don't go anywhere withouttheir cell phones. So it just seems
strange to me that he would goto a train station without his military ID
or his phone without anything. Rightexactly, I'm assuming that this makes no
sense to you or anyone else forthat matter. No, it didn't.
(23:00):
And I have to say that thefirst night did everything happen, You're kind
of like in a state of shock. So Trevor has traveled by the train
before, so even though this isn'tadding up, at the same time,
I thought, well, maybe heis coming home. We've gone up to
Cleveland to pick him up at thetrain station before. So I remember sitting
(23:22):
up all that night thinking, Okay, I'm going to get a call about
three o'clock in the morning telling methat he's up in Cleveland and I need
to go get him. But thenthat call never came. Okay, So
now let me ask you about hisAmtrak picket. If he boarded the amtrack,
I'm assuming he probably would have chargedhis ticket on a credit card.
(23:44):
I'm guessing because a lot of peopledon't carry cash today. So did you
ever confirm whether or not he hadactually purchased a ticket? But I just
did. We have nothing, nothing, but they wouldn't talk to me,
being his mom, and so supposedlyall this happened like on Friday night.
(24:04):
So by Monday morning, I'm callingthe New York Police trying to file a
missing person report. They wouldn't letme do it. They said, no,
this is a military matter, andthey won't take a report. So
then after New York refused to takethe missing person's report, I'm assuming that
you tried to do so in Ohio, which is what I would have done.
(24:26):
At that point, I was disbaffled. They were telling me that I
couldn't file a missing person report becauseit was a military mouth, and I
didn't know what to do. Sowhat did you do? I ended up
talking to CID and they told methat they'll remember I said that on Thursday
(24:48):
there was activity on his debit card, and that's how we knew he was
in Ploffsky. So supposedly the CIDsaid that they had picture proof that that
was Trevor using his card in Pulaskiand that was proof that he left base
of his own free will. Thereforehe was a deserter and they closed the
case. Now, how did theArmy investigators actually confirm that it was your
(25:15):
son? They didn't show you anypictures a day. I'm thinking that they
should have because it would have mademore sense to show you the pictures and
said, can you identify this youngman as your son? No, and
I still haven't. I asked forthe CID report, never got the copies
of the pictures. Well, theysaid it was a camera at the Burger
King, that he went to BurgerKing and used his debit card, and
(25:38):
from the video camera at burger King, they took a picture of their video
which supposedly him buying as a mealor whatever. Do you know if he
was alone or was there anyone withhim in the pictures? Did the Army
investigators ever tell you? No,he was alone. Supposedly he went there
alone on Thursday. Then that's whenwe were notified there was activity on his
(26:03):
debit card. I didn't notify Gaugeand let him know until Friday. So
it was Friday afternoon when Gauge atthe other two Army buddies went looking for
Trevor and supposedly found him in Pulaski. Now, have you ever been able
to see his transactions on his debitcard or credit card or whatever he used.
(26:30):
Have you ever reviewed any of thestatements from back then? No,
they didn't include that in the CIDreport. And his wife did not have
access. Trevor handled the money,so she didn't have access to their bank
account. Now, he had acell phone, is that correct? Yes,
which was left at base. Sothen he traveled to Pulaski without a
(26:55):
cell phone, no cell phone,no nothing. Again, who goes anywhere
without a cell phone? And whywould he travel to Pulaski without a cell
phone? That doesn't make sense.I mean, what happens if there was
an emergency or he just needed tolet someone know where he was without the
phone. Yeah, were able tocheck his cell phone records. Tobody else
(27:19):
mentioned that to me, And Idon't even know what curier he had back
then, you know. Interesting enough? I once saw a detective on television
discussing the importance of cell phones,and he said that any law enforcement agency
that doesn't review cell phone records isn'tdoing their job. And he makes a
(27:42):
valid point because if you think aboutit, a cell phone has a lot
of information on it. People theirentire lives are on their all their contacts,
their videos, their access to theirbanking, their social media. It's
gotten to be where most people havetheir higher lives attached to their cell phone.
(28:03):
And I'm assuming that your son wasno different, right right, And
I'm guessing that your son's cell phonehad some valuable information on it as well.
And I'm assuming that you never gotto see anything on his cell phone
or even had an opportunity to seehis phone. And we never got the
phone, well Warrens's phone at nowhaven't even knows where it disappeared to because
(28:30):
it's never been returned to his wife. And based on what I've seen through
media reports, your son was classifiedas being a wall and then in December
of twenty seventeen, they changed hisstatus to deserter. Is that correct?
(28:51):
At the thirty days of a wall, then they slipped it to desert her
status and I was told by CIDthen I could not file a publicnessed person's
case until he was in desorder status, which makes no sense at all,
I don't understand. But because bythen when I finally filed it, and
I even tried calling New York tofile it and they still wouldn't let me,
(29:15):
and I did end up filing herein Ohio. I ended up filing
it right here with the police departmentwhere I lived. So when we did
file, it was just so frustratingall the way around because by then they
called the train station and so theirvideo is on the thirty day to loop.
(29:36):
By then thirty days is also theycouldn't even check the old footage of
video to even see if he hadeven been to the train station. Well,
I think that at this point alot of what could have happened to
him has to be attached to thetrain station, because that's where he was
last seen allegedly by a friend.But yet there's no proof of whether or
(30:00):
not he actually bought a ticket.There's no witnesses or video camera footage of
him being seen at the train station. And even they said that the last
last bank activity had been a greenmachine or cash machine atm and the burger
king in Bolosky was the last activityon his card, so there was no
(30:25):
purchase of a ticket, even fromthem reporting it to me. Now,
after you found out that he hadsupposedly gone to that burger king in Pulaski,
did you ever go out there,maybe with a picture of your son
and ask any of the employees ifthey had actually seen your son there?
Now that I did not, Andpart of that with finances. They're in
(30:45):
New York and I'm in Ohio,and at the time I wasn't working,
and I had no concept of whatto even do. I was like an
overwhelmed mode and your brain doesn't eventhink of what to do next to try
even look for him. So God, honestly, I had never even thought
(31:06):
of going to New York to tryto look for him, especially when his
friend said he has left the state. He's not in New York anymore.
So I didn't know where to start. Now, what's Trevor's official status today?
Is he considered a deserter? Isthat correct? Yes? I mean
according to the military, he's awall deserter. But in the public realm
(31:30):
he is listed as a missing personand he is listed in namous Nam.
The National Alliance of missing persons.While researching this case, I found a
couple different motives that were considered,which can't be confirmed at this time.
(31:51):
But some people think that he hadcommitted suicide, and the other thought was
that maybe his ex wife knew moreabout his disappearance than what she said.
