06/29/2006
OCEAN CITY, Md. - The body of an Elkton, Md., teenager who went missing earlier this month after celebrating his graduation from high school in Ocean City was found Tuesday in Cape May Harbor Inlet in New Jersey, police said today.
Nicholas Gochnour, 18, was last seen June 14, when he was in the resort town for senior week. He left his personal belongings behind, including his cell phone charger, Ocean City Police spokesman Barry Neeb said recently, and there was no activity on his cell phone since then.
On Tuesday morning, a fisherman on the southern tip of New Jersey saw a body floating in the water, Ocean City police said. The body was taken to the medical examiner’s office in Cape May County and an autopsy was performed on today.
Gochnour was identified by fingerprints, police said. There were no signs of trauma to the body, and the cause of death has not been determined.
The U.S. Coast Guard will conducted an analysis to determine if it’s possible the body could have floated from the Maryland coast.
Gochnour’s mother, Tammy Gochnour, had been working with the Ocean City police to print flyers to help find her son. We just want him to come home, she said earlier this month.
Investigation continues into teenage vacationer missing from OC
By Jay Hodgkins - click here for the article
06/27/2006
OCEAN CITY -- Nearly two weeks after he disappeared during his senior week vacation, resort police said the leads they're using to find Nicholas Raymond Gochnour have not dried up yet and the young man's mother remains hopeful.
"We want to tell him the family is missing him a lot and we want him to come home," said Tami Gochnour.
Ocean City Police Chief Bernadette DiPino said investigators from her department spent three days recently in Elkton, Md., interviewing a number of friends of the 18-year-old Elkton man who were able to provide police with fruitful leads.
While the investigators didn't turn up any new information leading directly to understanding what happened to Gochnour, DiPino said police were successful in piecing together the teen's background to determine if he might have been engaged in activity in the resort beyond just vacationing.
However, DiPino would not specify what those leads were, if they indicated whether Gochnour was no longer alive or if they show he didn't want to be found.
Police have only defined their efforts as a missing person investigation and have not specified it as an abduction or runaway case.
Gochnour was last seen on June 14 -- two days before his 18th birthday -- in front of the Paddock Night Club near 17th Street walking with an unidentified man with a pit bull, and DiPino said they have still not been able to identify that man.
According to reports, Tami Gochnour was shown the man's picture taken from Paddock security cameras, but did not know him.
DiPino said there is still no evidence of foul play.
Ms. Gochnour said police were not telling her very much about the investigation, but that she spoke to Ocean City police investigators on Monday and they told her they still following some leads that give her hope she might get to see her son.
"I still call his phone every day, just in case," she told the Cecil Whig recently.
Gochnour's clothes and cell phone charger were left behind at his hotel room at the Quality Inn on 16th Street, and police have said his cell phone is dead.
06/27/2006
OCEAN CITY, Md. -- Nearly two weeks after an Elkton teen disappeared during his senior week vacation, Ocean City police said they are still following leads and Nicholas Gochnour's mother remains hopeful.
Police said interviews with Gochnour's friends in Elkton hasn't provided leads on what happened to Gochnour. But they said it helped them piece together the teen's background and determine if he might have been engaged in activity in the resort beyond just vacationing.
Chief Bernadette DiPino would not specify what those leads are and if they indicate whether Gochnour is still alive. Police have only defined their efforts as a missing person investigation and have not specified it as an abduction or runaway case.
Gochnour was last seen on June 14 in front of the Paddock Night Club walking with an unidentified man with a pit bull, and DiPino said they have still not been able to identify that man. She said there is still no evidence of foul play.
article link - click
here
Jun 19, 2006 11:21 pm US/Eastern
http://wjz.com/topstories/local_story_170205238.html
Police Search For Man Gone Missing In Ocean City
Ocean City, MD Police from Ocean City to Cecil County are asking the same question. What happened to 18-year-old
Nicholas Gochnour?
The teenager traveled from his Elkton home to Maryland's ocean resort with a group of friends to celebrate their high school graduation.
But on June 13th, detectives say Gochnour mysteriously disappeared. At this point, police have determine Gochnour last used his cell phone just before seven o'clock on that night.
Friends told officers the teen liked parties, and believe he might have been involved in a fight the night he disappeared.
Gochnour stands 5'8", and weights between 145-150 pounds.
He was last seen wearing a green fitted New York Yankees hat, a stripped green and white button shirt, jean shorts and diamond stud earrings in both ears.
Police seek missing Junebug
OCEAN CITY -- Police said they still have not found Nicholas Raymond Gochnour, 18, after he disappeared last Wednesday, but were adamant their search was still a missing person investigation.
However, Ocean City Police spokesman Barry Neeb said there were a number of bad signs regarding the investigation, including the fact that all of the senior week celebrant's personal belongings were left behind, such as his cell phone charger and he has not had contact with anyone since his disappearance.
Ocean City Police Chief Bernadette DiPino asked anyone who has seen Gochnour either before or after he was last seen June 14 around 10 p.m. near 17th Street to call police.
"If anyone has seen or had any contact of any kind with him, call us. People might have seen him and not realized it was important," DiPino said.
DiPino said right now police believe the Elkton, Md., resident could be anywhere in Ocean City, Delaware or anywhere throughout the region.
