Editor's note: Above video tells story of Bonner County deputies wrongly accusing Nathan Utt of murder in 2017
A Hayden man who was wrongly accused of a cold case murder in Hope, Idaho, in 2017 is now missing, according to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office said Nathan Utt, 43, was last seen on Monday at 11:30 a.m in the 9000 block of Maple Street in Hayden, Idaho. He said he was going to the store but never returned.
Utt is dependent on daily medications and is deaf, according to the sheriff’s office. He is about 6 feet tall, weighs 180 pounds and was last seen wearing jeans and a red shirt.
Anyone with information about Utt’s location is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 208-446-1300.
In 2017, the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office labeled Utt as the suspect in the murder of 78-year-old Shirley Samey. Eyewitnesses placed him in the area and footprints were found going from the victim’s home to Utt’s camper about a quarter of a mile away.
As it turns out, Utt was at a medical facility in Oregon at the time of the murder.
After detectives realized his alibi checked out, prosecutors went to the Bonner County Courthouse to drop the charges. Utt’s family said the damage had already been done.
Ramey’s murder remains unsolved.