But then that's not unusual because wheneversomeone disappears or gets murdered, the first
person that's always suspected is either thespouse or the significant other. Yeah,
(32:15):
they always the spouse, yes,But Carlo was here in Ohio, so
I really don't see her having muchof a hand in it. And a
suicide, I will tell you thatboy was one of the most positive.
I dealt with depression for years,and I was recital for years. My
(32:37):
poor kids dealt with so much becauseI was in and out of mental health
battling depression. And Trevor was probablyfrom my saving racist because that kid would
always say, Mom, you're strongerthan that. That's not the way to
go. You could fight this,and suicide not the answer. So I
do not believe that he would everfall to those depths himself. Aaron has
(33:00):
expressed much frustration about the whereabouts ofher missing son she considers her son's story
similar to other soldiers who have eitherdisappeared or died under unusual circumstances. We
will take a final break in returnwith Aaron's closing thoughts on the disappearance of
her son. Well, regarding thissuicide belief, you have to wonder that
(33:36):
if he did commit suicide, thenhow come all these years later no one
has ever found his body. Becausewhen people commit suicide, typically they don't
go hide and do it. Theydo it where they will be found immediately,
because they want their family to knowimmediately what happened so that they can
(33:58):
move on with their lives. Yeah. No, things are done and over.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, basedon what you've told me and what
I've read about this case, itdoesn't sound like your son would be the
type of young man who would commitsuicide because he had a son that he
loved, and he was close withyou, and it sounds like he was
(34:20):
satisfied with his career in the military. So the only other alternative would be
to suspect that there is foul playinvolved, that Trevor disappeared because someone made
him disappear, and and that's likehis dad would always knowing his love for
nature and how much he got outand walked and did things out nature.
(34:45):
His dad's peace of mind comes fromsaying, maybe he just sell in a
river somewhere and drowned or something.I said, Okay, but here we
are, We're five and a halfyears later. Why don't we have a
body. Well, the suicide routedoesn't seem likely. No, I agree.
I don't agree with that either.So, and I am not big.
(35:07):
I am not into psychics, buta friend is very big on the
psychic realm. And for Christmas abouttwo three years ago, she bought me
a cold breathing and the lady knewnothing about me, knew nothing about Trevor.
I had never talked to her beforewe started talking on the phone and
(35:28):
I said, well, I'm lookingfor my son, And right away she
said, you don't want to hearthis, but he's gone and don't look
for him. He's telling you notto look for him because you will suffer
the same thing. So that justgives me goose bumps, especially after the
Vanessa Gillen case. And now haveyou ever heard of Dakota's stump? Yes,
(35:51):
I've heard about his story. Okay, I am friends with his mom
and his case wasn't Dakota's case atFort Campbell, Kentucky? Is that right?
I thought maybe it was in Kentucky, but I can't remember for sure.
No, it was forth Hood.And if I recall, he died
in a car accident. Car accident, Yes, car accident on base.
(36:15):
But they tried to tell the momthat he was in Indiana, close to
their home. No, he'd neverleft base. They found his body on
base, right, and his familydoesn't believe what the army has told them.
They think that something else happened toDakota and they have been trying to
figure it out ever since. Right, So that case and now Richard Halliday
(36:40):
the who's the other kid? Wesley? There was another one that's the found
ride around the same time as thekilling, Gregory Widell. Gregor Widell,
Yes, that was it. Yes, I'm definitely familiar with his story.
I did interview his wife for thepodcast, and she was willing to talk
(37:05):
to me. And I know thatshe's been arrested several times. And if
you look at the internet, you'llsee many comments about people thinking that she
knows more than what she's ever saidabout his death. But I don't know
anything about that. I just knowthat she was gracious enough to speak to
me, and I appreciate that becauseI feel like just getting his story out
(37:30):
there was good and she was willingto share her thoughts about her husband with
me. So yeah, But hissituation was the same thing. He was
due to be transferred, his walletand ID and everything was left behind.
They said that he was a walldisorder, and look how long it tolcom
(37:52):
Finally they find his body. Youknow. Part of the reason I think
that I don't push harder to tryto find Trevor is it scares me to
yesses, that's what I'm gonna me. That's Mike going to be my answer.
Well, you're a Trevor's mother,and I don't care what any psychic
says. It'll just eat away atyou for the rest of your life if
you don't find out what happened tohim. And a lot of times I
(38:17):
think that the last person to beseen with the missing or deceased person usually
has more answers than what they've everpublicly revealed. And psychics are wrong sometimes.
Take a look at the girl thatwas in Cleveland, Sylvia Brown,
(38:37):
the famous psychic said that this girlwas deceased and she was found chained up
in a basement in Cleveland. Soshe was definitely wrong about that one.
But you have to keep searching becauseno one's going to care more about what
happened to Trevor than you will,because you're his mother. And of course
(39:00):
the best place for you or lawenforcement to start is with the friend that
allegedly took him to the train station. You have to talk to him if
you can and see if he's changedhis story over the past five years.
And now he won't talk to anybody. I've had private investigators and people are
(39:22):
like call engaged, and he won'ttalk to anybody about anything that happened that
day. And what about the othertwo Army buddies that supposedly went to Pulaski
with your son's friend. Do youknow their identities? No? And there
was nothing listened in the CID reporteither. Everything was didacted. And you
(39:43):
know something that I found really interestingabout this story. You had told me
about the friend taking him to thetrain station, But the different reports and
things that I've seen don't really mentionor focus on the and that took him
to the train station. Allegedly thisis the last person to have been seen
(40:06):
with your son, But yet noone is talking about this guy. I
find that kind of strange, don'tyou. Why isn't anyone talking about this
guy? I'm surprised. Do youknow if this friend is still in the
army or maybe the reserves or NationalGuard, or does even have any affiliation
with the military anymore? I honestlydon't know. I haven't tried to contact
(40:29):
age in a couple of years.He was listed it up at Fort Drum
for a long time, but Idon't know if we struggling on okay?
And if anyone has any information aboutyour son, who would they need to
contact with that information. I've hadseveral private investigators over the years. Brenda
(40:50):
Paradise is one that's been involved atGuardian Church Services. That's one that's been
involved on and off ever since thebeginning. But number to contact would be
the police department here in Park County, Ohio. Now, what have you
been doing on your own to generatepublicity for your son's case? Do you
have a Facebook page for him?Or do you use Twitter or TikTok any
(41:15):
of those? I grew up aFacebook page it's called Missing Trevor Nichols.
There for a while it was reallygood and I would do post every week,
because then I went to every month, and lately it seems like it
was getting harder and harder just topost because I feel like I'm holding nowhere
with it. Here we are,We're five and a half years later and
(41:36):
not a single clue as to wherehe is, and so it gets really
hard some days to keep posting andjust feel like we're I don't know,
but I do try to keep thestory alive. I've done a several podcasts
I've done, I've distribute flyers,I've done a lanterns for the lost events
(41:58):
where we let off air Lavern,the fire Lavern. So you've been vigilant
about keeping your son's story out there, you know. I've tried to keep
a story out there. Usually theseventeenth of every month you'll see Facebook post
on his page, in my personalpage, just trying to keep the story
(42:19):
out there. Now, how oftendo you contact law enforcement about your son
case? Have you tried to reachout to the military, you know,
the Army, CID, anyone ina position of authority about your son's case.
