In late February 2023, 37-year-old Nicholas Downey rented a car in Florida to visit his wife in Mississippi. While he made it there safely, the visit was brief, as Nick needed to return to Florida and drop off the rental car. During his drive home, he spoke to his wife one last time. After that call, he vanished without a trace.

Nick's disappearance wasn't immediately noticed until his wife tried to call him again the following morning. Her calls went unanswered. Eventually, someone did pick up, but it wasn't Nick; it was a deputy from the Liberty County Sheriff's Office. The officer explained that Nick's rental car had been found abandoned on a remote property in Liberty County, Florida, and Nick was nowhere to be found. In fact, there wasn't even a footprint left in the sand to follow.

A K-9 tracking team was brought in to search the area but found nothing: no tracks, no personal belongings, and no signs of a struggle. Even more perplexing, the car was discovered far off any logical route Nick would have taken to return the vehicle. These circumstances have left both his loved ones and investigators searching for answers.

The case has become so puzzling that some law enforcement officials have half-jokingly suggested, though with a hint of discomfort, that the only remaining explanation might be something out of this world. The theory of alien abduction has been mentioned, not out of belief, but from sheer desperation to explain the unexplainable.

Over two years later, what happened to Nick Downey remains a haunting and unsolved mystery.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Nicholas Downey, please contact the Liberty County Sheriff's Office at (850) 643-2235.

If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.

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Nicholas Downey

The Vanished Podcast