Kara Nichols missing persons case hindered by initial nondisclosure

By Chellie Cervone - Posted: Feb 26, 2014 at 11:57 pm

Kara Nichols missing persons case

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The missing persons case of Kara Nichols is sad, as is many other cases of women who have simply vanished without a trace.

A beautiful, young girl simply gone. She could be your sister, your daughter or your loved one.

Kara Nichols was last seen October, 9, 2012 in Colorado and her family has been on a mission to find her.

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One of the unique aspects of the Kara Nichol’s case is the behavior of her family. Some of their actions actually serve as a blueprint of what parents should not do when a child or loved one is missing.

Nichols’ parents, perhaps in a misguided attempt to portray their daughter as a “good girl”, or perhaps because they were embarrassed by the truth or simply did not want to accept it, misled the media in their attempts to portray their daughter as someone she is not.

Maybe they thought her case would not be worthy of media attention because of her lifestyle.

In any case, their outright lies, rigid control of “family-sanctioned” photos and what information could and could not be released, as well as their general behavior criticizing the media and bloggers did little to help locate their daughter, and those omissions may have cost valuable leads.

After Kara Nichols, a beautiful blonde “teen model” vanished in October 2012 without a trace, her parents said their sweet daughter was gone and released photos of her wearing a hoodie that made her look 12 or 13 years old.

It wasn’t too long before it was discovered that Kara Nichols was involved in adult-type modeling and likely worked as a prostitute, yet even after racy photos surfaced, as well as escort ads in the Colorado area that appeared to be her, the parents claimed ignorance.

Maybe, just maybe, if the parents were more truthful from the onset, the investigation may have taken a different turn early on and perhaps valuable tips would have been called in.

The Charley Project has updated their information on Kara Nichols, and the family has finally been more honest in subsequent interviews.

According to these interviews Kara Nichols was a troubled kid.

Her mother,of course, wants to remember the good times, but has admitted the problems started when she was just 13 years old. That’s when she claims Kara Nichols changed.

She was arrested and after suffering a bout of depression was put on medication. It was also suspected that she suffered from mental illness. At some point she refused treatment and became a heroin addict. She ran away with a man she met on the internet while still in high school, and her parents were able to find her and bring her home.

It is believed that she’s also bipolar and may suffer from borderline personality disorder.

Mental illness is still a taboo subject, even in today’s day and age. The parents of missing doctor Teleka Patrick made a similar error when they denied any knowledge their daughter suffered from a mental illness, although it later became quite apparent that family members did know.

The parents of Kara Nichols knew about her modeling career with Beautiful Distractions Models and her profile on Model Mayhem – a site linked to prostitution and to the disappearance of other women.

They have also come clean that her three roommates were men and said that Kara Nichols was likely involved in prostitution to support her drug habit. She also had financial problems, could barely afford food or her rent and recently had a fallout with her pimp, because she wanted to go out on her own.

Quite a difference from the information her parents initially released.

And it does matter.

People that may have thought they saw her in the adult entertainment world, perhaps had an encounter with her in a hotel room, in a drug house or at a needle exchange site, for example, may not have reported it because they simply didn’t think it was the same person. And by now, if that person was high or otherwise impaired, they may have forgotten the long ago encounter.

It is unlikely, although not impossible, that Kara Nichols left of her volition planning to disappear since her belongings were left at the apartment. One of her roommates saw a car and assumed she went with that person.

Since she is a heroin addict in desperate need of money she was especially vulnerable, and could have fallen prey to those that engage in human trafficking or to someone she met on Model Mayhem, or even a John or fan who was obsessed with her.

If full information was disclosed at the onset perhaps a more targeted effort could have been initially deployed in finding Kara during the crucial 48 hour period.