CA NICOLAS SONDEREGGER: Missing from Salton Sea Beach, CA - 7 Sept. 2018 - Age 28

First off, I like to discuss cases but know nothing about this one but see some activity on it here and like to discuss. I was going to comment but decided to go watch the video posted first to be more informed.

Having finished the video, what is this place, a compound/old commune? Not knocking any state but it is interesting now that we can be online in forums and the things we see or find out or learn about other states or areas of those states. And again, don't get me wrong because if you get into the middle of nowhere in our states (but usually very rural, wooded, backwoods, near no town) there are probably some pretty bad places here and there and garbage, etc. Yet this is a town here where they show all of this stuff and these buildings out in the wide open? With a gas station? Where the water for the cats was got?

I am all for leaving property owners to have their own rights and not have too many overboard regulations in general in our lives but the county or state lets these places exist in this condition? I could even picture, watching the video, not even have ever lived in such an area, it having water and desert/sand/palms, and how beautiful it maybe once was with the buildings and area. What happened?

And what are these kids (I know Nick was approaching 30 but being a grandma I still think of most significantly younger than me as "kids" but I recognize he is no youth) doing living like this, in a decrepit camper and tent, do I have that right?

I did note in the also run down showers, they heard someone showering. So there is water there? Who is paying for the water and electric in whatever buildings have it? Was this all mostly one property or a bunch of properties and maybe public lands in that video? Am I confused and the town is elsewhere from all of these rundown buildings, etc.?

I did pick up the mention of rave parties and the claim the missing was on meth the past couple of weeks but I tend to agree that that does not mean (even IF true) that he would go into the sea. It seems unlikely to me.

None of any of that I guess touches on his disappearance but I am trying to wrap my head around the area and the details. Not to knock anyone living in the state but it seems so hypocritical, straw laws and some big environmental laws, and then you see this--but then every state has their bad areas or places I guess that look like this. Although this one looks like it may have been a resort or some such in its day.

I agree with @tlorik without accusing him, I don't like that the last person to see him found his things. I also don't like that his other things were found many days later in a place allegedly already searched. Further the items seem to lead to the shore or try to lend to a drowning or water thing if I read and listened to all correctly... I know I am not as familiar with the case as all but I did listen to the podcast and read everything here. Again, not accusing anyone as being a perp and I know the last person to see someone is often looked at and even is often the one but I don't know enough here.

To make the main point though of this long post which was mostly about area and background info, the finding of Nic's items (and the same with some other cases) just puts a bit of a flag up for me. Especially days after the fact with some of them.

Amiah Robertson, a baby and although the mom's bf at the time and I believe still is considered to be the suspect, some time in, her mom finds her car seat and other items at a park and LE searches the water at the park. What are the odds of the mom finding these things versus anyone else at the park prior? I guess a perp could have planted them but SHE then very fortunately found them...???? Again, some time in. Puts my radar up...

The Morphew case. I don't think I have to say much about that one to most people... Not just physical evidence to seemingly misdirect but also other things like FB accounts and more to misdirect for the next attempt at a path to lead LE away more than once down a different story... (I don't think it has worked or so I hope)

Sorry for the length. It often comes after reading or watching a lot and getting up to speed on a case. While I would like to hope this guy here is alive, the locating his things seems to make it unlikely as does the time that has passed.
 
GrandmaBear said:
First off, I like to discuss cases but know nothing about this one but see some activity on it here and like to discuss. I was going to comment but decided to go watch the video posted first to be more informed.

Having finished the video, what is this place, a compound/old commune? Not knocking any state but it is interesting now that we can be online in forums and the things we see or find out or learn about other states or areas of those states. And again, don't get me wrong because if you get into the middle of nowhere in our states (but usually very rural, wooded, backwoods, near no town) there are probably some pretty bad places here and there and garbage, etc. Yet this is a town here where they show all of this stuff and these buildings out in the wide open? With a gas station? Where the water for the cats was got?

I am all for leaving property owners to have their own rights and not have too many overboard regulations in general in our lives but the county or state lets these places exist in this condition? I could even picture, watching the video, not even have ever lived in such an area, it having water and desert/sand/palms, and how beautiful it maybe once was with the buildings and area. What happened?

And what are these kids (I know Nick was approaching 30 but being a grandma I still think of most significantly younger than me as "kids" but I recognize he is no youth) doing living like this, in a decrepit camper and tent, do I have that right?

I did note in the also run down showers, they heard someone showering. So there is water there? Who is paying for the water and electric in whatever buildings have it? Was this all mostly one property or a bunch of properties and maybe public lands in that video? Am I confused and the town is elsewhere from all of these rundown buildings, etc.?

I did pick up the mention of rave parties and the claim the missing was on meth the past couple of weeks but I tend to agree that that does not mean (even IF true) that he would go into the sea. It seems unlikely to me.