It's impossible to talk to anybody atEPA New York because you if I
(42:40):
call CID, all they tell meis this face is closed. They're not
looking for him. They're not doinganything. Yeah, right, because once
they label you as a dessert,they stop looking for you. Yeah.
So that's just it. So whydo I even bother to call him anymore?
(43:00):
Because I called one time and thenthey said, We're not even going
to talk to you over the phone. It's like, well, I'm in
Ohio, you're in New York.So I can tell you the whole process
of enlistment. I mean, Ican only go by my own experience,
but I can remember the recruiter cominginto my home and sitting there with me
(43:21):
and my parents and him telling mehow the Army's going to take care of
me. You know, tell mymom and dad don't worry about Mark.
We'll take care of him. Weleave no man behind and all that stuff.
And you know, the military takescare of their own, that sort
of thing. You know that rawRoss Speach. I heard that when I
was a seventeen year old kid,and you know, at the time,
I believed it because my dad wasa veteran and my grandfather was also a
(43:46):
veteran, so naturally I just believedit. And I'm a young kid.
I don't know any better, whichI've learned over the years, that they
tell you that they've got your back, but when a soldier disappears or gets
or something strange happens to him orher, than the first thing they do
is bail. You know they're notthere for you. Like, for instance,
(44:08):
for your son, they probably spendmore time trying to recruit him than
they did even looking for your son. It's obvious that something happened to him,
but yet it was very easy forthem to label him as a deserter
and basically forget about him. Butwhen they first spoke to him, they
probably told him that they would alwayshave his back and if anything bad happened
(44:30):
to him, they would uncover anytype of criminal activity or that sort of
a thing. Not only have theylabeled your son as a deserter, but
it sounds like they've also deserted him. And the reality is, and I've
said this to other people that havelost soldiers and their family, think about
(44:52):
this. Had all these soldiers thatdied under mysterious circumstances never joined the military,
they'd probably all still be alive today. Think about that, Well,
you will definitely have to catch upon everything that's happening with the Richard Holliday
case because the level of life andthe seat and everything that happened with them,
(45:19):
it's just unreal what they've gone through. And they've been very active and
trying to find Richard, and oh, it's just oh yeah, Yes.
I've talked to Richard's mom for thepodcast, and I admire her because she's
been hell bent on finding out whathappened to her son. So I know
(45:40):
that she just learned recently that hedied, but it doesn't sound like she
has any answers. So I definitelycommend her for trying to figure out what
exactly happened to Richard. And sometimesI get so angry at myself for not
doing more, But I have theprivate day it's like I don't even know
(46:01):
where to go next. At times, you know, I just I don't
know what to do. Well,you can't, and you shouldn't beat yourself
up over your son's disappearance. Don'tfeel like you haven't done everything that you
have. You speaking to me tellsme that you've done a lot. I
mean, your circumstances are you havenothing. You're trying to figure out what
(46:28):
happened to your son with nothing.You have no pictures, you have no
evidence, you have nothing. Theonly thing that you know about your son
is what some guy that's it supposedlywas his friend, has said, and
that was that he dropped him offat a train station. Other than that,
you don't know. There's been nosightings, there's been no updates,
(46:51):
and no one has shared anything withyou. So you're basically in a dark
room wearing a blindfold, trying tofind your way to the light. And
it's going to be a difficult roadfor you, but you're going to continue
traveling down that road to you findsomething out and it's all you can do,
(47:13):
right Yeah, Yeah, I woulddefinitely say that someone out there knows
what happened to your son, Butwhat you have to do is try to
find out who that person is,and by contacting your media, doing podcasts
and bringing awareness to your son's story, those are going to improve the odds
(47:35):
that the right person hears about yourson's case and maybe feel some sympathy for
you, or just makes a decisionthat they need to do the right thing
and reach out to someone and letthem know what happened to your son,
right right, somebody's gotten know something, you know, yeah, yes,
(48:00):
and I agory someone out there knowssomething. So the last thing that I
would want to ask you is foranyone out there that's listening to this podcast,
if they know anything about what happenedto your son, Trevor, what
would you say to that person orpersons? I just need peace. I
need closure. It is beyond imaginablehow this has affected my life for the
(48:24):
past five and a half years.That I can't drive down the street and
see somebody walking along the side ofthe road because Trevor used to walk everywhere
without making a double check look tomake sure that's not my son. I
can't imagine having to spend the restof my life doing this. I just
want that closure. If he's gone, I need to know that so that
(48:49):
I can just process it and dealwith it. I want that closure to
know that I can't keep looking foreverwith audi answers, and that can elodes
the story of Trevor Nichols. Whathappened to this young soldier? Was he
a victim of foul play or didhe go off the grid and just leave
his life behind. His family believesthat something happened to him because they know
(49:14):
he would never deserve his family orhis military obligations. His family is heartbroken
over Trevor's disappearance and they will continuein their search for him. Someone out
there knows what happened to him.Do you know what happened to Trevor?
Are you the person with the keyto solving this strange mystery? If you
know anything about this case, pleasecontact the Tremont City Police Department in Ohio
(49:40):
at nine three seven three two eighttwo five six zero. And if you
would like to know more about Trevor'scase, you can also visit the Missing
Trevor Nichols Facebook page. I willbe sure to provide this information in the
case story notes. And if youare a parent, law enforcement official,
(50:02):
friend, or relative seek injustice foran unsolved thomicide case, please visit my
website and complete the contact form.You can also contact me through Facebook.
Thank you for listening.
So don't don't don't get Hello andwelcome to the Catch My Killer Podcast.
(01:48):
Thank you for listening. My nameis Mark. For nearly eight years,
I've written a weekly newspaper column abouttrue crimes and missing people for the Claremont
Sun newspaper in Ohio. With thecolumn and podcast, my objective has always
been to bring attention to cases thathaven't received much media attention, if any.
(02:09):
This week's story involves a missing youngsoldier named Trevor Nichols, who was
a specialist with the tenth Mountain Division'sfirst Brigade Combat Team at Fort Drum,
New York. He had recently learnedthat he had been transferred to Fort Riley,
Kansas. However, Trevor never madeit to Fort Riley. He was
(02:30):
twenty four years old when he disappearedin two seventeen and has not been seen
or heard from since. Trevor MichaelNichols was a young man from Tremont City,
Ohio, who was twenty four whenhe vanished in two seventeen. He
(02:53):
had come from a military family andwanted to follow in his other family members
footsteps and joined the United States Armyafter high school. Before he had disappeared.
