Fearing the worst, Collinsville mother says it’s not like her missing son to not call
UPDATE 3/25/24 - This article was updated to correct the address of the Collinsville MotoMart.
A Collinsville mother says it’s not like her 23-year-old son to not be in steady contact with her.
So 11 days after he disappeared without a hint of where he may be, she’s fearing the worst.
“I’ve talked to everybody I can think of who knows him or has been associated with him and nobody has anything for me,” said Brandi Staroba, who last saw her son, Korey Nichols, stepping out of a gas station restroom on March 11. “It’s like he just disappeared into thin air. He’s just gone. I’m afraid he’s dead somewhere because it’s not like him to not be in contact.”
According to a press release from the Collinsville Police Department, Nichols was last seen at the MotoMart, 702 Vandalia St., on March 11. He was wearing white Nike Air Force One athletic shoes, light-colored blue jeans with holes patched with colored fabric, a yellow hooded sweatshirt and a black hoodie, a black winter hat, an orange and yellow jacket with reflectors advertising BB’s Lawn on the back.
Nichols is 5-feet, 7-inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds with “dirty blonde” hair and hazel eyes.
Police released a surveillance photo of Nichols at the service station.
Staroba says she was the last person she knows of that saw him.
“I saw him stepping out of the bathroom at the MotoMart and by the time I finished pumping gas, he was gone,” she said.
Staroba said her son was living at home and kept a small social circle, but had been on the streets for “about 10 days” prior to his disappearance. Collinsville officers made contact with him at about 2:50 a.m. on March 11, the police department confirmed.
Without being specific, Staroba said Nichols was in “a bad place” and had made some “bad choices in life.” She said she had tried to get him admitted to a hospital but was turned away because he wasn’t a risk to himself or others.
Staroba said she believes giving him some distance would help him face up to his circumstances.
Still, Nichols kept in contact with his mother.
“I tried to help him by giving him food to make sure he was eating, and we could tell that some nights he’d slept in one of our vehicles,” she said. “He’s completely dependent on me, so he’s never not been in contact with me. It’s not at all like him to not call me.”
Anyone with information about Nichols or his whereabouts is asked to contact the Collinsville Police Department at 618-344-2131 or Brandi Staroba at 618-477-0858.