None of any of that I guess touches on his disappearance but I am trying to wrap my head around the area and the details. Not to knock anyone living in the state but it seems so hypocritical, straw laws and some big environmental laws, and then you see this--but then every state has their bad areas or places I guess that look like this. Although this one looks like it may have been a resort or some such in its day.

I agree with @tlorik without accusing him, I don't like that the last person to see him found his things. I also don't like that his other things were found many days later in a place allegedly already searched. Further the items seem to lead to the shore or try to lend to a drowning or water thing if I read and listened to all correctly... I know I am not as familiar with the case as all but I did listen to the podcast and read everything here. Again, not accusing anyone as being a perp and I know the last person to see someone is often looked at and even is often the one but I don't know enough here.

To make the main point though of this long post which was mostly about area and background info, the finding of Nic's items (and the same with some other cases) just puts a bit of a flag up for me. Especially days after the fact with some of them.

Amiah Robertson, a baby and although the mom's bf at the time and I believe still is considered to be the suspect, some time in, her mom finds her car seat and other items at a park and LE searches the water at the park. What are the odds of the mom finding these things versus anyone else at the park prior? I guess a perp could have planted them but SHE then very fortunately found them...???? Again, some time in. Puts my radar up...

The Morphew case. I don't think I have to say much about that one to most people... Not just physical evidence to seemingly misdirect but also other things like FB accounts and more to misdirect for the next attempt at a path to lead LE away more than once down a different story... (I don't think it has worked or so I hope)

Sorry for the length. It often comes after reading or watching a lot and getting up to speed on a case. While I would like to hope this guy here is alive, the locating his things seems to make it unlikely as does the time that has passed.
Click to expand...
There are a lot of places similar to this in the middle of the desert that have been deserted for one reason or another. Sometimes it's because it can't get water to them anymore. I always wonder about the property owners, why don't they just tear the buildings down or something? Also, I don't know about now, but when I lived in California, a lot of these rural places that are run down had meth labs in them. I hear they're not as prevalent now but that could be what happened to this property.

I was kind of surprised when you said you were surprised that this compound was deserted like that out in the desert because I'm from the easternCentral California desert and it's not unusual to run into these kinds of places.
 
Kimster said:
Yes, I sure would be! I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep until I knew what happened.
Click to expand...
I would have definitely established that we were, indeed, not going to investigate before falling asleep. Being devil's advocate once again, maybe Austin didn't want to look like a coward and admit that he didn't want to go with Nic because he scared.
 
KareBear said:
I would have definitely established that we were, indeed, not going to investigate before falling asleep. Being devil's advocate once again, maybe Austin didn't want to look like a coward and admit that he did not want to go with Nic because he scared.
Click to expand...
True. But how could you go back to sleep? Unless they'd been up for a long time and he was just exhausted.
 
Kimster said:
Before they even mentioned that they were having raves there, I thought it looked like a place where you would have raves. Definitely.
Click to expand...
In the video, Nic speaks of many shady characters and activities around there... from murders to suicides, gang activity, meth labs, and house fires (which I am pretty sure were the result of meth lab mishaps). It's no walk in the park in that area.
 
KareBear said:
I would have definitely established that we were, indeed, not going to investigate before falling asleep. Being devil's advocate once again, maybe Austin didn't want to look like a coward and admit that he didn't want to go with Nic because he scared.
Click to expand...
but this does not make him look any better than that by not even checking out what happened to his friend when he didn't return
 
KareBear said:
In the video, Nic speaks of many shady characters and activities around there... from murders to suicides, gang activity, meth labs, and house fires (which I am pretty sure were the result of meth lab mishaps). It's no walk in the park in that area.
Click to expand...
which is even better reason to check on your friend if he really went to investigate hearing a woman screaming.
 

A ghost town in the making: How Salton Sea - California's largest lake - went from bustling resort popular with celebrities to a 'public health disaster' where the remaining residents choke on toxic dust​

By Regina F. Graham For Dailymail.com
  • The Salton Sea, California's largest lake, was created by accident in 1905 and was transformed into a vacation hotspot by developers who built up the shoreline with resorts, hotels, yacht clubs and more
  • By the 1950s and 60s thousands flocked to relax at the Salton Sea, including celebrities like Frank Sinatra, but during the 70s tourism declined and the resort towns around the lake were left in disrepair
  • The lake had a series of problems: there was no way for it to drain, runoff water contaminated with pesticides from nearby farms flowed into and salt levels increased making it saltier than the Pacific Ocean
  • Plus, it is shrinking - the retreating shoreline has left about 20,000 acres of dry lakebed exposed – which is a growing surface that spews toxic dust into communities that's causing health problems
  • One in five children in Imperial County suffer from asthma and have lung related illnesses compared with a national average of 1 in 12, according to the latest government data
  • Dr. Tim Krantz, the recognized authority on the geography of the Salton Sea, said it is a ‘public health disaster’ in the making and that millions could be affected by the toxic dust when heavy winds blow
  • Last week, voters in California approved a bond measure that will provide $200million in funding to help control the dust in the area by building wetlands, but many residents don't think that's enough

www.google.com

How the Salton Sea went from resorts to a 'public health disaster'

