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


Saw this link was in the OP but I didn't click on it til now. Lots of pics. Pics from the search.

yoyo.jpg
 

Crime in Salton Sea Beach, California​

Crime is ranked on a scale of 1 (low crime) to 100 (high crime)

Salton Sea Beach violent crime is 30.7. (The US average is 22.7)​

Salton Sea Beach property crime is 50.6. (The US average is 35.4)​


YOU SHOULD KNOW​

Violent crime is composed of four offenses: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.

Property crime includes the offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. The object of the theft-type offenses is the taking of money or property, but there is no force or threat of force against the victims.


 
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.

Hi, I know this is an old post but I just want to give some background info to help clarify what is going on. Nic was one of my best friends growing up in San Diego, we attended Muirlands Middle School grades 6-8, and La Jolla High School in grades 9-12. We were both in San Diego Unified School District's magnet program called GATE Seminar. We fell out of touch when I went to college but our families still know each other. Nic has two older brothers, I believe one attended Dartmouth after high school and the other joined the army.

Nic and Austin were sleeping on Nic's grandparents' old property. As other posters have noted, the Salton Sea was once a resort destination in the 50s and 60s, but environmental problems drove a lot of people out of the area. Nic and his family live in San Diego, they kept the Salton Sea property in the family and would visit in the summers when he was growing up, but nobody has lived in the property for a long time so it fell into disrepair (like many other homes in the area). Nic mentioned he was hoping to fix the place up, maybe to live in, maybe to have concerts (his older brother was in a band, uncle worked in construction I think). But for the time being he and Austin were sleeping there in a tent.

Nic was never homeless like Explore With Us (EWU) thought, though they may have appeared that way. I also have never known Nic to be a drug user. I assumed like many others he might have developed a meth problem in the area--but when I saw the EWU videos with him he acted exactly the same as I knew him growing up, and he appeared sober. Regardless, Nic was a good person, really funny and nice, very smart, extremely harmless. It's honestly really difficult to imagine anyone having a personal beef with him.

Regarding his friend Austin--I didn't know him. But the police searched the area in the days after with dogs. Nic was bigger than Austin, and Austin (afaik) was dependent on Nic's family. It does not seem feasible that Austin would have been able to kill Nic and leave not a shred of incriminating evidence that the search parties or the police would notice. I know some things about him seem sketchy, but I really can't fathom a version of events where Austin was involved. I think it is much more likely that Nic heard people from his tent as he and Austin were falling asleep, and Nic went to investigate because it sounded like they were on his property, and Austin fell asleep. Maybe he was stoned, maybe he was just tired, maybe he was scared, to me it doesn't really matter.

I think people should look into crime that has gone on in the neighborhood where his grandparents' property is located and stop focusing on Austin. But that's just my personal opinion, I really have no idea what happened. There is still a financial reward for information leading to Nic's whereabouts. I hope some resolution comes one day, Nic and his family really did not deserve what has happened to them.

Thanks for reading!
 
Hi, I know this is an old post but I just want to give some background info to help clarify what is going on. Nic was one of my best friends growing up in San Diego, we attended Muirlands Middle School grades 6-8, and La Jolla High School in grades 9-12. We were both in San Diego Unified School District's magnet program called GATE Seminar. We fell out of touch when I went to college but our families still know each other. Nic has two older brothers, I believe one attended Dartmouth after high school and the other joined the army.

Nic and Austin were sleeping on Nic's grandparents' old property. As other posters have noted, the Salton Sea was once a resort destination in the 50s and 60s, but environmental problems drove a lot of people out of the area. Nic and his family live in San Diego, they kept the Salton Sea property in the family and would visit in the summers when he was growing up, but nobody has lived in the property for a long time so it fell into disrepair (like many other homes in the area). Nic mentioned he was hoping to fix the place up, maybe to live in, maybe to have concerts (his older brother was in a band, uncle worked in construction I think). But for the time being he and Austin were sleeping there in a tent.

Nic was never homeless like Explore With Us (EWU) thought, though they may have appeared that way. I also have never known Nic to be a drug user. I assumed like many others he might have developed a meth problem in the area--but when I saw the EWU videos with him he acted exactly the same as I knew him growing up, and he appeared sober. Regardless, Nic was a good person, really funny and nice, very smart, extremely harmless. It's honestly really difficult to imagine anyone having a personal beef with him.

Regarding his friend Austin--I didn't know him. But the police searched the area in the days after with dogs. Nic was bigger than Austin, and Austin (afaik) was dependent on Nic's family. It does not seem feasible that Austin would have been able to kill Nic and leave not a shred of incriminating evidence that the search parties or the police would notice. I know some things about him seem sketchy, but I really can't fathom a version of events where Austin was involved. I think it is much more likely that Nic heard people from his tent as he and Austin were falling asleep, and Nic went to investigate because it sounded like they were on his property, and Austin fell asleep. Maybe he was stoned, maybe he was just tired, maybe he was scared, to me it doesn't really matter.

I think people should look into crime that has gone on in the neighborhood where his grandparents' property is located and stop focusing on Austin. But that's just my personal opinion, I really have no idea what happened. There is still a financial reward for information leading to Nic's whereabouts. I hope some resolution comes one day, Nic and his family really did not deserve what has happened to them.

Thanks for reading!
Thank you for posting this as we don't normally get to hear the background from a personal perspective. Was there a lot of crime in that neighborhood that you can recall?

And welcome, we are happy to have you here.
 
Hi, I know this is an old post but I just want to give some background info to help clarify what is going on. Nic was one of my best friends growing up in San Diego, we attended Muirlands Middle School grades 6-8, and La Jolla High School in grades 9-12. We were both in San Diego Unified School District's magnet program called GATE Seminar. We fell out of touch when I went to college but our families still know each other. Nic has two older brothers, I believe one attended Dartmouth after high school and the other joined the army.

