Autistic man missing since arrest, release nearly 2 weeks ago

Friday was Collin Best’s 27th birthday, but instead of celebrating with his family, his mother suspects the autistic man is likely still wandering the streets nearly two weeks after she reported him missing.

Jennifer Best has legal custody of her son, overseeing his medication, hygiene and meals. After a few hours, Collin Best can forget his name and address, his mother said.

“All the cameras we have in this city, you’re telling me my son has literally just vanished,” Jennifer Best said Friday. “There has to be some sort of trace of him.”

When he walked off on Jan. 26, Jennifer Best said she was not immediately worried as he always called her for a ride. He called at 3 a.m. Jan. 27 from East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane, but he was gone when she arrived.

She reported him missing at 5 a.m. Jan. 28, and she said the Metropolitan Police Department arrested him around 7:30 p.m. that day near Flamingo and South Las Vegas Boulevard.

Court records show Collin Best was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on charges of resisting a public officer and disorderly conduct, but prosecutors declined to press charges, and he was released Jan. 29.

Jennifer Best said Metro canceled the missing persons report after he was arrested and never told her he had been found, arrested or released the next morning.

“They’re supposed to be looking out for him,” she said. “They have not found him on any cameras in this city. They haven’t provided any proof he was released from the detention center.”

In a statement Friday, Metro said it had partnered with other organizations to find Collin Best and were in contact with his mother, but the investigation remained active. Metro’s missing persons flyer indicated he was last seen at the jail at 1:40 a.m. Jan. 29.

Metro released photos Thursday night of Collin Best walking through the Fremont Street Experience, but Jennifer Best said they are relying on her to investigate the case and provide tips.

“I’m just a mom trying to find my son,” she said. “You need to be doing your own detective work. The detective said they’re going off what I said.”

Now Jennifer Best, her sister and her two other children drive and walk around downtown Las Vegas each night talking to local business owners, homeless people and anyone who might have seen her son.

“I’m angry,” she said through tears. “I’m heartbroken and devastated because I can’t find my son. I’m scared. I don’t know what he’s going through, how he’s feeling. I’m just angry.”

Collin Best stands 5-foot-7, weighs 135 pounds, and has brown hair and brown eyes. He is half-Hispanic and half-white and has tattoos and scars on his left arm and a cross tattoo on his chest.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.