As California's largest lake, the Salton Sea was once a destination people flocked to during the 1950s and 60s. Now it's a 'public health disaster' with toxic dust from lakebed spewing into the air.
www.google.com www.google.com
 
Kimster said:
There are a lot of places similar to this in the middle of the desert that have been deserted for one reason or another. Sometimes it's because it can't get water to them anymore. I always wonder about the property owners, why don't they just tear the buildings down or something? Also, I don't know about now, but when I lived in California, a lot of these rural places that are run down had meth labs in them. I hear they're not as prevalent now but that could be what happened to this property.

I was kind of surprised when you said you were surprised that this compound was deserted like that out in the desert because I'm from the easternCentral California desert and it's not unusual to run into these kinds of places.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I guess that's what it means that it is interesting to me learning things of places I have not been. Like you say too, one has to wonder about the property owners allowing it to happen or go on. I have been to Arizona which is largely desert and have never seen anything like that either but then I also can't say how far I went out of any city off the beaten track into any desert. Although we did drive and roam around some.
 
Guess Who said:
but this does not make him look any better than that by not even checking out what happened to his friend when he didn't return
Click to expand...
I agree.. perhaps in hindsight he would've chosen to look like a coward vs. a murderer. It really doesn't look good whichever way I try to swing it though..tbh.
I wonder who was the last person to see Nic before Austin, and when?
 
If they were using drugs, there’s a good chance Austin did “fall asleep” / pass out and didn’t realize Nic left... Or, perhaps more likely, fell asleep when Nic was gone and didn’t realize he hadn’t returned.
Also it said that when he woke up and realized Nic wasn’t there, he DID go out and look.

I get it. It’s the word of the guy last seen with him. I wouldn’t necessarily accept it if this was a woman’s husband saying similar things. I don’t know. I just feel differently this time. Leaving to explore on the middle of the night DOES fit Nic’s personality. I could be way off here. I’m just not ready to throw Austin under the bus.
 
SheWhoMustNotBeNamed said:
If they were using drugs, there’s a good chance Austin did “fall asleep” / pass out and didn’t realize Nic left... Or, perhaps more likely, fell asleep when Nic was gone and didn’t realize he hadn’t returned.
Also it said that when he woke up and realized Nic wasn’t there, he DID go out and look.

I get it. It’s the word of the guy last seen with him. I wouldn’t necessarily accept it if this was a woman’s husband saying similar things. I don’t know. I just feel differently this time. Leaving to explore on the middle of the night DOES fit Nic’s personality. I could be way off here. I’m just not ready to throw Austin under the bus.
Click to expand...
yes, passed out instead of "fell asleep" seems much more likely if his story rings true.
 
KareBear said:

A ghost town in the making: How Salton Sea - California's largest lake - went from bustling resort popular with celebrities to a 'public health disaster' where the remaining residents choke on toxic dust​

By Regina F. Graham For Dailymail.com
  • The Salton Sea, California's largest lake, was created by accident in 1905 and was transformed into a vacation hotspot by developers who built up the shoreline with resorts, hotels, yacht clubs and more
  • By the 1950s and 60s thousands flocked to relax at the Salton Sea, including celebrities like Frank Sinatra, but during the 70s tourism declined and the resort towns around the lake were left in disrepair
  • The lake had a series of problems: there was no way for it to drain, runoff water contaminated with pesticides from nearby farms flowed into and salt levels increased making it saltier than the Pacific Ocean
  • Plus, it is shrinking - the retreating shoreline has left about 20,000 acres of dry lakebed exposed – which is a growing surface that spews toxic dust into communities that's causing health problems
  • One in five children in Imperial County suffer from asthma and have lung related illnesses compared with a national average of 1 in 12, according to the latest government data
  • Dr. Tim Krantz, the recognized authority on the geography of the Salton Sea, said it is a ‘public health disaster’ in the making and that millions could be affected by the toxic dust when heavy winds blow
  • Last week, voters in California approved a bond measure that will provide $200million in funding to help control the dust in the area by building wetlands, but many residents don't think that's enough

www.google.com

How the Salton Sea went from resorts to a 'public health disaster'

As California's largest lake, the Salton Sea was once a destination people flocked to during the 1950s and 60s. Now it's a 'public health disaster' with toxic dust from lakebed spewing into the air.
www.google.com www.google.com
Click to expand...
This was really interesting! Thanks!
 
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