The Deck - Kevin Nguyen (10 of Spades, Indiana)

Episode Date: June 24, 2026

Our card this week is Kevin Nguyen, the 10 of Spades from Indiana. On a cold December night in 2018, 25-year-old Kevin Nguyen went to see a band at a Fort Wayne bar and never came home. Surveillance cameras captured his final known hours in eerie fragments before he vanished. What happened next has fueled years of rumors, online theories, and bitter disagreements between investigators and Kevin’s family. With unreleased video evidence, mysterious tips about a possible killing, and no trace of Kevin ever found, his disappearance remains one of Indiana’s most haunting unsolved mysteries. If you know anything about the disappearance of  Kevin Nguyen, detectives want to hear from you. Please call the Fort Wayne Police Department Detective Bureau at 260-427-1201 or Crime Stoppers at 260-436-STOP (7867). Anonymous tips can also be submitted through the P3 Tips app.   View source material and photos for this episode at: thedeckpodcast.com/kevin-nguyen Let us deal you in… follow The Deck on social media. Instagram: @thedeckpodcast | @audiochuck Twitter: @thedeckpodcast_ | @audiochuck Facebook: /TheDeckPodcast | /audiochuckllc To support Season of Justice and learn more, please visit seasonofjustice.org. The Deck is hosted by Ashley Flowers.  Instagram: @ashleyflowers TikTok: @ashleyflowerscrimejunkie Twitter: @Ash_Flowers Facebook: /AshleyFlowers.AF Text Ashley at 317-733-7485 to talk all things true crime, get behind the scenes updates, and more! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Our card this week is Kevin Nugent, the 10 of Spades from Indiana. Since 2018, the mystery of Kevin's disappearance has become the subject of rumors and Reddit threads. Some of you have even reached out to us directly to look into this case. And that's because even though there is video footage of Kevin in the hours before he vanished on a cold December night, what we can see on the footage just leads to more questions than answers. and police aren't showing all of their cards. They're keeping a lot of details close to the vest, even as they release new clips to us in hopes that someone remembers seeing Kevin that night

before he walks off screen for the last time and is never seen again. I'm Ashley Flowers, and this is the deck. The mystery of what happened to Kevin started on December 8, 2018, a Saturday night. 25-year-old Kevin had done. made plans to spend the evening at the brass rail bar at the corner of Broadway and Sturgis Street in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana. His little sister, Leanne Yankee, 19 years old at the time, told us that she still remembers dropping him off that night. I remember that he really just wanted to go out and see a band for some sorts at a bar, and why I said that's fine. Obviously,

with a bar, you're going to drink. So typically, on that, that day. I'm not going to let you drive there. But right after Leanne dropped Kevin off, he called her and said he needed her to come back. So he forgot his wallet, called me, drove all the way back home to get his wallet, came home. My mom's like, oh, he's already back home. And I'm like, nope, you forgot something. Being silly as ever. More than seven and a half years later, Leanne still gets emotional as she talks about the last time she saw her brother, dropping him off for a second time outside of the brass rail around 10.45 p.m. He seemed like his normal self. His goofball self. Kevin Nugent's family said he was like

an introverted extrovert. And by the way, throughout this episode, you may hear people pronounce Kevin's last name differently, but we did confirm with his family that they pronounced it Nugent. Now, Leanne said at home, Kevin could be silly and make her laugh. But outside the house, house, he was quiet and more reserved. He loved to draw, loved anime, video games. And even though Kevin is six years older than Leanne, they were really close. He basically is the person that made me who I am today. As Kevin got out of the car, Leanne gave him a warning. I like grabbed him and I looked him dead in his eyes and I said, you are only allowed to have two drinks. That is it. You are not going to get hectic or crazy. Two drinks, that's done. Because I've seen you before how you get.