Trevor had gotten married and had ason who he loved dearly. Unfortunately,
his marriage wouldn't last. His mother, Aaron, said that her daughter
(03:15):
in law had a difficult time adjustingto being a soldier's wife in handling Trevor's
deployments. He was a cook inthe army and served in both Afghanistan and
Iraq. His mother, Aaron saidthat Trevor had a passion for cooking,
and he could cook a great mealwith just a few ingredients. He also
enjoyed going for long walks, whichis something he had always done. She
(03:38):
also said that he loved his sonmore than anything else in the world,
and he was bothered that he wouldbe moving farther away from his son once
he transferred to Fort Riley, buthis mother did say he welcomed the challenge
of having a fresh start in anew location. Unfortunately, the six foot
to two hundred pounds soldier with brownhair and hazel eyes would never make it
(04:03):
to his new duty station in FortRiley, Kansas. Aaron has said that
she last spoke to her son onNovember fourteenth, twenty seventeen. However,
it's unknown when he was actually lastseen. The last person to have been
seen with Trevor was a friend whowas also in the army. The friend
(04:25):
said that he had dropped Trevor offat an Amtrak station in Syracuse, New
York. Aaron believes the date tohave been November seventeenth, twenty seventeen.
However, she doesn't know if herson ever made it to the train station
because there is no proof, onlythe word of Trevor's friend. Aaron also
(04:46):
said that he left behind his driver'slicense United States Military identification card in his
cell phone. If he was leavingtown, why would he not take his
phone and identification with him. Shehas said that none of this makes any
sense to her. Trevor was considereda wall and then labeled as a deserter.
(05:08):
On December eighteenth, twenty seventeen,Aaron tried to file a missing person's
report on her son in New York, but she said that law enforcement refused
to do so. She eventually filedthe missionary report with law enforcement in Tremont
City, Ohio, where the reportwas accepted. Aaron has said that she
was told by Army investigators known asCID that Trevor was seen on video at
(05:32):
a Burger King in Pulaski, NewYork, which she found odd because she
said that he didn't know anyone there. He was also allegedly seen at different
ATM machines withdrawing money. According toAaron, the Army investigators have since closed
their investigation on Trevor. She hasnever seen the video footage of him at
(05:54):
Burger King or any of the ATMmachines. She has said that no one
has shared any information with her abouther son, and she has been left
in the dark about Trevor's final moments. What really happened to Trevor Nichols.
He's been missing for over five years. No one has seen or heard from
(06:14):
Trevor since twenty seventeen. His mother, Aaron, has dispelled rumors of suicide
or any involvement from her daughter inlaw. For this story, I spoke
to Aaron Nichols about the disappearance ofher beloved son, Trevor Michael Nichols,
and now on with the story ofTrevor Nichols as told by his mother,
(06:38):
Aaron. Trevor is the baby ofthe family. We've got three sons by
birth and three that we call ourextra children. They were not legally adopted
that they lived with us. Wewere mom and dad, so he's the
baby of them all. We alsohave a very strong military family, my
(06:59):
husbands and veteran. His grandparents,my husband's parents were both Air Force in
Vietnam grandparents military. His middle brotheris a marine. One of the extra
boys is maybe they went in ayear before Trevor back in him when he
was kid, very fun, lovingkid. He was in a learning disabled
(07:26):
class, but only because he stuckto himself, and he was more of
a loner, called all of all, but just so smart. When he
was in probably seventhentieth grade, hewas reading college level books. The teacher
would have to ask me permission tolet him read because he would want to
be reading the Stigian King novels andand things like that. And he was
(07:47):
seventh grade. He just had awealth of wanting more knowledge and so he
was my book love, najor,loves getting out and just he would walk
everywhere. He had just a couplefor him to mean, he was mainly
a loner, but him and Willwere best friends in high school. He
met his girlfriend Carla in senior yearand they were together all his senior year
(08:13):
and then a year after high school, he decided he wanted to go into
the military. By this time,his brothers Tim and Travis were both already
in for a year. And itwas June of two thousand and twelve and
he decided he wanted to join thearmy. So everybody really supported him because
(08:35):
being from a strong military family,the boys had this sense of rivalry,
like I said, the ones ofMarine ones maybe and now brought as his
army. So he went to FortVenns for basic, and then when he
graduated from basic, we actually tookCarlo with us and went down for his
graduation. So it was a familyaffair. Yeah, we were very proud
(08:58):
of I'm very proud of his accomplishments. He wanted to go into airborne training
so that he could get his jumpwinks, Yes, thank you. He
wanted to go airborne, but hewas injured on a very first show.
He heard his hip, and sohe was sideline for a while, and
so then they didn't let him continuebecause they were afraid that hip would cause
(09:22):
problems. So he ended up goingto Fort Drum, New York, and
he was a cook chef and hejust loved that. This kid has been
cooking from the time he was probablysevent eight years old. He of all
the kids, would be the onethat would come out and help me do
stuff in the kitchen. And itwas just amazing because he could throw food
(09:46):
together that you wouldn't even think wouldgo together, and just create magnificent meals.
It was just talented in the kitchen. Well, as it's been famously
said, the army travels on itsstomach. Yeah, two sixteen, I
think after he got back from Iraq, he actually had a short tour at
West Point and got to do thekitchen at West Point, and oh,
(10:09):
he'd loved that. Him and Carlgot married in twenty fourteen and Lucas was
born year and a half later.Lucas was born right after he got back
from well, actually he was stillin Iraq when Luke was born. He
loved it up in New York.We went up and visited several times,
and he'd loved the history up there, and he was a nature bus he'd
(10:33):
loved taking the walks and just beginaround all the finger lakes. And even
when he was home, he wouldwalk miles every day. That wasn't unheard
of at all. So and mypoint in that is the morning that he
disappeared. I even asked everybody,Yes, are you sure he's just not
out taken a walk, you know, because that was his thing. He
(10:54):
loved loved his getting mountain nature.So he was into photography much like his
mama. He took photography classes inhigh school. He said he was really
into that. He loved music.He played guitar. So when Trevor went
to airborne training, it was hisgoal to get his wings. And then
(11:16):
I'm assuming he may have had adesire to go to ranger school because it's
what a lot of young men wantto do. It's a challenge and it's
difficult, but once it's achieved andyou get your ranger tab and your Airborne
wings, that's very impressive, especiallyamong your peers because they realize how difficult
(11:37):
the training is to earn those accomplishments. So when he didn't get his jump
wings, was he really disappointed ordid he just take it and stride and
figure there will be an other opportunities. He was disappointed, but he still
took it well. So even thoughthe first time, thinks self, he
still didn't lose that motivation and hehad just re up in two sixteen when
(12:01):
he was over in Iraq. Whatdid he do in Iraq? Did he
work in the kitchen? Oh?Yes, he still worked in the kitchen.
