Kevin Nguyen (10 of Spades, Indiana)

The Deck

The disappearance of 25-year-old Kevin Nugent from Fort Wayne, Indiana, on December 8, 2018, remains unsolved. Surveillance footage shows him last seen eating pizza near a food truck before vanishing, with conflicting accounts of his behavior that night. Despite extensive searches and multiple tips—including claims of murder and a woodchipper—no remains have been found.

Key takeaways

• Kevin was last seen on surveillance near a food truck at 12:01 AM.
• He was seen arguing with staff and was escorted from the bar multiple times.
• An informant claimed Kevin was murdered and his body disposed of in a woodchipper.

Transcript preview

Our card this week is Kevin Nugent, the 10 of Spades from Indiana. Since 2018, the mystery of Kevin's disappearance has become the subject of rumors and Reddit threads. Some of you have even reached out to us directly to look into this case. And that's because even though there is video footage of Kevin in the hours before he vanished on a cold December night, what we can see on the footage, just leads to more questions than answers. And police aren't showing all of their cards. They're keeping a lot of details close to the vest, even as they release new clips to us in hopes that someone remember seeing Kevin that night before he walks off screen for the last time and is never seen again. I'm Ashley Flowers, and this is the deck. The mystery of what happened to Kevin on December 8th, 2018, a Saturday night. 25 year old Kevin had made plans to spend the evening at the Brass Rail Bar at the corner of Broadway and Sturgis Street in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana. His little sister, Leanne Yankee, 19 years old at the time, told us that she still remembers dropping him off that night. I remember that he really just wanted to go out and see a band for some sorts out of bar and why I said that's fine. Obviously with a bar you're gonna drink so typically on that day I'm not gonna let you drive there but right after Leanne dropped Kevin off he called her and said he needed her to come back so he forgot his wallet called me drove all the way back home to get his wallet came home my mom's like oh he's already back home and I'm like nope he forgot something being silly as ever Leanne still gets emotional as she talks about the last time she saw her brother, dropping him off for a second time outside of the brass rail around 1045 PM. He seemed like his normal self. This goofball self. Kevin Nugent's family said he was like an introverted extrovert. And by the way throughout this episode you may hear people pronounce Kevin's last name differently, but we did confirm with his family that they pronounced it Nuggen. And Leanne said at home. could be silly and make her laugh. But outside the house he was quiet and more reserved. He loved to draw, loved anime, video games, and even though Kevin is six years older than Leanne, they were really close. He basically is the person that made me who I am today. As Kevin got out of the car, Leanne gave him a warning. I like grabbed him and I looked him dead in his eyes and I said, you are only allowed to have two drinks. That is it. That is it is it is it. That is it. That is it is it is it is it is it is it is it is it is it is it is it is it is it is it is it. That is it is it is it is it is it. That is it is it is it is it is it is it. That is it is it. That is it is it is it is it is it. That is it is it. That is it is it. That is it is it. That is it is it. That is it. That is it. You are not going to get hectic or crazy. Two drinks. That's done. Because I've seen you before how you get. He listens to nobody. He listens to nobody. He listens to nobody. Nobody whatsoever and he just does whatever he wants. Kevin didn't have a lot of opportunities to let loose at home. He lived with his little sister and his mom and stepfather who raised him since he was a child. But at the brass rail, Kevin was free to be a typical 20-something out on a Saturday night. The Bar was a well-known spot in the area that slings cheap pints of Paps Blue Ribbon and hosts punk and indie rock shows. That night's lineup boasted a comedian in two bands, Wet Face and the Cowboys. As the music pumped through the speakers and the bar grew crowded, Kevin started to unwind. He ordered a drink, and then another and another. According to police, surveillance video shows Kevin, kind of falling into his own world. footage from the bar that Kevin was kind of dancing to him with himself. As one of the early investigators assigned to the case, Detective Brian Martin has watched hours of video footage related to Kevin's disappearance. He's a 14 year veteran homicide and cold case detective with the Fort Wayne Police Department. We asked Detective if we could see all of the videos he has from that night. But because the investigation is still ongoing, the department would only share. one new excerpt with us. That's a clip from outside the bar. And it is something that has never been released to the public, but more on that later. For what happened inside the brass rail, we have to rely on Detective Martin's account. Kevin's behavior in the bar was somewhat erratic. He appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. We don't know if Kevin was high that night. His family is adamant that he didn't do any kind of hard drugs. He didn't do any kind of hard drugs. And police don't see him take anything during the times when he's on camera. He's just drinking. Perhaps drinking a lot more than the two drinks his sister warned him to stop at. We contacted the bar's owner to ask how many drinks Kevin was served, but they didn't respond to that question. But Detective Martin said that Kevin knocked back several drinks over the course of the night, though he wouldn't provide us with an exact number. We were able to get a copy of Kevin's bar receipt, but it's not item. 36 bucks, which doesn't seem like a lot, but the brass rail in Fort Wayne is known for cheap drinks. In fact, around this time they were running a $2 beer special, something that they did often back in 2018. Detective Martin says that as Kevin drank more, he began to push his way through the crowd that gathered to watch the band, and he started getting in people's faces. I can't say what exactly was going on with Kevin and his behavior. I did observe that he did. he was talking to patrons at the bar. What I would refer to as close talking, maybe made people uncomfortable. According to one bargoer that we tracked down, Kevin tried to pick a fight with a stranger that night. The situation was diffused quickly. They were like, hey dude, just chill out. They cracked a joke and everyone moved on. But the bar patrons said that Kevin appeared to be very drunk. And it was becoming obvious to more people because after a while, the staff at the brass rail, to leave. He closed his $36 tab at 12.59 AM. But Kevin didn't actually leave the bar. We were able to learn through some bar staff that was willing to cooperate and talk to us that there had been some type of altercation in the bar around the women's restroom. According to Detective Martin, Kevin used the women's bathroom shortly after closing his tab. When he exited the restroom, he stopped a woman who had just been about to enter. But from the footage that he reviewed, he says it doesn't seem like this was actually an altercation. What I was able to observe, it looked like there was more of some kind of back and forth conversation between Kevin and this female. It was later revealed through talking to different people and some patrons and just word of mouth going around the bar. That what Kevin was actually doing was letting this young lady know that there was, in fact, no toilet paper in that restroom and it needed to be refilled. I think he was just giving her heads up she went in. It did not appear to be any kind of out of the ordinary conversation that definitely did not appear to be violent. Detective Martin told us that the staff ended up escorting Kevin out from the back of the bar near the bathroom at 103 a.m. But even after he was kicked out, Kevin made his way back inside. What we were able