Watertown man's mother believes he went to take pictures before disappearance

WATERTOWN, Mass. — It’s a pain too deep for many of us to fathom, and yet it seems all too often lately we are hearing from parents of young men who vanish with no explanation.

Twenty-six-year-old Nolan Gargas has been missing for several days. Thursday night his mother Barbrara Bodell gave her first on camera interview to Boston 25 News after a $25,000 reward was offered to find him.

“I’m wearing his hoodie so I can smell him and feel closer,” she said.

Gargas was reported missing Sunday morning, and his mother said it's as if he vanished into thin air.

“He just wouldn’t take off that’s not him. We’re close, if he needs to use the car, or ‘hey I’m going to be out tonight,’ everything was looking good,” Bodell said.

Gargas lives with his mother in Watertown. She says he never steered away from spending time with her.

“I played backgammon every night. I would get home, every night we would play at least two or three games of backgammon,” she said.

Sunday morning Gargas left home before sunrise and never returned. His car was found abandoned near the 40 Steps section of Nahant. State police searched the waters and rocky coastline but didn't find any trace of him.

“Imagine getting your heart ripped out having a hole in your heart and a hole in your chest,” his mother said.

Bodell believes her son was in Nahant to photograph the sunrise and to record the natural sound of the surroundings.

“I think he went out go somewhere different. He’s a sound engineer I haven’t been able to find his recorder,” she said.

The two had planned on going hiking for Memorial Day Weekend, and she told Boston 25 News she’d do anything to get him back and be able to take that trip.

“[I want him to know] how loved and missed he is, incredibly missed. I keep wanting him to come home I keep fantasizing he’s going to come home,” she said.

Anyone with information or who may have seen Nolan Gargas is asked to contact the Watertown Police Department.

Cox Media Group