He listens to nobody. He listens to nobody. Nobody whatsoever. And he just does whatever he wants. Kevin didn't have a lot of opportunities to let loose at home. He lived with his little sister and his mom and stepfather who raised him since he was a child. But at the brass rail, Kevin was free to be a typical 20-something out on a Saturday night. The bar was a well-known spot in the area that slings cheap pints of Papp's Blue Ribbon and hosts punk and indie rock shows. That night's lineup boasted a comedian in two bands, Wet Face and the Cowboys. As the music pumped through the speakers and the bar grew crowded, Kevin started to unwind. He ordered a drink and then another and another.

According to police, surveillance video shows Kevin kind of falling into his own world. We were able to view on the surveillance footage from the bar. that Kevin was kind of dancing to him with himself. As one of the early investigators assigned to the case, Detective Brian Martin has watched hours of video footage related to Kevin's disappearance. He's a 14-year veteran homicide and cold case detective with the Fort Wayne Police Department. We asked Detective Martin if we could see all of the videos he has from that night. But because the investigation is still ongoing,

the department would only share one new excerpt with us. That's a clip from outside the bar. And it is something that has never been released to the public, but more on that later. For what happened inside the brass rail, we have to rely on Detective Martin's account. Kevin's behavior in the bar was somewhat erratic. He appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. We don't know if Kevin was high that night. His family is adamant that he didn't do any kind of hard drugs.

And police don't see him. take anything during the times when he's on camera. He's just drinking, perhaps drinking a lot more than the two drinks his sister warned him to stop at. We contacted the bar's owner to ask how many drinks Kevin was served, but they didn't respond to that question. But Detective Martin said that Kevin knocked back several drinks over the course of the night, though he wouldn't provide us with an exact number. We were able to get a copy of Kevin's bar receipt, but it's not itemized. His tab came in at around $36. Which doesn't seem like a lot, but the brass rail in Fort Wayne is known for cheap drinks.

In fact, around this time, they were running a $2 beer special, something that they did often back in 2018. Detective Martin says that as Kevin drank more, he began to push his way through the crowd that gathered to watch the band. And he started getting in people's faces. I can't say what exactly was going on with Kevin and his behavior. I did observe that he was talking to patrons at the bar. What I would refer to is close talking, maybe made people uncomfortable. According to one bar goer that we tracked down, Kevin tried to pick a fight with a stranger that night. The situation was diffused quickly.

They were like, hey, dude, just chill out. They cracked a joke, and everyone moved on. But the bar patron said that Kevin appeared to be very drunk. And it was becoming obvious to more people, because after a while, the staff, at the brass rail asked Kevin to leave. He closed his $36 tab at 1259 a.m. But Kevin didn't actually leave the bar. We were able to learn through some bar staff

that was willing to cooperate and talk to us, that there had been some type of altercation in the bar around the women's restroom. According to Detective Martin, Kevin used the women's bathroom shortly after closing his tab. When he exited the restroom, he stopped a woman who had just been about to enter. But from the footage that he reviewed,

he says it doesn't seem like this was actually an altercation. What I was able to observe, it looked like there was more of some kind of back-and-forth conversation between Kevin and this female. It was later revealed through talking to different people and some patrons and just word of mouth going around the bar that what Kevin was actually doing was letting this young lady know that there was, in fact, no toilet paper in that restroom and it needed to be refilled. I think he was just giving her heads up before she went in.

It did not appear to be any kind of out of the ordinary conversation that definitely did not appear to be violent. Detective Martin told us that the staff ended up escorting Kevin out from the back of the bar near the bathroom at 103 a.m. But even after he was kicked out, Kevin made his way back inside. What we were able to see on video surveillance is Kevin reappears inside the brass rail. Unknown whether he came through a side door or a back door, but he does come back into the bar and is noticed again and is asked to leave shortly thereafter. At around 110, it looks like he's escorted from the bar yet again after being put out the first time.

