A Georgia man who disappeared during a business trip to Baton Rouge was found dead Monday behind a closed funeral home on Scenic Highway, his body wrapped in a blanket and plastic.
The discovery ended a search that had lasted almost two weeks, but the public learned little about what had happened.
Nathan Millard's body was found shortly after 3:30 a.m. in the 2900 block of Scenic Highway, police said. The body was discovered near outbuildings behind a now-closed location of Rhodes Funeral Home.
The location where the body was found is three miles from Happy's Irish Pub in downtown Baton Rouge, where the client Millard was visiting had last seen him.
The medical examiner's office is working to determine the cause of death. The investigation into the case is ongoing and further details will be released as they become available, police said.
A search coordinator with Texas EquuSearch, a nonprofit volunteer organization that assisted law enforcement in the search for Millard, said a call to police about a foul odor off Scenic Highway near Chippewa Street led to the discovery.
“When officers arrived at the 2900 block of Scenic Highway, they found Millard's body wrapped in a carpet and plastic,” said Kristen Harvey of Texas EquuSearch.
It appeared the body had been there for some time, Harvey said.
“It wasn't the ending we were hoping for or the miracle we were praying for, but at least he was found and the family will have closure,” Harvey said. “My heart breaks for his wife Amber and his children and family.”
Local police “have been very diligent and are still working around the clock,” Harvey said. “They are overloaded, like all major police departments, and they haven't missed a beat in working on this case.”
Millard, 42, disappeared on the night of Feb. 22. Millard's phone was later found downtown by a city employee, and his debit card was used several times in the days following his disappearance until it was deactivated by a family member.
Millard, of Covington, Georgia, had flown from Atlanta to Baton Rouge on February 22 for a short business trip. As an employee of Advanced Construction in Conyers, Georgia, he had planned to inspect a client's construction site.
On the first night of his trip, Millard and his client went to a basketball game and then to a downtown pub before the two parted ways around 11:30 p.m. Millard reportedly made his way to his nearby hotel on foot.
His wife, Amber Millard, told a Georgia television station that he had disappeared at that point. She had heard from him the night before.
The day after he was last seen, Millard missed an 8 a.m. meeting at the client's construction site. The client went to Baton Rouge police at 9 a.m. to file a missing person report after asking hotel staff to check on Millard and learning that no one appeared to have slept in his room, Amber Millard said.
Baton Rouge police said officers began their investigation by conducting a grid search of downtown, the levee and east of Interstate 110.
Equusearch volunteers also came to Baton Rouge to assist law enforcement.
Millard and his wife Amber were fathers of two teenage sons from a previous marriage, two teenage stepsons and a seven-year-old daughter.
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