Renewed effort to find Twin Cities man missing since 1999

RAMSEY COUNTY, Minn. (KMSP) - A renewed effort is underway to figure out what happened to a man who disappeared 18 years ago. Nathan Edberg vanished in 1999 without a trace, but his family and authorities aren't giving up on finding him.

"It would drive me crazy if I didn't trust and let it go in God's hands,” said Jackie Edberg, Nathan’s mother.

For Jackie, it's the unknown that is so excruciating.

"I'm kind of afraid to know, afraid because at this length of time, I'm thinking the news will be bad,” she said.

It's been more than 18 years since she last saw her son, Nathan.

"He was charming,” said Jackie. “He was. He was an easy-going, wonderful kid."

The former White Bear Lake High School basketball player had stopped by his family's Vadnais Heights home on April 14, 1999. He had dinner with his mom. Nathan, then 21, ended up drinking at the old Decoy's Bar nearby, a pub where he once worked.

Jackie thinks he might have been there for a couple hours, but after that it's as though Nathan dropped off the face of the earth. His pick-up truck was subsequently found in a ditch just off the I-694 and I-35E interchange. The doors were locked with the keys inside.

"If you take your own life, you can't dispose of the body. You can't hide that. So where is it?" she said.

Jackie and Ramsey County investigators have puzzled over the case for nearly two decades. Was Nathan the victim of foul play? Did he hitch hike? Or did he want to disappear? His mom has said Nathan was depressed at the time upset over a girlfriend break up and his parents’ divorce.

The sheriff's office recently released an age-enhanced photo of what a 40-year-old Nate Edberg might look like today.

Jackie says she is confident she will see her son again either in this life or the next.

"It's hard to express, but it does give me comfort,” she said.

In addition to that age-enhanced photo, investigators are also using advanced technology to try to analyze fingerprints on Nathan's wallet, which he left behind at the bar that night.

Anyone with information all these years later is asked to call the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office.