Nic and Austin were sleeping on Nic's grandparents' old property. As other posters have noted, the Salton Sea was once a resort destination in the 50s and 60s, but environmental problems drove a lot of people out of the area. Nic and his family live in San Diego, they kept the Salton Sea property in the family and would visit in the summers when he was growing up, but nobody has lived in the property for a long time so it fell into disrepair (like many other homes in the area). Nic mentioned he was hoping to fix the place up, maybe to live in, maybe to have concerts (his older brother was in a band, uncle worked in construction I think). But for the time being he and Austin were sleeping there in a tent.

Nic was never homeless like Explore With Us (EWU) thought, though they may have appeared that way. I also have never known Nic to be a drug user. I assumed like many others he might have developed a meth problem in the area--but when I saw the EWU videos with him he acted exactly the same as I knew him growing up, and he appeared sober. Regardless, Nic was a good person, really funny and nice, very smart, extremely harmless. It's honestly really difficult to imagine anyone having a personal beef with him.

Regarding his friend Austin--I didn't know him. But the police searched the area in the days after with dogs. Nic was bigger than Austin, and Austin (afaik) was dependent on Nic's family. It does not seem feasible that Austin would have been able to kill Nic and leave not a shred of incriminating evidence that the search parties or the police would notice. I know some things about him seem sketchy, but I really can't fathom a version of events where Austin was involved. I think it is much more likely that Nic heard people from his tent as he and Austin were falling asleep, and Nic went to investigate because it sounded like they were on his property, and Austin fell asleep. Maybe he was stoned, maybe he was just tired, maybe he was scared, to me it doesn't really matter.

I think people should look into crime that has gone on in the neighborhood where his grandparents' property is located and stop focusing on Austin. But that's just my personal opinion, I really have no idea what happened. There is still a financial reward for information leading to Nic's whereabouts. I hope some resolution comes one day, Nic and his family really did not deserve what has happened to them.

Thanks for reading!
Thank you so much for taking the time to post here! Nick sounds like he was so fascinating. I can’t believe they haven’t found him! I hope they’re still working hard on his missing persons case. I appreciate your insight and your opinion on what’s going on. If there’s anything we can do to help, please don’t hesitate to ask!
 
Thank you for posting this as we don't normally get to hear the background from a personal perspective. Was there a lot of crime in that neighborhood that you can recall?

And welcome, we are happy to have you here.
Thank you and Kimster both! Yes, I'm told the area has a lot of crime. In an EWU video Nic alludes to two deaths in his neighborhood. One is the suspected suicide of Mario Alberto Raya, a 28-year-old. Source. The other is referred to as a cartel murder that took place a few blocks from his property. This is the July 3, 2017 murder of Adam Walker, 38, son of Linda Walker, "in the 200 block of El Centro Avenue in Salton Sea Beach." Source.

According to news reports, the four arrested suspects were Taylor John, 36, Edgar Gerardo, 46, Michael Guerra, 33, and Armando Taylor, 35. I purchased searches on the Riverside County jail's website, and was unable to determine what happened to these suspects. I also searched Westlaw but was unable to find anything. Does anybody know how to find out what happened to these suspects? I can pay for whatever memberships or administrative costs are needed.

PS - there's an article about a meth bust that comes up when you search Nic Sonderegger on Google, and it shows his picture. This is actually just because the meth bust was reported in the same issue as Nic's missing poster, but they were completely unrelated. I archived the version beyond the paywall so everyone can see: https://archive.is/abdYx

PPS - Sorry I took so long to respond, I'll check back here more often!
 
Yeah I don't trust Austin. No one else heard that scream?. Across town no less. He fell asleep while they were deciding to get to involved or not. Huh?. He said Nic might have went swimming in water Nic said he would never go in. No one does. It's toxic now. And at 2 a.m. because he was on drugs and started about 2 wks prior. Please. Austin found all of his clothes and boots and knife sheath that were found out of all the people searching.
 
Thank you and Kimster both! Yes, I'm told the area has a lot of crime. In an EWU video Nic alludes to two deaths in his neighborhood. One is the suspected suicide of Mario Alberto Raya, a 28-year-old. Source. The other is referred to as a cartel murder that took place a few blocks from his property. This is the July 3, 2017 murder of Adam Walker, 38, son of Linda Walker, "in the 200 block of El Centro Avenue in Salton Sea Beach." Source.

According to news reports, the four arrested suspects were Taylor John, 36, Edgar Gerardo, 46, Michael Guerra, 33, and Armando Taylor, 35. I purchased searches on the Riverside County jail's website, and was unable to determine what happened to these suspects. I also searched Westlaw but was unable to find anything. Does anybody know how to find out what happened to these suspects? I can pay for whatever memberships or administrative costs are needed.

PS - there's an article about a meth bust that comes up when you search Nic Sonderegger on Google, and it shows his picture. This is actually just because the meth bust was reported in the same issue as Nic's missing poster, but they were completely unrelated. I archived the version beyond the paywall so everyone can see: https://archive.is/abdYx

PPS - Sorry I took so long to respond, I'll check back here more often!
Mike (Michael) Guerra is currently in custody at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. I'm still searching for the others & will post back here if I can verify where they are.
 
Just thinking of Nic as I look through threads today. No news. Just a bump with his NamUs link.


However, I was unable to find him listed as missing with California DOJ... I tried first name, last name, and case number. I also search for Imperial County and he was not among those that popped up either... Wondering if he was found quietly.

 

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