When Conor Anderson, the Colorado man visiting Nashville for a work event, vanished, his family turned to a local private investigation firm.
It took five hours to find him.
Anderson,last seen Aug. 16, was found by private investigators dead in a wood line adjacent to a parking lot at 14 James Robertson Parkway, the Metro Nashville Police Department said Aug. 20 in a social media post.
"There are no immediate indications of foul play. The Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death," the department said.
The case, which drew comparisons to the2024 disappearance and death of Riley Strain, has drawn online criticism for how the police department handled an interaction with Anderson shortly before he went missing.
Covert Results, the Nashville
private investigation company owned by a former Nashville police officer, published a statement about their investigation Aug. 26, noting that Anderson's death is not a reflection of Nashville as a whole as "millions of people safely enjoy everything our community has to offer each year."
Here's what the report said.
A private investigation found Conor Anderson
The private investigation company was retained by a close family friend of Anderson Aug. 20, four days after he was last seen when he had an interaction with police.
"The investigators returned to Conor’s last known area, canvassed surrounding businesses, reviewed available surveillance footage, developed possible routes of travel, spoke with people throughout the surrounding community and personally searched areas along those routes," the report said.
Those investigators were led to areas, including James Robertson Parkway, by information provided from unhoused people in the area, the report said.
"As those leads became increasingly credible, Covert Results owner Robert “Bobby” Young, a retired Metro Nashville police detective, made repeated efforts to communicate the developing information to the lead detective assigned to the case and to obtain assistance in searching the large, targeted area," the report said. "After searching the targeted area for nearly an hour, Investigator Diana Hutson located Conor Anderson in a heavily wooded and difficult-to-access area shortly before 6 p.m."
The private investigators said they immediately retreated from the area, treating it like a crime scene and called 9-1-1.
"From the time our investigators met with the family until Conor was located, less than five hours had passed," the report stated. "While we are proud of the relentless work performed by Diana and Kimberly, there is no celebration in an outcome such as this."
Community support can aid police
The company also weighed in on how Nashville police handled the investigation.
"Missing-person cases are extraordinarily difficult. Time matters, geography matters and the number of people available to physically search an area can matter tremendously," the report said. "Nashville is fortunate to have dedicated law-enforcement professionals, but police resources are finite and officers must simultaneously respond to emergencies and calls for service throughout the city."
When police are strapped for time and resources, the solution falls to the community, the company said. There's an opportunity for Nashville to develop a "stronger, organized community response" to missing-person cases. They suggested calling together churches, nonprofits, civic groups, trained volunteers, private-sector partners and law enforcement "when circumstances warrant a large-scale physical search.
"Imagine the impact of having an established network capable of safely mobilizing dozens — or, when necessary, hundreds — of properly coordinated volunteers to assist authorities in searching wooded areas, greenways, riverbanks, abandoned properties, and other difficult terrain," the report said. "This should not replace law enforcement. It should support law enforcement."
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Private investigators found missing Colorado man in 5 hours. How?
