PIKE COUNTY, Mo. – A mysterious death in Pike County, Missouri, is now the focus of a Missouri State Highway Patrol investigation.
Nathaniel Mueller disappeared in December. The 23-year-old’s keys and clothes were reportedly found inside a running and abandoned car. His remains were recently discovered, raising even more questions.
Mueller’s friends and family are desperately seeking answers about how he died.
“There’s somebody out here that knows what happened,” Ashley Ashby, Mueller’s godmother, said.
Ashby took a FOX 2 News crew to the spot her godson’s car was found on Dec. 21, 2024, parked on a dirt patch near the intersection of Routes C and E in Frankford, Missouri.
“His engine running; air conditioning on full blast,” she said. “His clothes that he had on his back was in that vehicle. It was 20 degrees with a negative 8 windchill that night.”
Ashby said his wallet was also in the car and he did not have his phone.
Ashby’s cousin, Sherita Morrison, and friend, Kelley Hendricks, have joined in the search for answers. They wear shirts with Nate’s image.
“From the beginning all of this just smelled funny,” Morrison said.
Yet six days after the disappearance, the Pike County Sheriff’s Office sent a news release saying foul play was not suspected.
“They just thought my baby took off and had issues,” Ashby said.
About two months later, Mueller was found exactly one and a half miles from the spot where his car was found, in a pond on his grandparent’s property.
Family and friends don’t believe he left his car so far away from a property he knew and walked in freezing temperatures naked and barefoot.
“I’m grateful that he was found,” Hendricks said. “At least we have that closure, but we need to know what happened to him and if anybody’s involved.”
FOX 2 contacted the Pike County Coroner, who said she couldn’t discuss matters involving an ongoing investigation. This past Wednesday, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said it was investigating Mueller’s case. Pike County Sheriff Stephen Korte said he couldn’t talk because of the highway patrol’s involvement.
“I just gotta breathe through it,” Ashby said. “My baby’s face was smashed.”
Meanwhile Mueller’s loved ones say they go on Facebook Live every night to pray and ask for tips.
“Everything revolving around Nathanial. We are not going to stop,” Ashby said.
During our investigation into this report, we learned the Bowling Green police chief obtained evidence that he said implicated Pike County Sheriff’s deputies for allegedly having knowledge of the location of Mueller’s body, much earlier than his body was found.
Chief Ty Bounds hired attorney Chris Lozano to write a whistleblower letter to the Pike County Commission. The whistleblower letter, attached below, also invokes the rights to protect Pike County Sheriff’s Detective Steve Kolthoff, who also reportedly has information that can help lead MO State investigators to the truth. A news conference is planned in Bowling Green for noon Friday. FOX 2 News will be there.
Whistleblower Letter from Bowling Green police chief by KevinSeanHeld on Scribd
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