"We have good info as to when he was in Ocean City," DiPino said. "We're trying to track down all the info we've received about him to verify if it's true. We've been getting tips and possible sightings, but nothing substantial that we've been able to follow."
Police said Gouchner was involved in a fight in front of the Paddock Nite Club on 17th Street on June 13, and that was where he was last seen on June 14 -- two days before his 18th birthday -- at 10 p.m. wearing a New York Yankees hat, white T-shirt and jean shorts.
Gouchner is 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10, about 150 pounds. He has blue eyes and dirty blond hair, according to police.
Police are asking anyone with information to call 410-723-6600.
Teen's Disappearance Has OC Police On Alert
By STACEY KAISER -- WMDT http://www.wmdt.com/topstory/displaystory.asp?id=2513
"It's kind of scary because, I mean, I guess you don't really realize it whenever you're out having fun, or whatever, that it could happen to people like us, I mean here."
Allison Battaglia is talking about the recent disappearance of Nicholas Gochnour
and high school graduate Natalee Holloway who's been missing for one year now.
Battaglia and her friends are in Ocean City for senior week and say they're doing their best to be responsible and stay safe.
"We're all going to college, so it's kind of like if you don't learn now, when are you going to learn, ya know?"
Deborah Todd, a mother of two teens, agrees there is not much you can do to protect these young adults.
"Well, you can't be there every second. You have to sort of tell them to watch out where they're going. Keep their eye around themselves; don't go around blind and talking and not paying attention to what's going on around you," Todd said.
Todd's 16-year-old daughter says despite the risk, she can't wait for her senior week.
"It's like what everyone talks about, a lot of our seniors, so I'll be excited when I'm a senior, I can talk about it and have fun at the beach...I'll be careful though," Heather Todd said.
If you have any information on Nicholas Gochnour or his whereabouts, contact Ocean City Police at 410-723-6610.
More Questions Than Answers In Disappearance of Md. Teen
Jacob Cook - Staff Writer http://www.mdcoastdispatch.com/gochnour062306.html
06/22/2006 OCEAN CITY Eight days after an Elkton, Md. teenager was reported missing by his friends, local authorities are still searching for answers to his mysterious disappearance.
The resort is a haven for young people this time of year, as high-school seniors and college students hit the beach to celebrate their graduation from school. A right of passage for many youngsters, Ocean City provides a kickoff to summer for the youngsters and allows the graduates to be with friends and retain some independence. In a whirlwind of excitement and freedom often comes a worry-free mentality, typical for someone on vacation or escaping reality for a trip to the beach, but rarely carries a lasting or life-threatening ending. However, the resort is on heightened alert this week, as the Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) is still searching for a missing teenager.
It’s unsettling. You get 100,000 kids down here and they all go home and they have for years, said OCPD spokesman Barry Neeb. It’s too early to jump to any conclusions. It’s different than your typical runaway. It’s very unusual.
As of press time, Nicholas Raymond Gochnour, 18, of Elkton, was considered a missing person. On June 15, Gochnour’s friends called police and reported that they had not spoken with him in days. According to Neeb, Gochnour was seen on two separate occasions last week leading up to his disappearance and detectives continue to search for his whereabouts, spending several days in Elkton this week interviewing people with possible information.
Gochnour was last seen on Wednesday, June 14, at approximately 10 p.m. near Anthony’s restaurant on 17th Street.
The day before, surveillance cameras outside of the Paddock Nite Club near 17th Street identified Gochnour as he engaged in some type of altercation. Gochnour was reportedly both times seen with an unidentified man who was believed to be in the company of a pit bull. Gochnour reportedly came to the resort with friends after graduating from Elkton High School.
More questions than answers remain this week and police officers on patrol are carrying pictures of Gochnour in their vehicles to pass along to people throughout the area. The pictures also serve as a constant remainder of the missing teenager so police can easily identify Gochnour if they spot him in the resort. The possibility that something has happened to Gochnour, he is still in the area or that he left the resort but remains unharmed are all feasible assumptions at this point and police are not ruling anything out, according to Neeb.
It’s an ongoing investigation. They’re still talking to kids. They’re still interviewing people. They are following up leads, he said. It’s a missing person. We’re looking just as hard here because he could very well still be here.
Neeb said the case is unusual, but even more alarming, because Gochnour’s birthday was last Friday, his belongings were still in his room at the Quality Inn on 17th Street and he has not used his cell phone since being reported missing more than a week ago.
However, police continue their investigation and search for clues that will lead them to Gochnour. Local detectives have received tips, possible sightings and various other information since Gochnour was first reported missing, but nothing is yet to close the book on the mysterious case. Neeb said the town’s department is hopeful that Gochnour will turn up and return home, just like the masses celebrating graduation in the resort each June before and after him.
We’re under the assumption that he’s alive and well somewhere, he said.
Gochnour was last seen wearing a green fitted New York Yankees hat, white T-shirt, sunglasses, jean shorts, white Air Force One sneakers and diamond stud earrings in both ears. Gochnour is described as 18 years old, around 5’8, 145 pounds, with blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. If you have any information on the whereabouts of Gochnour contact the Ocean City Police Department at 410-723-6600.
.jpg)
