Police want anyone who has found Nathan Cole’s belongings to know they can hand them in without being blamed for his disappearance

By Victoria Munro

Nathan’s family outside Walthamstow Marshes, his last known whereabouts

The hunt for a young man who seemingly walked into Walthamstow Marshes and “vanished into thin air” continues more than two weeks after his disappearance.

Nathan Cole, a 32-year-old from Notting Hill, was last seen in Walthamstow on the evening of 21st January shortly after 11pm, walking along Banbury Road in the direction of the River Lea.

He had tentative plans to go to a gig in Camden that night and told his mother Niuska when he would be home but has not been seen or heard from since.

On Saturday, 4th February, police patrolled the area Nathan was last seen from 10pm to 1am in the hopes of finding someone who remembered him from that night.

They are also appealing to anyone who might have picked up his belongings – a black rucksack likely containing a drone, a book and a pack of American Spirit tobacco with Spanish labels – to hand them in, assuring them they will not be in trouble for doing so.

The search party was joined by Nathan’s large and close-knit family, who spent every day looking for him on their own in the week after reporting his disappearance.

His sister Hannah told the Echo: “We were here before the police because I got access to his SIM card to look at his Google maps, every day from Monday when he didn’t show up to work.

“It helped us deal with the pain to do our part but it has got to a point where we have exhausted all we can do and have to hand it over to the police, as much as it sometimes makes us feel helpless.

“What really helped is that my mum, being as maternal as she is, texts him a lot. We can see the Whatsapp message at midnight was delivered but, at 6am, they were not going through.

“Police have told us that they think the likelihood of him going off-grid or having committed suicide is low, that’s why they are paying more attention.”

Nathan has lived with his mother Niuska for the last half a year and she told the Echo that he always abides by the time he tells her to expect him home.

She said: “I think personally that someone has taken him somewhere. He is always very trusting with people, although if someone was nasty and he’d had a few drinks he would not like that.

“I’m from South America but, after living in a country where he was always safe, Nathan always thought nothing would happen to him. I used to say ‘be careful, be careful’ but it was not ingrained in him.

“This is the worst nightmare that can happen to a family. You see this on TV but you never think it will happen to you.”

Hannah added: “It’s all very surreal, you wake up in the morning and forget what’s happened and then you have a sudden realisation. Our life is upside-down at the moment.

“We’re fortunate that we’re in a country where missing people are taken quite seriously. We’ve had so much support from friends and from people we don’t even know, who live in the area and want to help.

“Since there are five siblings, we also have a good network of friends in the area. One friend said pretty much everyone in the area knows a Cole.”

CCTV footage of Nathan the night he disappeared (credit: Met Police)

CCTV footage from 21st January shows Nathan buying four cans of lager in a shop in Blackhorse Lane shortly after 10pm, before boarding a 158 bus towards Chingford.

At 10.55pm, he got off the bus outside Walthamstow Academy and walked along Billet Road and then, at 11.17pm, walked along Banbury Road in the direction of the River Lea.

Detective Inspector Fiona Van Kampen, who is leading the investigation, told the Echo: “Data from his phone suggests he went into the marshes, only he never came out the other end.

“We simply don’t know what happened, it’s like he vanished into thin air basically. At this stage, anything is possible.

“Nathan is very happy and gregarious but can be a bit of a loner. He often came to this area to walk but why at that time? It could have been for a party or to meet someone but that’s pure speculation.

“He used to live in Waltham Forest and definitely has friends in the wider area. He’d been contacting a friend in Highams Park about coming to a gig with him.”

She said police are currently keen to find Nathan’s belongings and want to reassure anyone that may have found them without realising their significance that they can hand them in without worrying they will be blamed for his disappearance.

She said: “If someone has found his belongings and hands them in now, we won’t give them any grief and we are not looking to point fingers at people.

“They might be in a difficult situation or already in trouble with the police but we just want them to give us Nathan’s stuff if they have it, knowing where it was found might help us find him.”

While police do not know for certain that Nathan was separated from his things, they are asking people to come forward if they have found a black rucksack, which likely contained a mini drone and controller.

It may also have had a pouch of American Spirit tobacco with the labels in Spanish, a book, the Fosters beer he purchased and the case for his glasses. It is likely that he was wearing the glasses in the below picture at the time of his disappearance.

Nathan was likely wearing these glasses (courtesy of family)

Nathan also may have had with him a pair of black earphones, a pair of gloves with the fingers cut off and a slightly worn black leather wallet, containing a Nectar card in his name.

Anyone who sees him should call 999.

If you have information you think could help find him, call police on 101 and give the reference 23MIS002577. You can also contact independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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