Human Skeletal Remains Found to be Those of 2020 Missing Person 

April 7, 2025 – MODOC COUNTY CA – Modoc County Sheriff's Office officials report that on May 24, 2024, human remains were discovered in the Lookout area of Modoc County, California. Modoc County Sheriff's Deputies responded to the area where they collected the remains and later conducted a search of the area, with the assistance of the Modoc County Sheriff's Posse. 

The skeletal remains were forensically analyzed and identified as those of Nicholas Robert Patterson, who was reported missing on January 9, 2020. He was 26 years old at the time of his disappearance. 

On July 25, 2024, the Modoc County Sheriff's Office notified Nicholas Patterson's family that we had discovered human remains that were positively identified as Nicholas Patterson. 

Due to the ongoing investigation, his family elected not to make any public announcements at the time. 

The Modoc County Sheriff's Office is continuing to investigate the disappearance of Nicholas Patterson. Patterson was known to frequent the Burney area of Shasta County, Big Valley area of Lassen County, and the Lookout area of Modoc County. 

Patterson went missing sometime after January 4, 2020. If you have any information on the disappearance of Nicholas Patterson, please contact Sergeant Nessling at the Modoc County Sheriff's Office at 530.233.4416 or contact the Pit River Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Tip Line at 530.335.6325.

Source & photo: Modoc County Sheriff's Office