JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A mother wants answers after her 24-year-old son traveled from Atlanta to visit Jacksonville for vacation, but never returned home.
Action News Jax first reported to you Friday when Clay County investigators confirmed that human remains found in May belonged to Nicholas Anderson.
“Nicholas was a quiet, quiet soul. He stood in the room quietly, but you knew he was there,” said his mother, Mary Anderson.
Mary told Action News Jax that while in Jacksonville, her son met up with someone who he met through a dating app.
Anderson’s family filed a missing person’s report with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office after he did not check out of his Jacksonville hotel room as planned on April 7.
“She said, ‘Auntie, did momma tell you that we haven’t heard from Nicholas?’ And I said no. And then when she told me that my heart just dropped and I just knew something wasn’t right because he speaks to someone in the family often,” Mary said.
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In May, the Clay County Sheriff’s office found human remains in the St. Johns River off of U.S. Highway 17 in Fleming Island, which were publicly identified as belonging to Nicholas Anderson on August 1st.
While he did face some challenges of his own, Mary believes it’s possible someone he met with may have harmed him.
Mary notes that her son had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, but he was on medication. She says he would never hurt anyone.
Although the circumstances around his death are not yet known, Anderson wants to share a message with others about potential dating app dangers.
“Just be precautious,” Mary said. “We’re in a social media world, but however, we would have to be mindful that, you know, everybody that’s on there, you know, aren’t nice people, you know, and their intentions are not for happiness and love.”
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office is still working on figuring out what happened to Nicholas Anderson. They ask that if you have information regarding this case to please call them at 904-264-6512 or submit a SaferWatch.
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