Trevor Angell wanted to make a career change. The 28-year-old long-haul trucker was becoming disillusioned with all the time he spent on the road; now that he was married and had a small child, he decided it was time to find a job that would allow him to sleep in his own bed each night. He hadn’t quite figured out exactly what he wanted to do, but he knew he no longer wanted to be a trucker. When he left his home in Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada on September 20, 2000 to make a scheduled delivery in Los Angeles, California, he told his wife that he hoped it would be one of his last journeys as a trucker.
It was around noon when Trevor arrived at a meatpacking plant near Calgary to pick up the load of beef that he would be driving to Los Angeles. Trevor had made the 25-hour drive from Canada to California many times over the years, so he was extremely familiar with the route. Operating on practically no sleep, he would usually try to complete the trip as quickly as possible.
Trevor arrived in Los Angeles without incident and unloaded his shipment of beef. He then picked up a load of bananas that had to be driven back to Calgary. After he secured the trailer full of bananas, Trevor got back on Interstate 15 and headed north. He reached the California-Nevada border about four hours later and decided to make a pit stop at one of his favorite places: Whiskey Pete’s Hotel and Casino in Primm, Nevada.
It was no secret among Trevor’s friends and family that he enjoyed drinking and gambling, but he spent so much of his time on the road that he didn’t get a chance to do so often. He had discovered Whiskey Pete’s when he first started driving between Calgary and Los Angeles, and he would always stop there on his way back to Calgary.
Trevor’s first stop in Primm was at a gas station, where he fueled up his truck. He then headed for the large parking lot at Whiskey Pete’s, where he parked his 18-wheeler alongside the many others that were already parked there. With its prime location right off of Interstate 15, Whiskey Pete’s was a favorite haunt of many long-haul truckers.
Around 10:00 am on September 22nd, Trevor spoke with one of his company dispatchers while he was in Primm. He told them he would be resting there for a while before continuing his journey back to Calgary. He then phoned his wife, Teresa. He told her that he hadn’t gotten any sleep during his trip; she encouraged him to rest before attempting to drive back to Canada. He also mentioned that he had one more Calgary to Los Angeles trip scheduled, and then he planned on quitting trucking for good.
After hanging up with Teresa, Trevor’s exact movements are unclear. Both his company dispatcher and his wife assumed that he was going to try and get some sleep inside his truck, but it appears that Trevor had other plans. Several witnesses would later recall seeing Trevor inside Whiskey Pete’s casino gambling.
The dispatcher at Trevor’s company tried unsuccessfully to get in touch with him several times throughout the afternoon and evening. They grew increasingly concerned with each passing hour, and by the following morning they were certain there was some kind of problem. They were able to access the truck’s GPS system, which showed that it was still sitting in Primm, Nevada. It hadn’t moved in nearly 24 hours.
The trucking company called Trevor’s wife and parents, but they hadn’t heard from him since the previous day. At this point, Trevor’s company called the Calgary Police Service and reported him missing. It’s unclear if police in Canada actually did anything to attempt to locate Trevor, but it doesn’t appear that authorities in Nevada were made aware of the fact that they had a potential missing person in their jurisdiction.
Three days after Trevor was reported missing, some other truck drivers from his company located his truck in Whiskey Pete’s parking lot. All of Trevor’s personal belongings were found in the cab of the truck, including his wallet. Although there was no cash in his wallet, his driver’s license and credit cards were untouched. The load of bananas in his trailer appeared to be undisturbed, although the refrigerator was no longer running as it had run out of fuel.
Trevor’s wife and his parents immediately flew to Nevada to join in the search for him. They weren’t sure what to think about his sudden disappearance; they all knew how disillusioned he had become with his job and assumed this probably had something to do with his silence. They didn’t believe that he had gone very far; they assumed that they would find him in the casino, gambling away his frustrations.
A thorough search of Whiskey Pete’s revealed no sign of Trevor, but his family wasn’t too concerned. There were a total of three casinos in Primm, all connected by a monorail system. It was possible that Trevor had decided to try his luck at one of the other two casinos. His wife and parents figured that he would eventually run out of money and return to his truck. They resigned themselves to waiting.
