NEW LONDON, Minn. 鈥� Daniel Newville has become a household name among those living in the quaint, rural community of New London.
That wasn鈥檛 always the case.
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The 18-year-old was last seen in the early morning hours of a warm summer night in 2002, after leaving a house party. He left on foot to walk across town to a friend鈥檚 house, roughly one mile away.
He never made it to his destination.
Daniel Newville鈥檚 disappearance into the darkness didn鈥檛 initially cause a splash of headlines or public concern. There were no alerts 鈥� no pleas for residents to keep an eye out for the young man.
Instead, his case flew largely under the radar, unnoticed by most of the community鈥檚 roughly 1,200 residents.
Decades later, Daniel Newville鈥檚 case recognition has drastically changed. Marked by yearly August awareness walks and signs posted throughout the town, community members now know his name 鈥� and want answers.
Sgt. Robbie Braness of the Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Office told Forum News Service in a recent interview that his department is steadily receiving leads on this case.
The goal now is to keep Newville's name alive, with the hope that the person or people who know what happened to him will come forward.
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The search for Daniel 鈥楧anny鈥� Newville
Daniel Newville鈥檚 dad, Russell Newville, was the first to realize something was wrong.
On Aug. 1, 2002, Daniel Newville called his dad and asked if he would leave a fishing pole out for him by the garage.
So, he did 鈥� and then, he waited.
Three days later, Russell Newville noticed the fishing pole hadn鈥檛 moved. That鈥檚 when he took a proactive approach and started looking for his son, according to a .
"I did what came natural," Russell Newville told the Tribune, a Forum Communications publication, in 2006. "Went banging on lots of doors and talking to lots of people."
Russell Newville consistently maintains he went to the Kandiyohi County Sheriff鈥檚 Office to report his son missing roughly one week after he was last heard from.
That date has been a point of contention between him and Sheriff鈥檚 Office officials, who claim they did not receive notice of Newville鈥檚 disappearance until an anonymous tip came in September 2002 that Newville had been killed and buried on his grandfather鈥檚 property in a rural area of the county.
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The investigation into Newville鈥檚 disappearance officially began in mid-September, more than one month after he was last seen.
The critical first hours, days and weeks had slipped by, yet investigators began to follow up on leads.
The investigation included search efforts throughout the county from the sky and ground.
Nearby Henderson Lake was searched in September 2002, according to a Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Office news release issued in 2022, on the 20th anniversary of Newville's disappearance.
Cadaver dogs also searched the areas where tips had led, yet nothing turned up any evidence related to the disappearance.
From then, the case began to grow cold.
The gap in timing between Newville鈥檚 disappearance and the official start of the investigation became a source of frustration for his family.
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Russell, Newville's father, and other family members have fought to keep the case alive in the hearts and minds of local residents.
The annual walk to raise awareness for Newville has grown throughout the years, gaining regional attention and an increasing number of participants.
His case was also picked up by local blogger and author Joy Baker, who .
A New London resident, Baker has published a focused on investigating 鈥� and bringing attention to 鈥� Newville鈥檚 case in a way that hadn鈥檛 been done before.
She鈥檚 walked the paths Newville may have taken that night, analyzing possible scenarios that led to his disappearance. She's spoken off-the-record to individuals who have new information that could be pertinent to finding answers.
With each post, she鈥檚 urged those who might be holding secrets, out of fear, to come forward.
It seems to have helped.
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The Kandiyohi County Sheriff鈥檚 Office has seen an uptick in tips from the public in recent years. No charges have been filed in this case, yet investigators are closer now to answers than they were two decades ago.
The momentum doesn't seem to be dying down.
Who was Daniel 鈥楧anny鈥� Newville?
Daniel Newville was a fresh adult when he went missing. Just 18 years old, he had a lifetime left to define who he was.
He had previously spent time in and out of juvenile centers and treatment facilities, yet letters released on the indicate he was trying to straighten his life out.
In one letter to a former juvenile center employee, he talked about his plans for the future, including a "halfway house" in either Minneapolis or St. Cloud.
Russell Newville remembers a son who liked to fish and head out on the boat. One year before his son went missing, the two won a local fishing tournament together.
"He was always my fishing partner and buddy," Russell Newville .
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Those with any information related to the disappearance of Daniel Newville can contact Sheriff's Sgt. Robbie Braness at 320-235-1260.
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