He was in Afghanistan for his firsttour and his second tour was in
Iraq. Can you tell me abouthis experiences while he was in Iraq and
Afghanistan? Did he share anything withyou about what he did over there,
(12:24):
or what he saw or his overallexperiences. She didn't say a whole lot
about it. And I really dofeel that he came home with some post
traumatic not diagnoses, but I feelthat he was dealing with something, because
even his wife said she could tellthat he had changed. Things were different
on his first tour in Afghanistry andeven though he was a chef, he
(12:48):
still had to do some of thepatrol. And he said one night when
he was out on patrol, amortar shell fell within feet of where he
and one of the other soldiers were, and thank god it was a bed,
or he probably would have come upona body bag, because he said
it was that close and that hedid tell me about that, but it
(13:09):
took very good six months before heeven told me about that happening. And
you could just tell he said,Mama's seeing things that you know that you
know well. I can tell youthat when a soldier returns home from combat,
their lives are never the same,because I can remember when my father
came home from Vietnam. I mean, my brothers and I were younger,
(13:31):
but I still remember my dad justbeing I don't know, I want to
say, maybe a little bit bitter, a little bit angry about how he
was treated or just how the publicwas towards the war. And until the
day he died, I think hecarried that with him, and he truly
was never the same person. Hewas drafted when he was about nineteen,
(13:54):
I believe, and he did twotours. But from what I understand,
he was a fun loving guy beforehe was sent to Vietnam, but after
he returned, it aged him andhe was just never the same. And
he had told me several times becausewe had talked about it, and he
said that those experiences that he hadin Vietnam had shaped him for the rest
(14:16):
of his life. It sounds likeyour son may have experienced something similar to
what my father experienced, right,And I didn't get that overall vibe with
Trevor but I could just tell herhe was more quiet. He and I
have always been close, and youcould tell he was more quiet when he
got back. And I didn't seeit, of course, because we live
(14:39):
in Ohio and he was in NewYork. But his wife did say that
he was drinking more. Yeah,that sounds pretty common with a lot of
vets returning home from more. Iknow my dad. I can remember he
did drink and smoke a lot afterhe came home. So I think your
son's experience with drinking isn't uncommon becausethey do it to soothe their pain,
(15:05):
I guess is a good way ofsaying it. So where was he going
to after leaving for Drum? Wherewas he supposed to be going Fort Riley,
Kansas? And what were his thoughtsabout being transferred to Kansas? Was
he angry or did he accept itas a new challenge? What were his
(15:26):
thoughts about leaving New York? Okay, So gon do a little backpedaling,
just a little bit. In twentysixteen, Lucas was born in March and
he had the three months stint atWest Point. His wife came home because
of the baby and being up therealone, so she came back home here
(15:48):
to Ohio and stayed with her parents. So he gets back from West Point
and he came here to Ohio toget her and the baby, and she
breaks an this to him that shewants to break things off. She just
didn't think she was cut out tobe a military wife with him having so
many deployments and being away from home, and she's the homebody type girl,
(16:15):
and she just couldn't deal with it. She told him that she wanted a
divorce. So he goes back upto New York alone. I was still
remember kicking him home that day.It was just so hard on him.
And when he got into orders totransfer, he was frustrated because he said,
I'm already so far away from Lucas. Now I'm going to be even
(16:37):
further away in the opposite direction.So he didn't want to leave his baby.
He just adored that baby, andLucas was so important to him,
and that's why. So that wasthe process to everything that happened afterward.
I can't accept it in my ownheart. And he was trying to work
(16:59):
things out with Mala, So that'swhy I'm saying he just didn't get up
and leave because he was so upsetabout being transferred further away from Lucas.
Why would he just desert and nothave anything to do with any of us
and not be able to see Lucasforever. That just doesn't make sense right,
And based on media reports he vanishedfrom a train station in New York
(17:26):
is can you confirm that is beingtrue? Is that what happened to him?
We honestly don't know. We haveno proof. I have no purse
of life after Tuesday night, Soas of now, you really don't know
if he actually made it to thetrain station. All I have is the
word of this one friend that saidthat he took him and dropped him off
(17:47):
there by the time I tried tofile him, this person report to Timeline.
Trevor called on Tuesday night, Novemberfourteenth, and says that he was
trying to move Carlos things in thestorage and he didn't know if he was
going to be able to come homeand see us before he transferred to Riley.
Then Wednesday morning was the morning thatI get a call from one of
(18:10):
his army buddies and said Trevor didn'tshow up for drill this morning. We
don't know where he's at and thiswas while Trevor was still in New York.
Correct, yes, so that wasWednesday morning. They called and said
that he didn't show up for drill. They went to the apartment there on
Port dram and they found his keys, his military ide, his driver's license,
(18:36):
his wallet, everything was left therein the apartment that he was gone.
So the Army Buddy and ninth Gagewe walked back and forth for a
couple of days and we're trying tofigure out where was he, what was
going on. Nobody heard from him. And then on Friday, November seventeenth,
Gage called me and said that theyfound him in Pulaski, which is
(19:02):
not quite anowledged about a half hoursouth of Watertown where a Fort Dramas and
they met up with Charvor's there.They found him there. Aaron would learn
more about her son's alleged sighting inPulaski, New York. However, she
has her doubts because as far asshe knows, he didn't know anyone there,
(19:23):
and she has never seen any videoto actually confirm that it was her
son. At a Pulaski Burger King. We will take a short break and
be right back with her thoughts abouther son allegedly being seen in Pulaski,
New York. So how did youfind out that he was in Pulaski?
(20:00):
How did you know that? Didsomeone tell you that he was there or
did someone see him there? Whatwere the circumstances behind you finding out that
he was in Pulaski? There wasactivity on his debit card and they notified
the wife. Carla called me andsaid, do you have any family in
Pulaski? I said, no,we don't know anybody in the New Yorkers.
(20:22):
I do guys, and so thenthat's when I called Gauge, and
Gauge and a couple of the otherbuddies went to Puloski, supposed to legal
look for Trevor, and they saidthat they found him, but they said
that he wouldn't talk to me onthe phone. But he's okay. So
no proof of life other than theirword for it. So, including your
(20:44):
son's friend, how many guys wentup there looking for Trevor? To my
understanding, three, But I don'tknow the names of the other two.
