Post by Scumhunter on Jan 8, 2014 10:59:16 GMT -5
"In April of 2011, 86 year old Patrick F. Carnes (Pat), a Reno resident, embarked on a trip to visit relatives in Ohio. After Pat concluded his visit, he began his trip back to Reno on April 12th. Pat traveled westbound on Interstate 80 in his dark green Subaru station wagon accompanied by his eight year old male Lab/Akita mixed breed dog, “Lucky”.
On Wednesday, April 13, 2011, at 9:00 pm, Pat was on the interstate nearing the town of Wells, Nevada. As Pat approached a Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper, who was at that time on a traffic stop of a tractor trailer rig, Pat failed to move over to the lane farthest away from the trooper. Because of this, the trooper left the stop that he was on and proceeded after Pat and his Subaru. Pat was eventually stopped and warned about the moving violation. During the conversation between Pat and the Trooper, Pat commented, “I’m only following him because he is going to Elko.” After viewing the trooper’s dash cam video, it appeared as if Pat was following directly behind a tractor trailer rig.
On the morning of the following day, Thursday, April 14, 2011, at just a few minutes before 6:00 am, a Mine employee, on the way to work, observed a car parked in an unusual location off of Interstate 80 at the Pumpernickel Valley off-ramp (exit 205). This individual then contacted the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office to report what she had seen.
Upon a deputy’s arrival, he observed the Subaru to be empty, slightly high centered and stuck in the sage brush. The deputy sheriff checked the license on the vehicle and also requested HCSO Dispatch to attempt to contact the registered owner (Pat Carnes) in Reno. The plate information came back clear and Reno P.D. reported that no one answered the registered owner’s phone.
Two days later, on Sunday, April 17th, the Subaru was still in the same location. HCSO Dispatch again contacted the Reno Police Department and asked them to respond to the owner’s residence to check his welfare. At the same time that the Reno P.D. officers arrived at the residence, so did two of Patrick Carnes’ sons. Upon talking with Carnes’ sons, it was learned that they were at his (Pat’s) apartment to see if he had arrived home from his Ohio trip, since they had not heard from him.
Based upon the discovery of Pat’s car in Humboldt County and the fact that he was not at his residence in Reno, a Missing/Endangered Person report was taken and Pat was entered into the National Crime Information computer."
After that, Carnes got not just one but a second airing within six months on AMW. A few of us on AMW.COM's forums were surprised since usually quick or relatively quick second airings of a missing adult case (which AMW did not have the best track record with- Fugitives of course, and missing children mainly with abductors, but missing adults not as much) means new possible leads were developed, but this case seemed like a difficult one. It turned out there was a lead of sorts, a man who using his computer skills tried to freeze frame the logo on the upper left corner of the truck Carnes was following:
Lots of theories have been thrown out there, but perhaps the most often talked about is the possibility Carnes was the victim of an I-80 serial killer. Two years before Patrick's disappearance, the FBI created a task force to look at the possibility of a serial killer working as a truck driver, because of the many disappearance and slayings around the I-80 area.
One case that stands out is Judy Casida, 62, from Reno who went missing in 2006. Her case is similar to Carnes case as Casida's car was also found abandoned at the same off-ramp.
Thoughts? Did Carnes meet with foul play? Is this the work of a serial killer? This is such a sad story and I hope we can find out what happened to Pat and his dog, Lucky, one day.
web.archive.org/web/20110501072556/http://www.amw.com/missing_persons/brief.cfm?id=77885
patcarnesmissing.com/
www.examiner.com/article/patrick-carnes-and-lucky-are-they-victims-of-an-i-80-serial-killer
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