Around 120 in the morning is when Kevin's seen by the food truck between the bar and the bar. the food truck, and the food truck's parked right on the corner within a matter of footsteps from the brass rail. This is the footage that police have released to us to share publicly for the first time. The outside feed has a view of the sidewalk where you can see Kevin in front of the food truck at 1.21 a.m. He ordered what appeared to be a slice of pizza. While he was ordering a slice of pizza and waiting for it to come to him, you see Kevin kind of dancing. with himself, for lack of better terms,

kind of swaying side to side. I can't tell if he's like dancing or if he's unsteady on his feet. I understand why Detective Martin isn't sure what to make of Kevin in it. When he first moves into the frame, he's moving in this kind of unusual manner. He's like stepping very quickly, bouncing,

and his arms move up and down as he moves in what almost looks like a fast-paced box step. I mean, it seems to me that he's dancing, although without sound, it's hard to know for sure. And he does this for a solid 25 seconds. From the snippet of the video, I can see why someone might think Kevin was intoxicated. But for the remainder of the five-minute video, all that movement stops. Kevin stands around.

And at one point, he crouches down, acting like a guy waiting for his food. When Kevin finally gets it, we see him eat, alone, not bothering anyone. And that's where the clip that we were given ends. Kevin crouched down, finishing his pizza. The glasses that he walked into the bar wearing are gone from his face. He took them off when he was ordering. Now, the feed captured more of Kevin's movements outside of the bar, but police would only release this short portion to us.

So Detective Martin's description is how we know what happens now. Next. At 129's when he puts his crust of his pizza in the tip jar. This apparently led to a verbal argument between Kevin and the person working the truck, who police did eventually track down. We were able to speak with the gentleman who was running the food truck, and he described Kevin's behavior generically as he was messing with the tip jar. That's what we believe is when he put the crust of the pizza in the tip jar.

He also described Kevin's behavior as appearing to be. under the influence of alcohol or something else. Detective Martin told us that a couple of minutes later, two bar staff members intervened and walked Kevin down the block outside the bar to the corner of Sturgis and Fulton Street. By 140 a.m., we know that Kevin had walked north because he was spotted on surveillance video

outside of an Arby's restaurant near the brass rail. This video from Arby's is one that was released by police early on and has been circulated around the internet ever since. It's also black and white and doesn't have any sound like the footage that we've seen from the food truck. In it, Kevin appears a bit unsteady on his feet, just like a little crisscross of the feet and a stumble at the corner. Nothing egregious. And then he steadies himself and walks normally out of frame. The footage shows him walking towards the Arby's and then four minutes later walking back in the direction of the bar.

Detective Martin says the surveillance footage shows Kevin reappearing near the pizza truck and the bar at 153 a.m. The bar staff then escorts him away two more times, once at 154 and again at 157, according to police. At about 2 a.m., footage of Kevin drops off. He cannot be seen in the area in front of the bar. And around that time, Leanne's phone rang, and it was her brother. And I was half asleep when he called me. So when he called me to come pick him up, I go, okay, I'll come pick you up. I went to go open my door, and my mother was still awake.

So she said, no, you stay home. I'll go pick him up because at the time I was still young. So my mom was like, I don't think you need to be going out that late. She's like, I'll go do it. And I go, okay, like, as a normal person, as a normal person would, I'd go, okay. And then I went straight back to sleep. Kevin reappears on camera near the brass rail, now wearing his glasses again at 2.23 a.m., according to police.

He had just called home for a ride, so he knew his family was on the way to get him at the bar. But two minutes later, the brass rail staff escorted him down the street. Kevin decided to come back in front of the bar at 2.38. And this time, Detective Martin says the situation between Kevin and the bar staff escalated. You can see him kind of standing and looking at towards the pizza truck and towards the bar staff. And then all of a sudden he just runs right at them. You can see on video where he was tackled to the ground.