I don't even know if they wereall guys for that matter. I just
know it was Gauge and two otherpeople. Two other army friends supposedly went
to find him in Pulaski. Soafter the friend found Trevor and Pulaski,
(21:07):
what was the time period from whenhe found Trevor in Pulaski when he supposedly
dropped him off at the train stationonly an hour or so? He called
me back another hour or so andsaid, well, Trevor just got on
the train and he's headed out ofthe state, that he wouldn't talk to
you, okay. So then thatbrings me to this question that doesn't sound
(21:29):
to me as being truthful because Iwas in the military, as was other
family members of yours, and Ican tell you that from my own personal
experience, you didn't go anywhere withoutyour wallet, your military ID, and
your money. I mean especially yourmilitary ID, because it was always stressed
(21:49):
upon you about how important it wasfor you to always carry that with you.
And I never went anywhere without mymilitary ID, so I find it
unusual that your son would actually goanywhere without his. And I'm not familiar
with taking to the amtrack, butI'm assuming that you would probably have to
(22:12):
have some type of ID with youto board without, especially Postale eleven you
can't get on a train without yourID, So don't you find it strange
that your son would board a trainwithout his ID, money, or even
a cell phone. I mean,who goes anywhere without their cell phone?
(22:36):
I know I don't go anywhere.Even the youngest teenagers who have a cell
phone, they don't go anywhere withouttheir cell phones. So it just seems
strange to me that he would goto a train station without his military ID
or his phone without anything. Rightexactly, I'm assuming that this makes no
sense to you or anyone else forthat matter. No, it didn't.
(23:00):
And I have to say that thefirst night did everything happen, You're kind
of like in a state of shock. So Trevor has traveled by the train
before, so even though this isn'tadding up, at the same time,
I thought, well, maybe heis coming home. We've gone up to
Cleveland to pick him up at thetrain station before. So I remember sitting
(23:22):
up all that night thinking, Okay, I'm going to get a call about
three o'clock in the morning telling methat he's up in Cleveland and I need
to go get him. But thenthat call never came. Okay, So
now let me ask you about hisAmtrak picket. If he boarded the amtrack,
I'm assuming he probably would have chargedhis ticket on a credit card.
(23:44):
I'm guessing because a lot of peopledon't carry cash today. So did you
ever confirm whether or not he hadactually purchased a ticket? But I just
did. We have nothing, nothing, but they wouldn't talk to me,
being his mom, and so supposedlyall this happened like on Friday night.
(24:04):
So by Monday morning, I'm callingthe New York Police trying to file a
missing person report. They wouldn't letme do it. They said, no,
this is a military matter, andthey won't take a report. So
then after New York refused to takethe missing person's report, I'm assuming that
you tried to do so in Ohio, which is what I would have done.
(24:26):
At that point, I was disbaffled. They were telling me that I
couldn't file a missing person report becauseit was a military mouth, and I
didn't know what to do. Sowhat did you do? I ended up
talking to CID and they told methat they'll remember I said that on Thursday
(24:48):
there was activity on his debit card, and that's how we knew he was
in Ploffsky. So supposedly the CIDsaid that they had picture proof that that
was Trevor using his card in Pulaskiand that was proof that he left base
of his own free will. Thereforehe was a deserter and they closed the
case. Now, how did theArmy investigators actually confirm that it was your
(25:15):
son? They didn't show you anypictures a day. I'm thinking that they
should have because it would have mademore sense to show you the pictures and
said, can you identify this youngman as your son? No, and
I still haven't. I asked forthe CID report, never got the copies
of the pictures. Well, theysaid it was a camera at the Burger
King, that he went to BurgerKing and used his debit card, and
(25:38):
from the video camera at burger King, they took a picture of their video
which supposedly him buying as a mealor whatever. Do you know if he
was alone or was there anyone withhim in the pictures? Did the Army
investigators ever tell you? No,he was alone. Supposedly he went there
alone on Thursday. Then that's whenwe were notified there was activity on his
(26:03):
debit card. I didn't notify Gaugeand let him know until Friday. So
it was Friday afternoon when Gauge atthe other two Army buddies went looking for
Trevor and supposedly found him in Pulaski. Now, have you ever been able
to see his transactions on his debitcard or credit card or whatever he used.
(26:30):
Have you ever reviewed any of thestatements from back then? No,
they didn't include that in the CIDreport. And his wife did not have
access. Trevor handled the money,so she didn't have access to their bank
account. Now, he had acell phone, is that correct? Yes,
which was left at base. Sothen he traveled to Pulaski without a
(26:55):
cell phone, no cell phone,no nothing. Again, who goes anywhere
without a cell phone? And whywould he travel to Pulaski without a cell
phone? That doesn't make sense.I mean, what happens if there was
an emergency or he just needed tolet someone know where he was without the
phone. Yeah, were able tocheck his cell phone records. Tobody else
(27:19):
mentioned that to me, And Idon't even know what curier he had back
then, you know. Interesting enough? I once saw a detective on television
discussing the importance of cell phones,and he said that any law enforcement agency
that doesn't review cell phone records isn'tdoing their job. And he makes a
(27:42):
valid point because if you think aboutit, a cell phone has a lot
of information on it. People theirentire lives are on their all their contacts,
their videos, their access to theirbanking, their social media. It's
gotten to be where most people havetheir higher lives attached to their cell phone.
(28:03):
And I'm assuming that your son wasno different, right right, And
I'm guessing that your son's cell phonehad some valuable information on it as well.
And I'm assuming that you never gotto see anything on his cell phone
or even had an opportunity to seehis phone. And we never got the
phone, well Warrens's phone at nowhaven't even knows where it disappeared to because
(28:30):
it's never been returned to his wife. And based on what I've seen through
media reports, your son was classifiedas being a wall and then in December
of twenty seventeen, they changed hisstatus to deserter. Is that correct?
(28:51):
At the thirty days of a wall, then they slipped it to desert her
status and I was told by CIDthen I could not file a publicnessed person's
case until he was in desorder status, which makes no sense at all,
I don't understand. But because bythen when I finally filed it, and
I even tried calling New York tofile it and they still wouldn't let me,
(29:15):
and I did end up filing herein Ohio. I ended up filing
it right here with the police departmentwhere I lived. So when we did
file, it was just so frustratingall the way around because by then they
called the train station and so theirvideo is on the thirty day to loop.
(29:36):
By then thirty days is also theycouldn't even check the old footage of
video to even see if he hadeven been to the train station. Well,
I think that at this point alot of what could have happened to
him has to be attached to thetrain station, because that's where he was
last seen allegedly by a friend.But yet there's no proof of whether or
(30:00):
not he actually bought a ticket.There's no witnesses or video camera footage of
him being seen at the train station. And even they said that the last
last bank activity had been a greenmachine or cash machine atm and the burger
king in Bolosky was the last activityon his card, so there was no
(30:25):
purchase of a ticket, even fromthem reporting it to me. Now,
after you found out that he hadsupposedly gone to that burger king in Pulaski,
did you ever go out there,maybe with a picture of your son
and ask any of the employees ifthey had actually seen your son there?