Trevor’s family began showing Trevor’s picture to employees at Whiskey Pete’s, hopeful that one of them might recall seeing him. Although several thought he looked familiar, they saw so many people on the casino floor each day that they couldn’t be sure. A waitress at the casino’s café, however, was certain that she had waited on Trevor. She recalled him eating at the café on the morning of September 23rd, about 24 hours after he last spoke with his wife. He had ordered a bowl of oatmeal; he had stood out to the waitress because he had used pocket change to pay for his bill and leave a tip.
After searching through all the other casinos and restaurants in the area, Trevor’s family was forced to confront the fact that it appeared Trevor had left the area. Other than a few people who believed they had seen him on September 22nd and 23rd, there had been no other sightings. If he had left Primm on September 23rd, he could have been anywhere by the time his truck was located.
Teresa and Trevor shared a joint bank account, so Teresa was able to access Trevor’s banking records. She was surprised to see that Trevor had used his debit card to make nearly a dozen cash withdrawals while he was in Primm. He had made the first withdrawal shortly after she spoke with him on September 22nd; the last withdrawal was made around 4:00 am on September 23rd. Trevor had taken out his entire paycheck, presumably for gambling purposes. It was possible that he had lost it all and was now wandering around somewhere, broke and despondent.
Trevor’s wife and mother started calling all the hospitals and medical clinics in the area, but none of them recalled treating anyone matching Trevor’s description. They also checked with the Salvation Army in case Trevor had sought shelter there, but again came up empty. Trevor appeared to have vanished into thin air. Desperate, the family rented a car and spent days driving around the area looking for Trevor. They were unable to find anyone who had seen him.
Police believed that Trevor had voluntarily disappeared, noting that he was unhappy with his life in Canada and might have wanted to start fresh in America. His discontent was certainly not a secret — everyone who knew him was aware of the fact that he wanted to quit his job. He had been seeing a psychologist who had been hired by his employer in an attempt to get his life sorted out, but he remained unsure about his plans for the future.
Although Trevor had been unhappy with his career, there was nothing to suggest that his marriage was failing. He and Teresa had been high school sweethearts, and both of them had been overjoyed when their son was born two years earlier. Trevor loved being a father; his main reason for wanting to quit his job was so that he could spend more time at home with his wife and son. No one in his family believed that he would have voluntarily walked away from Teresa and his child.
Trevor’s parents noted that Trevor had been very open about his growing hatred of trucking; it was no secret that he was hoping to make a career change. He had spoken to his parents about the subject on numerous occasions, but he had never expressed any discontent with his home life. They didn’t believe that he suddenly decided to make a new life for himself in the United States.
Although Trevor’s family didn’t believe he had voluntarily walked away from them to start a new life, they did worry that he might have committed suicide or experienced some sort of mental breakdown. Teresa noted that Trevor didn’t always make the best decisions; he tended to be somewhat spontaneous, doing things without thinking about the long-term consequences. He may have suddenly realized that he had gambled away all of his money and become depressed about it. If he had wandered off into the desert, his chances of survival were slim. Searches of the area surrounding Primm were conducted, but nothing was found.
It was also possible that Trevor might have been a victim of foul play. Although details are somewhat sketchy, investigators spoke with one witness who claimed to have seen a man they believed was Trevor laying in the parking lot of Whiskey Pete’s. They claimed that the man appeared sick or hurt; he appeared disoriented and was clutching his stomach and pleading for help. Why the witness didn’t attempt to help him is unclear.
Trevor’s family was devastated by his disappearance. The trucking company he worked for, though helpful at first, eventually decided they wanted nothing more to do with the situation. They told Trevor’s parents that Trevor appeared to have a gambling problem and there was nothing else that they could do. His parents have continued to search for him on their own, and pray that he is still alive.
Teresa searched desperately for her husband for months before she finally came to terms with the fact that he was likely not going to return. Although she doesn’t want to believe that he willingly abandoned her, she remains hopeful that he is still alive somewhere. She remarried a few years after Trevor’s disappearance, but has kept the same phone number so that he will have a way to contact her if he ever resurfaces.
Trevor Angell was 28 years old when he went missing in 2000. He has hazel eyes and brown hair, and at the time of his disappearance he was 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighed 165 pounds. His left ear is pierced. If you have any information about Trevor, please contact the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department at 702–229–2907.