He was, appears to be punched a couple times. And then once Kevin is on the ground, you see bar staff get up. They're obviously communicating with him, telling him something. And at one point, you even see one of the individuals who tackled Kevin offer a hand to assist him up to his feet. Again, police haven't released this video footage to the public, so we haven't seen this. But Detective Martin says that he was able to verify that after one employee helped Kevin up, the staff from the brass rail and the food truck worker walked him back down Sturgis Street and then returned without him at 2,000. 39 a.m. We know Kevin's mother shoots him a text at 24.m., likely to let him know that she was about to pull up. Because according to police, surveillance video shows Kevin's mom arriving in front of

the brass rail shortly after at 2.45. She's in her car, and when she realizes that Kevin isn't out front, she begins circling the block looking for him. And then my mom was calling me saying, hey, did he say where he was? And I was like, he should be there. It felt like they just kind of missed each other? Kevin's mom waited near the bar for a while, but she didn't realize that he wasn't at the brass rail. He was actually a few blocks away where two more security cameras

caught a glimpse of Kevin receding into the night. Kevin never made it back home on Sunday. But his family didn't panic right away. They figured he just wound up crashing at a friend's house after a night out. According to his grandmother, D. Campbell, he knew people in the area. So there are people that lived there that he knows, and he stayed at their house before him. And in my process, I found that there is a guy that lives a few blocks away,

that Kevin used to work with him at the theater in Fort Wayne over there at Jefferson Point. He worked for him for a while there. And so that's kind of what they thought Kevin had done when he didn't come home is that he had stayed with one of his friends. However, when Monday rolled around and there was still no sign of Kevin, that's when full panic set in. When he wasn't picking up my mom's call, it kind of felt like something was wrong. Even if he was in the darkest place ever, he would remember my mother's phone number because he would call her first for everything. So the moment we kind of found out that he wasn't picking up her phone calls, that's when we started getting a little worried because that was not very normal of him not to pick up her calls. Kevin might go out for a night and crash at a friend's house after partying, like so many other 25-year-olds, but he had never just dropped off the radar like this.

Kevin's family started to think something must be really wrong. So Leanne and her mom filed the missing persons report with the Fort Wayne Police Department. The first 24 to 48 hours were law enforcement calling the bar, the brass rail, to see if they could talk to management or anybody who had seen Kevin win or could tell us anything about the whereabouts. Police got access to the security camera footage from inside and outside the brass rail, the footage that followed Kevin up until he was seen being escorted away from the bar that final time. But law enforcement was also. able to access security feeds from two local businesses, that one from the Arby's restaurant

and one from a construction company. And we know that those feeds showed Kevin just a little bit later. Now, many people believe that the video footage we talked about earlier from around 140 at Arby's, that that was the last time Kevin was seen walking away on camera. But if you've been paying attention to the timeline, that's not true. It turns out he was last seen on this Arby's restaurant camera and this one from the construction company. But that actually happened later. He showed up a second time on camera at around 2.45 a.m. So the last time that we're able to see Kevin on camera and able to document that Kevin is alive and well is at approximately 2.45 a.m.,

which would have been December the 9th. And that's when Kevin is walking outside of the Arby's restaurant by the drive-up and door area. The next camera footage that we see Kevin on is within a minute or so of that, and that's seen on a video surveillance camera is Strebeck Construction, and Kevin is last seen from any video surveillance. The last point we ever see Kevin moving, walking on video surveillance, is at approximately 245, 246 a.m. on December the night, walking northeast from the area of Arby's restaurant downtown Fort Wayne.

We really tried to get Detective Martin to show us this video clip, but he said that his supervisor would not permit him to release any additional footage. And to me, this one is so important because I'm curious as to whether that physical altercation from outside the brass rail at around 2.30 left Kevin bloody if he was visibly hurt or injured. Now, Detective Martin said that the investigation into Kevin's disappearance began right away. But his family feels like police were. weren't taking things seriously. It felt like, oh, he's just a grown man.

