Donald "Donnie" Messier

Donald Messier is as vanished as vanished gets. The 34-year-old Vermont native was on the rebound in October 2006 following a painful divorce. On the night of Oct. 14, 2006, Donnie went to Waitsfield, to enjoy himself at another of the epic parties thrown by a longtime buddy. Those there that night say Donnie left the party by himself between midnight and 2:30 a.m. on October 15, 2006. No one has seen him or his big-red pickup since. Over the following weeks, forests were searched and waters dredged, but the mystery behind Donnie's whereabouts only deepened. After giving it their half-hearted best, Vermont State Police determined Donnie wasn't a victim of foul play, suspecting he skipped out on the only life he's known or, perhaps, killed himself in the backcountry. For the last 10 years, his family has believed otherwise. "I have heard some 'interesting' stories about how [he] just dropped off the face of the Earth with [his] truck," Donnie's father wrote on Facebook on Oct. 15, 2014. "Those responsible need to start looking over their shoulders because what goes around comes around." In this investigation, Marissa and Nathan eye the conspiracy of silence around the party Donnie went to that night, discovering that if you listen closely enough you begin hearing the secrets others have left embedded in the silence around them.

UPDATE: In October 2022, Adventures with Purpose found Donnie’s truck in the Winooski River. Donnie’s remains were not located inside the vehicle.

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