Nicholas Vincent Smith

• Missing Since 02/23/1991
• Missing From Las Cruces, New Mexico
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Date of Birth 07/11/1979 (45)
• Age 11 years old
• Height and Weight 5'1, 115 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A yellow t-shirt with lettering, blue jeans with several pockets, and white high-top sneakers.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, hazel eyes.

Details of Disappearance

Nicholas disappeared on February 23, 1991 from Las Cruces, New Mexico with his mother, Edyth Warner. They were living in University Park, the student housing section of New Mexico State University (NMSU), at the time with Edyth's second husband, Henry Warner, and their young son Andrew. Nicholas is Edyth's child from her previous marriage.

Edyth was an art student at NMSU, focusing on metal art and jewelry-making. She and Henry were having marital problems in early 1991. Edyth reportedly asked for a divorce in February.

On February 21, Edyth attended her art classes and Nicholas went to school. Edyth left a piece of metal in some acid and told her art instructor she would be back in a few hours. She did not return, however, and Nicholas did not attend school the next day.

Henry claims on February 23, Edyth told Henry she and Nicholas were going to be staying with a friend temporarily. Henry went the to the NMSU police on March 2 and told them his wife and stepson were missing. He claims the authorities initially did not accept missing persons' reports, because Edyth was an adult and was Nicholas's legal guardian. The reports were filed on March 6. Edyth and her son have never been seen again.

For many years, the NMSU Police believed that foul play was not involved in Nicholas or Edyth's disappearances. Henry stated Edyth took approximately $1000 in cash and $10,000 in gold and silver from the accounts she shared with Henry prior to their disappearances.

A witness told Edyth's father that she saw his daughter packing numerous cardboard boxes into her vehicle the week prior to her February 1991 disappearance. The Dewees family searched local storage facilities for evidence, but none was located. The location of the boxes and what was contained inside of them remains unknown.

Nicholas planned to visit his father in Texas during his school's upcoming spring break in February 1991. He never arrived. There has not been any activity on either Edyth or Nicholas's Social Security numbers since their disappearances and no requests from school districts for Nicholas's educational records.

In 2008, police stated they believe foul play was involved in Edyth and Nicholas's cases. Edyth is described as a devoted mother who would be unlikely to abandon her younger son, and Nicholas had a relationship with his biological father and would probably have maintained contact with him if he could. No arrests have been made and no suspects have been named, however.

Edyth's family told authorities that they were never close to Henry Warner. Henry apparently moved from Las Cruces with their young son after Edyth and Nicholas vanished. He divorced Edyth in absentia in July 1991. Edyth and Henry's son has not had any contact with Edyth's parents since 1991.

Edyth and Nicholas's cases remain unsolved.