Blake Nex Part 1: The Spark
The Vanished Podcast
Wondery
4.5 • 15K Ratings
🗓️ 8 September 2025
⏱️ 64 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In March of 1993, 37-year-old Blake Nex vanished from his home in Claremont, California. Blake’s family grew concerned when they couldn’t reach him, so a relative went to check his house. At first glance, nothing seemed amiss. There were no signs of a struggle or forced entry, but the scene inside Blake’s home told an even stranger story. Groceries were still sitting on the counter, as if Blake had just come home from the store and been plucked out of his life in the middle of an ordinary day. His cats were left behind to fend for themselves, along with five hundred dollars in cash, but Blake himself was nowhere to be found.
A couple of weeks later, Blake’s truck turned up in the parking lot of a local airport. No one could say when it had been left there or by whom. Then, after his disappearance, Blake’s home was broken into. An answering machine, toolbox, and several expensive bicycles were stolen, only adding to the mystery.
When Blake’s family reported him missing, they felt the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department brushed off their concerns. At the time, department policies didn’t require them to take reports for missing adults, and they considered Blake to be voluntarily missing. Nearly two decades would slip by before law enforcement finally took up the case. By then, Blake’s trail had gone ice cold. Any evidence that could have revealed what happened to Blake was already gone, swallowed by time and by the investigation that never began.
Now, decades later, Blake's loved ones are determined to reignite the search for answers, holding onto the hope that the truth about his disappearance can still be uncovered.
If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Blake Nex, please contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department at (323) 890-5500.
For more information, visit https://www.findblakenex.com, where you can learn more about his case and reach out to his loved ones who are still searching for answers.
If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From my understanding, it did seem really out of character for Blake. |
| 0:15.0 | I don't know why he'd leave groceries on the counter, the way he took care of his cats, |
| 0:20.0 | why he'd just leave everything, like he'd |
| 0:22.9 | stepped out just for a minute or just vanished. |
| 0:27.6 | That part to me doesn't seem logical. |
| 0:30.2 | I just happened to go out and visit him just before he disappeared. |
| 0:33.4 | I mean, trying to conjure up a visit from 30 plus years ago is, you know, if it wasn't such a memorable moment because of how it all worked out, I would have forgotten the details entirely. |
| 0:43.8 | They refused to do a missing person's report. I said, well, can you at least do that? Nope. He disappeared voluntarily. We don't have to. We're not going to. |
| 0:51.7 | So I'm a reinvigorated man on a mission to find out |
| 0:55.9 | what happened to my brother. In March of 1993, 37-year-old Blake Necks vanished from his home |
| 1:03.6 | in Claremont, California. Blake's family grew concerned when they couldn't reach him, so a relative |
| 1:09.4 | went to his house to check on him. |
| 1:11.6 | At first glance, nothing seemed amiss. |
| 1:14.4 | There were no signs of a struggle or forced entry, but the scene inside Blake's home told an |
| 1:19.5 | even more bizarre story. |
| 1:21.6 | Groceries were still sitting on the counter, as if Blake had just come home from the store |
| 1:25.9 | and was plucked out of his life in the middle of an |
| 1:28.6 | ordinary day. His cats were left behind, along with $500 in cash, but Blake himself was nowhere to be |
| 1:35.9 | found. A couple of weeks later, Blake's truck turned up in a parking lot at a local airport. |
| 1:42.2 | No one could say exactly when it had been left there or by whom. |
| 1:46.0 | Then, after his disappearance, Blake's home was broken into. An answering machine, toolbox, |
| 1:51.6 | and several expensive bicycles were stolen, only adding to the mystery. When Blake's family reported |
... |
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