Now that I did not, Andpart of that with finances. They're in
(30:45):
New York and I'm in Ohio,and at the time I wasn't working,
and I had no concept of whatto even do. I was like an
overwhelmed mode and your brain doesn't eventhink of what to do next to try
even look for him. So God, honestly, I had never even thought
(31:06):
of going to New York to tryto look for him, especially when his
friend said he has left the state. He's not in New York anymore.
So I didn't know where to start. Now, what's Trevor's official status today?
Is he considered a deserter? Isthat correct? Yes? I mean
according to the military, he's awall deserter. But in the public realm
(31:30):
he is listed as a missing personand he is listed in namous Nam.
The National Alliance of missing persons.While researching this case, I found a
couple different motives that were considered,which can't be confirmed at this time.
(31:51):
But some people think that he hadcommitted suicide, and the other thought was
that maybe his ex wife knew moreabout his disappearance than what she said.
But then that's not unusual because wheneversomeone disappears or gets murdered, the first
person that's always suspected is either thespouse or the significant other. Yeah,
(32:15):
they always the spouse, yes,But Carlo was here in Ohio, so
I really don't see her having muchof a hand in it. And a
suicide, I will tell you thatboy was one of the most positive.
I dealt with depression for years,and I was recital for years. My
(32:37):
poor kids dealt with so much becauseI was in and out of mental health
battling depression. And Trevor was probablyfrom my saving racist because that kid would
always say, Mom, you're strongerthan that. That's not the way to
go. You could fight this,and suicide not the answer. So I
do not believe that he would everfall to those depths himself. Aaron has
(33:00):
expressed much frustration about the whereabouts ofher missing son she considers her son's story
similar to other soldiers who have eitherdisappeared or died under unusual circumstances. We
will take a final break in returnwith Aaron's closing thoughts on the disappearance of
her son. Well, regarding thissuicide belief, you have to wonder that
(33:36):
if he did commit suicide, thenhow come all these years later no one
has ever found his body. Becausewhen people commit suicide, typically they don't
go hide and do it. Theydo it where they will be found immediately,
because they want their family to knowimmediately what happened so that they can
(33:58):
move on with their lives. Yeah. No, things are done and over.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, basedon what you've told me and what
I've read about this case, itdoesn't sound like your son would be the
type of young man who would commitsuicide because he had a son that he
loved, and he was close withyou, and it sounds like he was
(34:20):
satisfied with his career in the military. So the only other alternative would be
to suspect that there is foul playinvolved, that Trevor disappeared because someone made
him disappear, and and that's likehis dad would always knowing his love for
nature and how much he got outand walked and did things out nature.
(34:45):
His dad's peace of mind comes fromsaying, maybe he just sell in a
river somewhere and drowned or something.I said, Okay, but here we
are, We're five and a halfyears later. Why don't we have a
body. Well, the suicide routedoesn't seem likely. No, I agree.
I don't agree with that either.So, and I am not big.
(35:07):
I am not into psychics, buta friend is very big on the
psychic realm. And for Christmas abouttwo three years ago, she bought me
a cold breathing and the lady knewnothing about me, knew nothing about Trevor.
I had never talked to her beforewe started talking on the phone and
(35:28):
I said, well, I'm lookingfor my son, And right away she
said, you don't want to hearthis, but he's gone and don't look
for him. He's telling you notto look for him because you will suffer
the same thing. So that justgives me goose bumps, especially after the
Vanessa Gillen case. And now haveyou ever heard of Dakota's stump? Yes,
(35:51):
I've heard about his story. Okay, I am friends with his mom
and his case wasn't Dakota's case atFort Campbell, Kentucky? Is that right?
I thought maybe it was in Kentucky, but I can't remember for sure.
No, it was forth Hood.And if I recall, he died
in a car accident. Car accident, Yes, car accident on base.
(36:15):
But they tried to tell the momthat he was in Indiana, close to
their home. No, he'd neverleft base. They found his body on
base, right, and his familydoesn't believe what the army has told them.
They think that something else happened toDakota and they have been trying to
figure it out ever since. Right, So that case and now Richard Halliday
(36:40):
the who's the other kid? Wesley? There was another one that's the found
ride around the same time as thekilling, Gregory Widell. Gregor Widell,
Yes, that was it. Yes, I'm definitely familiar with his story.
I did interview his wife for thepodcast, and she was willing to talk
(37:05):
to me. And I know thatshe's been arrested several times. And if
you look at the internet, you'llsee many comments about people thinking that she
knows more than what she's ever saidabout his death. But I don't know
anything about that. I just knowthat she was gracious enough to speak to
me, and I appreciate that becauseI feel like just getting his story out
(37:30):
there was good and she was willingto share her thoughts about her husband with
me. So yeah, But hissituation was the same thing. He was
due to be transferred, his walletand ID and everything was left behind.
They said that he was a walldisorder, and look how long it tolcom
(37:52):
Finally they find his body. Youknow. Part of the reason I think
that I don't push harder to tryto find Trevor is it scares me to
yesses, that's what I'm gonna me. That's Mike going to be my answer.
Well, you're a Trevor's mother,and I don't care what any psychic
says. It'll just eat away atyou for the rest of your life if
you don't find out what happened tohim. And a lot of times I
(38:17):
think that the last person to beseen with the missing or deceased person usually
has more answers than what they've everpublicly revealed. And psychics are wrong sometimes.
Take a look at the girl thatwas in Cleveland, Sylvia Brown,
(38:37):
the famous psychic said that this girlwas deceased and she was found chained up
in a basement in Cleveland. Soshe was definitely wrong about that one.
But you have to keep searching becauseno one's going to care more about what
happened to Trevor than you will,because you're his mother. And of course
(39:00):
the best place for you or lawenforcement to start is with the friend that
allegedly took him to the train station. You have to talk to him if
you can and see if he's changedhis story over the past five years.
And now he won't talk to anybody. I've had private investigators and people are
(39:22):
like call engaged, and he won'ttalk to anybody about anything that happened that
day. And what about the othertwo Army buddies that supposedly went to Pulaski
with your son's friend. Do youknow their identities? No? And there
was nothing listened in the CID reporteither. Everything was didacted. And you
(39:43):
know something that I found really interestingabout this story. You had told me
about the friend taking him to thetrain station, But the different reports and
things that I've seen don't really mentionor focus on the and that took him
to the train station. Allegedly thisis the last person to have been seen
(40:06):
with your son, But yet noone is talking about this guy. I
find that kind of strange, don'tyou. Why isn't anyone talking about this
guy? I'm surprised. Do youknow if this friend is still in the
army or maybe the reserves or NationalGuard, or does even have any affiliation
with the military anymore? I honestlydon't know. I haven't tried to contact
(40:29):
age in a couple of years.He was listed it up at Fort Drum
for a long time, but Idon't know if we struggling on okay?
