By Steve Huff
HOUSTON (Crime Library) — Continued
Perhaps it was due to the holiday season, perhaps it was because there was breaking news elsewhere, but after December 19th of 2005, coverage of the Hendrickson disappearance seemed to diminish to almost nothing. There were mentions on cable news shows, but these included as much speculation as fact. To people like Lewis Patterson, a friend and former co-worker of Nate's, this was a source of frustration.
Patterson created a myspace.com profile to keep Nate's disappearance front-and-center in the minds and hearts of Hendrickson's friends, fellow U of H students, and co-workers at Pappasito's Mexican Restaurant —http://www.myspace.com/findnate. Lewis Patterson was the probably the first person to realize that something might be amiss on Wednesday, November 30. Patterson had known Nate Hendrickson for just over a year, as both a co-worker at Pappasito's for a time, and a fellow student at the U of H-Dowtown. Lewis told the Crime Library that the man he knew was a "laid-back," fun guy to hang out with. According to Patterson, Nate Hendrickson was not the type of person to have trouble with anyone over much of anything.
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| Pappasito's |
Nate and Lewis talked over plans for later that day on November 30th around noon. Nate said he was staying home from classes to finish a paper, but he'd see Lewis later that night at Burlap's Barrel, a restaurant where employees at Pappasito's and surrounding eateries often came after their employers closed at 11 p.m. That night, Lewis grew more concerned as the minutes ticked by. He called Nate's cell phone 10 or 15 times, by his own account. It wasn't like Nate to just not show up. Sometime between last speaking with Lewis Patterson at noon, and 4 p.m. that day, when someone noted his absence at 1102 Loeser, Nate Hendrickson disappeared.
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| Alicia Weber |
After Nate's car was found at West Oaks Mall on December 24, it was discovered that Mall Security had ticketed the vehicle for parking overnight for the first time on December 1 the day after Nate vanished. Almost two weeks later, on the 13th, Nate's sister, Alicia Weber, and his brother A.J. were driving through the Mall parking lot, looking for some sign of their brother's car. Upon seeing a Mall Security vehicle they stopped and handed the officer on duty a flier with Nate's photo, description, and the specifics about Nate's Nissan, including the license plate number. Neither A.J. nor Alicia saw any sign of Hendrickson's auto. Two days later, on the 15th, Mall Security again ticketed the teal Sentra.
It was not until a tow truck driver was surveying the West Oaks parking lot for ticketed vehicles to tow on Christmas Eve that the plate on the Sentra was matched up with the missing 24-year-old man from Spring Valley.
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