WELD COUNTY, Colo. — More than 10 years have passed since a woman from Mead disappeared, with no leads in the case.
Nicole Silvers would have turned 27 in late June. Her disappearance, and the subsequent cold case, is "maddening," a lead investigator said.
Nicole was last seen going into her friend's house on Sunset Street in Longmont, across from Loomiller Park, around 3:30 a.m. on April 9, 2014. She was just 16 years old.
Her sister Jessica Silvers was the last person to see her.
"I picked her up from her friend Dana's house in Longmont," Jessica remembered. "It was probably midnight when I picked her up. We went to Wendy’s and drove around and talked. When I dropped her back off at a friend's house, I watched her walk inside and this was probably close to three in the morning."
Today, she plays those conversations over and over in her mind, wondering if her sister had hinted at something that she missed at the time.
"But she genuinely seemed happier than I’d seen her in a long time," Jessica said.
At first, the family thought Nicole ran away, said her mother Barbara Silvers.
"She'd been staying with a friend because we'd been having some issues — mostly typical teenage issues blown out of proportion," Barbara said.
While family members said they hope Nicole is still alive, they have grimly accepted that they also need to be realistic.
"We've kept that hope in our hearts every year and every day essentially, hoping the phone will ring or the doorbell will ring and there she'll be,” Nicole’s father Kevin Silvers said.
Weld County Cold Case Detective Byron Kastilahn said the investigation has not uncover any leads or motives. Family and friends contacted the sheriff's office after Nicole did not show up to work at Mead Pizza Plus or grab her paycheck, and they could not reach her.
She left her favorite blanket and book in her room, he said.
“It's just maddening what the possibilities could be," Kastilahn said. "I've never even heard of a case similar to this, where you know it looks like both: It could have been an abduction or runaway. Thirty-two of my cases — I either know who did it (but) I can't prove it, or I know who did it but I'm never going to get a confession.”
He said Nicole had a boyfriend at the time, but he was in Mississippi at the time. He told investigators that she hitchhiked often, and they learned that after she was reported missing, her phone pinged one time in the Del Camino area, south of Mead.
Investigators were able to pull her cell phone records, but all the numbers she had recently communicated with her accounted for, he said.
"There wasn't a strange number, like 'Who is this?'” Kastilahn said.
Nicole said she wanted stay around for Kyle, her younger brother, Barbara said.
"But we never heard from her again and as time goes on, we wonder if something happened to her," she said.
As Nicole's sister and the last person to see her, Jessica said she feels a sense of responsibility, and suffered from guilt for a long time.
"But when it comes down to it, there's nothing I could've done about it," she said.
She said she would be happy to even receive a phone call from Nicole saying, "Hey, I never want to see you again but I'm OK," Jessica said.
"Just so we know," Kevin said. "Tell everybody that you love that you love them because you never know what tomorrow is going to bring."
Nothing that will stop the Silvers from sharing Nicole’s story.
"If she's out there and she's in a situation she doesn't want to be in, she needs somebody to help her. So, everyone's gotta keep their eyes open,” Barbara said.
Kastilahn shared the below age progression photos of Nicole, showing what she may look like at 21 and 23 years old.
If you have any leads or know where Nicole is, contact the Weld County Sheriff's Office at 970-400-2827.
