Police do not believe foul play was involved in the d*eath of Nathan Millard, whose body was found rolled up in a carpet and wrapped in plastic in a vacant lot off a Louisiana road.
The preliminary results of an autopsy conducted by the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office revealed “no evidence of internal or external trauma,” Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy J. Paul, Jr. said.
The chief said final autopsy results are pending further studies, including toxicology testing. He added that Millard’s cause and manner of de*ath are pending completion of the final autopsy report.
The body of 42-year-old Millard, a husband and father of five, was found just after 3:30 a.m. on March 6 near Scenic Highway in Baton Rouge, authorities said.
His remains — which were severely decomposed — were spotted by a passerby rolled up in a carpet and wrapped in plastic in a vacant lot
Baton Rouge Police Captain Kevin Heinz told the media Tuesday that investigators are still trying to figure out how he ended up there.
“It does appear that he was left there, that that’s most likely not where he died. I don’t want to go into details on our investigative efforts, but efforts are underway to locate and to talk to whoever may have put him there” Heinz said.
The Covington, Ga., man’s family told WAFB that they believe he “likely died of an accidental overdose.”
During the press conference, Heinz refused to comment on reports that drugs were involved in Millard’s dea*th.
“We will ask whoever put him there if something happened, if there was a moment of panic, come forward. We just want to know what happened to him,” Heinz said.
Millard was reported missing on Feb. 23 after leaving Happy’s Irish Pub on Third Street in downtown Baton Rouge alone on the night of Feb. 22, according to a Facebook post from Texas EquuSearch, a non-profit organization that had been assisting law enforcement in the search.
His wife, Amber Milllard said that her husband vanished while on what was supposed to be a brief business trip with a client for his company Advanced Construction, which is based in Conyers, Ga.
On Tuesday, Heinz outlined what police believe were Millard’s final moments.
Heinz said that surveillance video shows Millard going to a Greyhound bus station some time after leaving the bar that night.
At the bus stop, he made contact with a security guard who offered to get him a ride, but Millard declined. Heinz added that Millard did not appear to be in distress and left on his own accord.
Heinz said that Millard was last seen on the surveillance footage around 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 23. He never made it back to his hotel, the Courtyard Marriott, officials said.
The client with whom Millard apparently spent time at the bar requested a welfare check the next morning when Millard failed to show up for a scheduled meeting, 11 Alive reports.
Millard’s phone and wallet were later found discarded several blocks away from his hotel, Texas EquuSearch said in the post.
Amber Millard said she last spoke with her husband earlier in the day on a video call during a college basketball game he had been attending with a client before heading to the bar.
“It’s a nightmare that I wanna wake up from,” she said, per the outlet.
Millard leaves behind his wife and five children, the youngest of whom is 7 years old, according to WAFB.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (225) 344-7867.
