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| NBC News Photo |
It’s been almost three weeks since Libertyville suicidal army veteran Dan Nerstrom went missing on December 1, 2014.
The Libertyville Police Department was dispatched to a report of a missing suicidal male subject on December 1st, at around 6:00 PM for a reported missing armed suicidal person. Throughout the rest of the night on December 1st and into the morning searching was conducted with no results or any clues. Police had continued for days searching throughout the area with helicopters and police K-9 dogs. If anybody has found any information, they are asked to contact the Libertyville Police Department at 847-362-8310.
Dan Nerstrom has PTSD and is possibly armed, he is described as 6’1″ and about 175 lbs. with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a forest green Carhartt fleece jacket under a Carhartt jacket with patches on both shoulders, a camouflage beanie hat, blue jeans, and tan military style boots. Family report that he is not a threat to others, and would not hurt anyone.
A GoFundMe was started to cover personal expenses for his girlfriend and child, go here to donate: http://www.gofundme.com/i99cr0.
This is the description from the GoFundMe site:
Daniel Nerstrom has been missing since Monday evening. Right now, the police are doing what they can to find him, so are friends and family. But, everyone is scared of what will be found.
I am setting up this account for Amanda and Austin, his family. With him missing she is so distraught and unable to work. Doing this has become a necessity, because no matter what the outcome, they will need the help, financially and emotionally. Also, this is necessary for search parties and additional assistance in the seach for him, such as flyers, etc..
Dan has been a wonderful father to Austin and Austin misses him desperately. I wish Dan would have understood what this would do to his family.
Unfortunately, it may not have been too clear. Dan is a 30 year-old Army Veteran, who has been at the front lines and suffered severe injury to both his back and his brain, causing him light headedness and other debilitations. Most serious of all he suffered from PTSD, which has left him possibly suicidal. He served our country for us, so let’s give back and help his family in their time of need.
Right now, the main focus is bringing Dan home- he is 6’1″ about 200 lbs, he has blonde hair and blue eyes, last seen wearing a forest green fleece carhartt with a black woolly fleece and a black Carhartt work jacket with numerous military patches on both shoulder of the black jacket, tan military style boots, and a camouflage skull cap with a red spider logo. He is very kind, and will not harm anyone, but is a danger to himself. Anyone with information that may be useful in this investigation are encouraged to call the Libertyville Police Department at (847) 362-8310.
Right now, we are all hopeful, but again, anything you can do for this wonderful, young family would be appreciated.
A Facebook page called Bring Home Dan Nerstrom was created. It currently has almost 7000 likes. You can view it here: https://www.facebook.com/bringdanhome.
This story has been covered on many major news outlets in Chicago as well. You can view the articles on it on the Daily Herald, CBS Chicago, ABC7 Chicago, My Fox Chicago, and Libertyville Review and more.
The story was also recently covered on NBC News special called “Missing in America”. The article located here: http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/missing-in-america/missing-america-dan-nerstrom-n268751, talks about the story in depth.
Here is a short part of the article:
Officials believe Dan left his home on foot. According to the Libertyville Police Department, his handgun is also nowhere to be found. While police do not consider Dan to be a danger to anyone else, his loved ones fear that he may be a danger to himself.
Nerstrom suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. He was deployment in Baghdad for a year, starting in February 2005. However, Dan was forced to retire from the army in 2009 after suffering a severe back injury. Dan has also suffered some brain trauma, which causes him to feel light-headed and often leads to confusion.
“There are certain anniversaries of the war when his PTSD will give him nightmares. The most recent one was in October,” Amanda said. “Normally they only last two, three days maybe a week. But this time, it never went away. That’s what started this whole thing.”
Police have conducted several searches in the surrounding areas, but the trail has gone cold. Police had placed a soft lockdown of area schools on December 3rd, but officials emphasized the fact Dan was not a threat to the public in any way.
Again, anyone with any information is told to contact Libertyville Police Department at (847) 362-8310.
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| Photo collage from the GoFundMe website. |
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| Photo on the NBC News Article. |