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| Thursday, August 24, 2000
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal Father appeals to public A missing man's dad says he had no idea of his son's dual life, and wants help in finding him. By Glenn Puit
Review-Journal The father of missing Minnesota man Kinsey Otto said his son had two lives -- one as a loving father to his 4-year-old child, the second filled with clubbing, partying and drugs.
The latter was an existence that his family in Minnesota was not aware of until after Otto vanished in Las Vegas in May.
"Despite the appearances, he is a very good kid," Otto's father, Rick, said from his Minnesota home. "Then there was another side of his life that we were totally oblivious to until after this happened."
That darker side, police suspect, is why Kinsey Otto can no longer be found. Both Minnesota and Las Vegas police believe the 24-year-old is likely dead, the victim of a soured drug deal involving the popular club stimulant Ecstasy.
"This is what the police are saying and I take them at their professional judgment, I take their word for it," Rick Otto said. "Do we hold out hope? Definitely. Do we have any idea what happened? No. But we need the public's help."
Minneapolis Police Department Sgt. Michael Fossum, a precinct investigator, said the disappearance is likely drug-related. Otto came to Las Vegas on May 13 with at least $10,000 in cash, but he did not return on his scheduled flight May 19. His return plane ticket was not used.
Rick Otto said in the days before the disappearance, his son called and told him he was in Minneapolis and that he had to go to the hospital to visit a friend who had been in a car accident. Police now know that the details of that conversation were fabricated, and that Kinsey Otto may have actually been calling his father from Las Vegas.
"Why he felt the need to tell us this story, we don't know," Rick Otto said.
Rick Otto said that after talking with his son's friends and detectives investigating the case, he believes his son was "a mule" for a large drug deal of Ecstasy.
Rick Otto said his son made contact in Minnesota with an Ecstasy dealer. That drug dealer then sent Kinsey Otto to Las Vegas to pick up a large shipment of Ecstasy to be returned to Minnesota.
Police have confirmed Kinsey Otto made it to Las Vegas and went to several night clubs here. They also suspect he met with the drug dealer's contact, who has refused to answer any questions from Las Vegas or Minneapolis police. The contact currently has unrelated drug and weapons charges filed against him in Clark County.
The reason his son took such a risk, Rick Otto believes, is because he had just signed an agreement with a talent agency and he was scheduled to move to Chicago in early June to begin a modeling career. However, Kinsey Otto didn't have enough money for the relocation.
"His motive in doing this was to make the money to get him to Chicago," Rick Otto said. "He was broke."
Rick Otto and police say it is possible -- though unlikely -- the young man simply took the money and ran. But Rick Otto said his son would not have abandoned his 4-year-old child.
"He was completely devoted to that child, and throughout his entire life, he has never gone more than a couple of days without talking to us," Rick Otto said. "He could e-mail us, he could write us, he could call us from a pay phone. It is not like him."
Anyone with information on Kinsey Otto's fate is asked to call police at 229-3521 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.
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