Disappeared in Georgia: 5 Unanswered Questions About the Death of Kelly Nash

What happened to this hardworking college student, who had so many loving friends and family?

On the morning of January 5, 2015 Kelly Nash vanished from his Gwinnett County home in Buford, Georgia. Sadly, five weeks after Kelly vanished, a fisherman discovered his body floating in Lake Lanier, only a few miles from his home.

The Sheriff’s office gave Investigation Discovery the exclusive update that Kelly died from a gunshot wound and subsequent drowning. His autopsy report has yet to be released to the public, but police have not ruled out foul play. What happened to this hardworking college student, who had so many loving friends and family? Here are some questions that remain unanswered:

Caption: Kelly and his girlfriend Jessica

1. What happened in the hours leading to Kelly’s disappearance?

Kelly’s family and investigators needed to build a timeline of events leading to his disappearance. Starting from the night of January 4, investigators were able to see that Kelly had been on CCTV footage at the gas station at the intersection of Buford Dam Road and Little Mill Road, just around the corner from his home. Kelly’s mother Beverly shared the footage with local news stations, noting that he got out of the car at 9PM and was on the phone with his live-in girlfriend. By 11:30PM, Kelly was back at home and getting ready for bed.

Kelly suffered from recurring sinus infections and opted to sleep on the couch, so Jessica could get a good night’s sleep before going to work. Jessica awoke once during the evening around 3:30AM to check on Kelly as he was awake in the living room playing video games. At 7:30AM when Jessica got up to take out their dogs, Kelly was gone. Kelly left without his wallet, money, credit cards, ID, phone, keys or pickup truck.

Caption: Kelly and his father Alan

2. Was Kelly associated with a violent or dangerous crowd?

A private investigator quickly began working with the Nash family. Despite endless searching, the investigator, friends and family did not discover anything suspicious about Kelly’s acquaintances. Kelly was a full-time college student, worked at his dad’s construction company and spent the rest of his time with his girlfriend. Kelly’s father, Alan Nash confirmed:

“This is the problem, we can’t find anything bad that Kelly was associated with. While we’ve tried…. You’re trying to find a starting point. Is there something that he was doing that none of his family members would know? This was not a young man tied up in some dark-world situation.”

Moreover, Kelly had no history of mental illness or drug abuse.

3. Did Kelly walk to get medicine for his sinuses or try to go to his dad’s house?

A nearby convenience store video revealed a shadowy figured at 4:30AM on the morning of Kelly’s disappearance. The footage was too dark and grainy to identify the individual. The store is on the way to Kelly’s father’s house, but why would he have walked to his dad’s house without his belongings in the middle of a cold night? Nash’s father implored someone in the community to come forward:

“It’s basically impossible to know if that was Kelly. If someone knows that that was them, in that video, I would love for them to come forward so we could, at least, strike that off saying, no, that wasn’t him.”

4. Did Kelly have access to gun?

Kelly did own a Glock 9mm. Unfortunately, no one has been able to find the gun. Kelly’s father also noted that his son did not regularly carry the weapon.

Caption: Kelly and his mother Beverly

5. Did Kelly hear something outside of his home in the middle of the night and try to investigate?

Jessica noticed that the garage door, which the couple used to exit and enter the home, was ajar. With the gun missing and after noticing that his video game had gone idle, Jessica speculated that he could have briefly stepped outside. Did Kelly hear something strange and go outside without his phone or keys? None of these elements indicated a crime, but they did seem strange to his family.

Upon the discovery of their son’s body, the Nash family retreated from social media and asked for time to grieve in peace. Despite the discovery of Kelly’s body, there are many lingering questions about the Kelly Nash case.