He's a man. He's fine. Maybe he just went to go hang out with his friends. He'll show up. And I looked at the police officer. I said, then why would he call me to come get him? And if he wanted to be away, why did he not pack anything? In the days following his disappearance, Kevin's family called around to find out if anyone had seen him,

and they kicked off a search in town themselves. His family went door to door asking all of the businesses near the brass rail if they had seen Kevin or if they had surveillance footage. His grandmother Dee got involved in the search too. We had made flyers. We put the flyers around and handed out to perfect strangers. I would go into Walmart and people walking in the store and I'd hand it to them. I went to the bar, and I was walking a grid in the back of the bar there.

I was trying to find anything, his wallet, anything to say Kevin was back here. In the back parking lot of the brass rail, one of Kevin's family members found a pair of glasses with a lens missing. Dee believes those glasses belonged to Kevin, although she didn't get a look at them before they were turned over to police. Now, if you go down a Reddit thread rabbit hole, those glasses are the subject of a lot of. lot of speculation. If they're Kevin's, it raises the question of how and when they ended up back there. From the surveillance footage that we've seen, Kevin is definitely wearing his glasses at 122 when he's ordering pizza at the food truck. And then we can see him take them off and put them in his sweater. According to surveillance video reviewed by police, he can be seen wearing

them again outside the brass rail at 2.23 a.m. But Detective Martin says he took them off again at some point because Kevin was not wearing his glasses when he is tackled outside the brass rail at 2.30 a.m. He told us that police do still have the glasses that the family found in evidence, and they have been tested to try and connect them definitively to Kevin. But he said that the results were inconclusive. When our reporter asked him if he'd ever compared the prescription to Kevin's though, he said no, which in my mind could be a good next step for detectives if they want to know for sure if they're his or not. They do look very similar, and I have no reason to believe that they are not Kevin's

eyeglasses just from seeing social media posts where Kevin is wearing the glasses and the glasses that were turned over to us. Dee's theory centers around those glasses found behind the bar. Though police have been adamant with us that there was no altercation inside the brass rail and Kevin was at no point injured, D firmly believed. leaves that's not true. She thinks something happened inside and Kevin was harmed in some way, but she doesn't think it was enough to prevent him from leaving. She thinks that whatever happened maybe had a slow effect, something that might disorient him and keep him walking around the bar

aimlessly even after he'd called to get picked up. Maybe that explains his odd behavior or the unsteadiness on his feet. So I think that Kevin got something in his drink and made him packed out. After Kevin is last seen on camera, Dee believes that he ultimately made it back to the brass rail, not inside of the bar,

but to the back parking lot, which is out of view of cameras. And that's when she thinks something happened, because she wondered how else would his glasses have gotten back there. Of course, like I said, there are no cameras in the back parking lot.

So if something did happen, it was wasn't caught on any footage. And what's so frustrating to me about this case is that police won't let anyone see any of the other footage they have. Not just us. They're not even letting Kevin's family see it. And I'm telling you, I really tried to press for this. I'm like, listen, help me help you.

You're saying that the family is wrong. They're thinking that you're hiding something. Just show me and let me tell them that there is no there there. But no go. They said they aren't releasing more video to anyone. A, to protect the investigation. and B, they don't want the new videos to fuel speculation. Because in the absence of police sharing information,

there has been plenty of speculation. Unfortunately, in cases like this that are high profile and there's a lot of attention, people make assumptions and those assumptions quickly get spread by word of mouth and on social media. and they take us in many different directions. When we reached out to the brass rail for comment, the owner provided us with a written statement, saying, quote, from the very first day I have been fully committed to assisting law enforcement. Before the brass rail was even officially contacted,

I proactively reached out to the Fort Wayne Police Department to hand over all of our security video footage from that evening. I met with detectives, answered every question asked of me, and maintain my stance of total cooperation with the authorities. This disconnect between the family's beliefs and the police investigation has caused some tension in the Fort Wayne community. Dee and Kevin's late father publicly called out people who they believed knew something about Kevin's disappearance.

