Police said on March 10, 2023, that they wanted to speak to Derrick Perkins (pictured here) about Nathan Millard’s disappearance and death. (Image: Baton Rouge Police Department)
Police seek a man for questioning after missing Georgia man Nathan Millard, 42, was found dead and rolled up in a carpet in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Officers did not say whether they believe Derrick Perkins, 45, played some kind of role in the disappearance and death. Officers previously said someone put Millard in that rug and left him there.
“Perkins was last seen in the South Baton Rouge area driving a 2003 Toyota Camry,” they wrote Friday.
Police say Perkins also faces a probation violation as well as criminal damage to property, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and three counts of access device fraud.
Officers ask that anyone with information on Perkins’ whereabouts call the Baton Rouge Police Department at 225-389-2000 or Crime Stoppers at 225-344-7867.
As previously reported, Millard, a resident of Covington, Georgia, was in Baton Rouge for what was supposed to be a brief work trip. Authorities initially said he was last seen the night of Feb. 22.
“Nathan was last seen on video leaving the Courtyard Marriott on 3rd Street and Florida Ave. wearing a black Carhartt shirt, jeans, brown boots, and a black Columbia baseball hat,” search and recovery organization Texas EquuSearch wrote on March 1. “It is known that Nathan visited Happy’s Irish Pub on 3rd Street and Convention St. and is believed to have left the pub, on foot, at approximately 11:30 PM to return to the hotel. His phone and wallet were found discarded several blocks away, but there have been no sightings of Nathan.”
Baton Rouge police Capt. Kevin Heinz said in a press conference Tuesday that they used surveillance cameras from local businesses to track Millard’s whereabouts the night of Feb. 22 into the early morning of Feb. 23. At one point, the man wound up at a bus station, the captain said. A security guard offered to help him because she felt he was out of place, though he did not appear to be in distress. She offered to get him a ride or call the police for him. Millard declined and left on his own accord, Heinz said.
According to the captain, the man was seen through the next several hours and tracked to several local businesses. He was tracked until approximately 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday, said Heinz.
Describing the totality of this video evidence, the captain said Millard appeared to be at those locations under his own power, and he did not appear to be in distress. Heinz said there appeared to be nothing happening that was criminal in nature.
And yet somehow, Millard died and wound up in a rug in a vacant lot in the 2900 block of Scenic Highway, where he was found at 3:34 a.m. on March 6.
“It does appear that he was left there,” ” Heinz said Tuesday. “That’s most likely not where he died.”
Nathan Millard, 42, was found dead in the early morning of March 6, 2023, police said. (Image: Texas EquuSearch)
For now, however, police said they found no sign of foul play. Specifically, Heinz cited the lack of details such as gunshot wounds or blunt force trauma. He declined to answer a question as to whether there were any drugs involved.
“No evidence of internal or external trauma noted,” said the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office in a statement obtained by Law&Crime. “Final autopsy results pending further studies including toxicology testing. Cause of Death and Manner of Death are pending completion of the final autopsy report.”
For now, Millard’s passing remains a mystery.
“And look, we’ll ask, whoever put him there, if something happened and there was a moment of panic, come forward,” Heinz said. “We just want to know what happened to him.”
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