() A body found Saturday in Nebraska may be that of a Wyoming man who has been missing for more than six years, according to reports.
The Cowboy State Daily reports Chance Englebert, who was 25 when he went missing during a trip to visit family in Gering, Nebraska, in July of 2019.
Englebert’s mother informed a Wyoming news outlet that she received a notification from the Gering Police Department indicating that a recently discovered body might be related to her son’s disappearance.
Chance’s mother, Dawn, posted on the “Help Find Chance Englebert” Facebook page Saturday:
“We request that the ‘Chance’s Army’ community remain patient and respectful at this time,” wrote Dawn. “Please let law enforcement carry out their detailed investigation. Our family is awaiting official confirmation and additional details from the authorities.”
The Gering police reported that on July 6, while golfing with his wife’s family, Englebert became upset due to remarks about earning less money in his new job.
His wife stated that Englebert called her, expressing his desire to leave Gering and return to Wyoming. She picked him up and took them to her grandparents’ house in Gering. This, she explained, aggravated Englebert further. He exited the vehicle and began to walk away.
Surveillance footage obtained by shows Englebert walking through Gering around 7:50 p.m. the night he left his wife in the car.
In the video, Englebert can be seen looking at his phone and then taking a 90-degree turn to the left, as if following a map.
“I see a kid that had a mission, and he knew he wanted out of town,” his mother said of seeing him walking during that last snippet of video.
An hour after the time of the surveillance footage, a powerful storm with lightning and high winds passed through Gering and neighboring towns.
At 9:08 p.m., a text was sent from Englebert’s phone during the storm to his Aunt Katy with a grumpy face emoji and a confusing mix of letters.
After that text, according to the local sheriff, Englebert’s phone went dark.
“Nothing on his phone after 9 or 8, nothing,” Englebert’s mother said.
His wife called the police the next morning to file a missing person report.
‘s Tom Palmer contributed to this report.