And if anyone has any information aboutyour son, who would they need to
contact with that information. I've hadseveral private investigators over the years. Brenda
(40:50):
Paradise is one that's been involved atGuardian Church Services. That's one that's been
involved on and off ever since thebeginning. But number to contact would be
the police department here in Park County, Ohio. Now, what have you
been doing on your own to generatepublicity for your son's case? Do you
have a Facebook page for him?Or do you use Twitter or TikTok any
(41:15):
of those? I grew up aFacebook page it's called Missing Trevor Nichols.
There for a while it was reallygood and I would do post every week,
because then I went to every month, and lately it seems like it
was getting harder and harder just topost because I feel like I'm holding nowhere
with it. Here we are,We're five and a half years later and
(41:36):
not a single clue as to wherehe is, and so it gets really
hard some days to keep posting andjust feel like we're I don't know,
but I do try to keep thestory alive. I've done a several podcasts
I've done, I've distribute flyers,I've done a lanterns for the lost events
(41:58):
where we let off air Lavern,the fire Lavern. So you've been vigilant
about keeping your son's story out there, you know. I've tried to keep
a story out there. Usually theseventeenth of every month you'll see Facebook post
on his page, in my personalpage, just trying to keep the story
(42:19):
out there. Now, how oftendo you contact law enforcement about your son
case? Have you tried to reachout to the military, you know,
the Army, CID, anyone ina position of authority about your son's case.
It's impossible to talk to anybody atEPA New York because you if I
(42:40):
call CID, all they tell meis this face is closed. They're not
looking for him. They're not doinganything. Yeah, right, because once
they label you as a dessert,they stop looking for you. Yeah.
So that's just it. So whydo I even bother to call him anymore?
(43:00):
Because I called one time and thenthey said, We're not even going
to talk to you over the phone. It's like, well, I'm in
Ohio, you're in New York.So I can tell you the whole process
of enlistment. I mean, Ican only go by my own experience,
but I can remember the recruiter cominginto my home and sitting there with me
(43:21):
and my parents and him telling mehow the Army's going to take care of
me. You know, tell mymom and dad don't worry about Mark.
We'll take care of him. Weleave no man behind and all that stuff.
And you know, the military takescare of their own, that sort
of thing. You know that rawRoss Speach. I heard that when I
was a seventeen year old kid,and you know, at the time,
I believed it because my dad wasa veteran and my grandfather was also a
(43:46):
veteran, so naturally I just believedit. And I'm a young kid.
I don't know any better, whichI've learned over the years, that they
tell you that they've got your back, but when a soldier disappears or gets
or something strange happens to him orher, than the first thing they do
is bail. You know they're notthere for you. Like, for instance,
(44:08):
for your son, they probably spendmore time trying to recruit him than
they did even looking for your son. It's obvious that something happened to him,
but yet it was very easy forthem to label him as a deserter
and basically forget about him. Butwhen they first spoke to him, they
probably told him that they would alwayshave his back and if anything bad happened
(44:30):
to him, they would uncover anytype of criminal activity or that sort of
a thing. Not only have theylabeled your son as a deserter, but
it sounds like they've also deserted him. And the reality is, and I've
said this to other people that havelost soldiers and their family, think about
(44:52):
this. Had all these soldiers thatdied under mysterious circumstances never joined the military,
they'd probably all still be alive today. Think about that, Well,
you will definitely have to catch upon everything that's happening with the Richard Holliday
case because the level of life andthe seat and everything that happened with them,
(45:19):
it's just unreal what they've gone through. And they've been very active and
trying to find Richard, and oh, it's just oh yeah, Yes.
I've talked to Richard's mom for thepodcast, and I admire her because she's
been hell bent on finding out whathappened to her son. So I know
(45:40):
that she just learned recently that hedied, but it doesn't sound like she
has any answers. So I definitelycommend her for trying to figure out what
exactly happened to Richard. And sometimesI get so angry at myself for not
doing more, But I have theprivate day it's like I don't even know
(46:01):
where to go next. At times, you know, I just I don't
know what to do. Well,you can't, and you shouldn't beat yourself
up over your son's disappearance. Don'tfeel like you haven't done everything that you
have. You speaking to me tellsme that you've done a lot. I
mean, your circumstances are you havenothing. You're trying to figure out what
(46:28):
happened to your son with nothing.You have no pictures, you have no
evidence, you have nothing. Theonly thing that you know about your son
is what some guy that's it supposedlywas his friend, has said, and
that was that he dropped him offat a train station. Other than that,
you don't know. There's been nosightings, there's been no updates,
(46:51):
and no one has shared anything withyou. So you're basically in a dark
room wearing a blindfold, trying tofind your way to the light. And
it's going to be a difficult roadfor you, but you're going to continue
traveling down that road to you findsomething out and it's all you can do,
(47:13):
right Yeah, Yeah, I woulddefinitely say that someone out there knows
what happened to your son, Butwhat you have to do is try to
find out who that person is,and by contacting your media, doing podcasts
and bringing awareness to your son's story, those are going to improve the odds
(47:35):
that the right person hears about yourson's case and maybe feel some sympathy for
you, or just makes a decisionthat they need to do the right thing
and reach out to someone and letthem know what happened to your son,
right right, somebody's gotten know something, you know, yeah, yes,
(48:00):
and I agory someone out there knowssomething. So the last thing that I
would want to ask you is foranyone out there that's listening to this podcast,
if they know anything about what happenedto your son, Trevor, what
would you say to that person orpersons? I just need peace. I
need closure. It is beyond imaginablehow this has affected my life for the
(48:24):
past five and a half years.That I can't drive down the street and
see somebody walking along the side ofthe road because Trevor used to walk everywhere
without making a double check look tomake sure that's not my son. I
can't imagine having to spend the restof my life doing this. I just
want that closure. If he's gone, I need to know that so that
(48:49):
I can just process it and dealwith it. I want that closure to
know that I can't keep looking foreverwith audi answers, and that can elodes
the story of Trevor Nichols. Whathappened to this young soldier? Was he
a victim of foul play or didhe go off the grid and just leave
his life behind. His family believesthat something happened to him because they know
(49:14):
he would never deserve his family orhis military obligations. His family is heartbroken
over Trevor's disappearance and they will continuein their search for him. Someone out
there knows what happened to him.Do you know what happened to Trevor?
Are you the person with the keyto solving this strange mystery? If you
know anything about this case, pleasecontact the Tremont City Police Department in Ohio
(49:40):
at nine three seven three two eighttwo five six zero. And if you
would like to know more about Trevor'scase, you can also visit the Missing
Trevor Nichols Facebook page. I willbe sure to provide this information in the
case story notes. And if youare a parent, law enforcement official,
(50:02):
friend, or relative seek injustice foran unsolved thomicide case, please visit my
website and complete the contact form.You can also contact me through Facebook.
Thank you for listening.
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