During the past five months, former MU student Nick Coppola’s family has spent what they call an immeasurable amount of time and emotional energy in search of their son. Now, they have put up a $3,000 reward for information leading to the safe return of Coppola.
Coppola has been missing since Dec. 12, when his car was found abandoned on Interstate 70 near Foristell. He left his cell phone and wallet in the car, which left family and investigators puzzled. That same evening, Coppola was arrested in Wright City on trespassing charges but was released from Warren County Jail shortly after. He hasn’t been seen since.
“We just weren’t getting anywhere,” Coppola’s father Gene said. “We weren’t making any edge-way. There are some leads that are being looked at, but nothing’s panned out. I mean, we’re going on how many months here? We just figure that maybe we’ll get something to at least give us an idea if he’s in Missouri or not.”
The reward is available until June 15. After this date, Gene said the family might adopt a new mindset.
“I guess that if we don’t get any lead by June, then we might feel better that he’s not in the Missouri area,” he said. “That he must have went out west or went somewhere else.”
Several volunteers and a private investigator are aiding in the search, Gene said, but they haven’t made much progress as of yet.
“They don’t call me just for anything,” he said. “There’s got to be a valid lead that looks good before they’ll give me any kind of hope that they’re on to something. We haven’t gotten that yet.”
Foristell Police Chief Doug Johnson, on the other hand, has been an integral component of the search process, Gene said. Johnson has been screening calls stemming from the flyer created to advertise the reward, in addition to providing guidance whenever warranted.
“I’ll talk to him at least once a month,” Gene said. “If something comes up, even sooner.”
The family had quite a scare during one of these calls, Gene said. About a month ago, the Foristell police discovered a deceased body, which could have possibly been Coppola’s. Johnson called Gene after hearing of this to quell his fears that it might have been his son’s body. In the meantime, Johnson has been pursuing calls concerning Coppola’s whereabouts.
“Chief Johnson called me today, and said he’s gotten a few calls, but they all turned out to be baloney calls,” Gene said. “We’re hoping one of these calls is going to be a good call. We’ll see.”
One call said they saw Coppola entering a car with a woman in Lake St. Louis, but the license plate number couldn’t be deciphered. Another call said they were “sure” they saw him hitchhiking on Interstate 70 and Highway 61, though they didn’t see his face. All calls thus far have proved to be unsubstantiated, Gene said.
“They’ve all had something wrong,” he said. “They didn’t get this. They didn’t get that.”
This didn’t come as a surprise to the family. Gene said Johnson informed the family that calls similar to these were likely to emerge.
Gene asked students to distribute his son’s photograph and tell about the reward.
“Somebody around campus might see it and might know something,” he said.
Missouri Missing Executive Director Ra’Vae Edwards reiterated Gene’s belief.
“You never know when the right person is going to see his face,” she said.
The reward flier asks anyone with any information on Nick’s current location to contact Johnson at (636) 463-2123 extension 227, Doug Jones at (301) 641-2389 or Marki Davis at (801) 719-9494.
