On the morning of February 20, 2020, an entire family’s life would forever be changed- and it would be months before everyone realized just how much.
Nicholas Allen, generally called Nick by family and friends, loved the outdoors, fishing, and overall just being your typical 17-year-old boy. He was homeschooled and had his learner’s permit. He was excited about soon getting his North Carolina driver’s license and being able to go wherever he liked. He loved watching YouTube and was a huge fan of The Walking Dead television show.
On Wednesday, February 19, 2020, Nick rode with his mother to take his sister Shayna to work. When they got home, Nick spent some time on his brand new laptop, getting it set up and checking it out. After a couple of hours, Nick and his mom drove out to pick up his sister from work.
Nick’s mom Judy recalls that she was low on gas, and Nick kept pointing it out, worried and wanting to stop for gas. Judy assured him it could wait until the next day- she wasn’t feeling good and didn’t feel like stopping.
When they got home, Judy remembers asking Nick to do the dishes. He agreed but went to his bedroom first. About 30 minutes later, Judy realized the dishes still weren’t done, so she went looking for him. She found him in his room, in bed, and thought he was asleep. She decided to let him be.
The next morning, the kids were waking up for school. Shayna, who went to a local high school, realized the car wasn’t in the driveway. Knowing her mom wouldn’t take it, she asked her other brother. They were confused. Nick’s brother came into his room, to tell him that their car was gone, but realized Nick wasn’t there.
He did notice an empty rifle case laying on the bed.
He rushed to wake up their mother and tell her what was going on. With a terrible feeling shooting through her entire body, she called 911 right away.
Nick’s mom, Judy, began searching right away, along with other family members. They knew they were looking for Nick in a black Dodge Journey.
The first place Judy went was down to the Yadkin River access area, about a half-mile from their house. This was Nick’s favorite place to go, and sometimes he even rode his bike the half-mile down there. But there was no sign of Nick or the Dodge Journey.
The Sheriff’s department wasn’t much help. In fact, at one point they even told Judy- who was adamant they search the water- that if he was in there, a fisherman would alert them and they would go search then. But they couldn’t spend the money to conduct any searches until then.
Judy was also aggravated that it took over a week for them to bring in helicopters to aid in the search. The family was told it was because of the weather, but they claim that most of those days were clear- there was just one day of rain.
Days turned into weeks, which turned into months, and Judy’s twin sister decided to reach out to Adventures with a Purpose. AWP is a group of volunteers divers who use special sonar equipment to search bodies of water. They work to bring up trash, old vehicles and sometimes aid in the search for loved ones.
It also turned out that Nick and his mother had watched some of Adventures with a Purpose videos on their YouTube channel together.
On October 1, 2020, AWP came out to the Yadkin River area to search for the black Dodge Journey and Nick.
They found both the car and Nick, within a couple of hours of searching.
While the findings were devasting of course for the family, there are finally answers. And Nick can finally be put to rest the right way.
The Sheriff’s department was combative with the dive team and the family for several hours, and it was all documented and recorded. Eventually, after some public backlash, the Sheriff issued this statement:
“There are no excuses for this type of behavior and we will work tirelessly to ensure this type of behavior is never repeated by another member from this office under my administration.”
Let’s hope so.
RIP Nick Allen.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline) at 1–800–273-TALK (8255), or text the Crisis Text Line (text HELLO to 741741).