And Dee admits that she has upset quite a few people with her allegations. I was making enemies. I was not being kind. I wasn't being kind to the police. I wouldn't be in kind to the mayor. I wasn't being kind to nobody because I'm one of my grandson. Somebody find my grandson. Make an effort.

How about that? So I was making a lot of enemies. Being ugly, being mean, and then I realized being ugly and mean don't get somebody to come forward because I'm being ugly at me. She's right about that keeping people from coming forward. The bar patron that we tracked down, who told us that Kevin was very drunk that night, specifically said that they didn't want to be interviewed or named because they were scared of being harassed by the family.

But sometimes the dust that Kevin's family was kicking up made them feel like the targets. I started finding people that was in the form. And I would put it out to public. I wouldn't say their name, but I would tell them, you know, come on, why don't you speak up, you know? But I was in Walmart just before Christmas,

and I was in line and there's, you know, Christmas rush and everything. And I was standing there fixing to pay for something. and there was a man, tall man, standing behind me and a person with a basket behind that. This guy rains over to me and tells me if you think you'll find you,

they won't find you either. And he walked away, scared me to death. And early on into the investigation, the Fort Wayne Police Department started getting some really disturbing tips that actually made them believe this search for a missing person

was actually going to be a search for Remain. and Kevin's grandmother may have had every right to be scared to death. Kevin went missing in December of 2018. And as early as January of 2019, Detective Martin told us that the department began receiving tips that Kevin's remains might possibly be located near railroad tracks out by an old General Electric building, about a mile from the brass rail,

which they immediately followed up on. Law enforcement has done an extensive, search of the actual building, the property that the building sits on, the adjacent railroad tracks. We also investigated a tip that came in of a foul smell and possibly bones behind a local grocery store and railroad track area that is somewhat wooded. An extensive search was done of that area and no bones or body and any kind of decomp was located. We brought in cadaver dog. We've brought in cadaver dogs and search both the GE complex, as well as the area behind the grocery store and railroad tracks. And the railroad tracks that run adjacent to the GE complex have also been thoroughly searched by both law enforcement and cadaver dogs.

The police search extended from land to water as tips prompted detectives to search local rivers. There are three that converge about a mile from the brass rail and the Arby's. We used our fire department. They searched via boat. They searched going into the water, and they also searched with sonar. And they also searched the areas where the dams are, because those are endpoints for our river, where oftentimes we've discovered bodies. And no evidence of Kevin was ever found in the river or along the river banks.

None of these tips seem to include much information about how Kevin ended up there. Who would have been responsible? or what the heck actually happened in the early morning hours of December 9th, at least not right away. But by February 2020, the police finally had an informant come forward with all of the missing pieces. Detective Martin was very careful about what he shared with us, so we don't have as many details as we would like.

But the broad strokes are that a woman contacted police saying that she had been present for cancer, Kevin's murder. She told detectives that she had been at this local home in the early morning hours when three men brought who she believed to be Kevin inside. She identified one of the men as an acquaintance but said that she didn't know the other two. At one point, the female source was shown a handgun and asked what the handgun was for to this male. And the male said he was going to take care of this problem, referring to, we can only assume, Kevin Wynn. The male went upstairs.

She heard more arguing. She heard what she believed to be a gunshot and then a body hit the floor. The female source stated that at this time, she observed what she believed to be Kevin's body wrapped in plastic and carried downstairs. The woman said she believed that the men left Kevin either behind the GE plant or in a wooded area, near some train tracks and a grocery store. And that lines up with the tips that police had received almost a year earlier. But they still hadn't been able to locate anything there.

So at first, the informant story seemed like another dead end. But then, in 2021, the same informant returned and repeated the same core story. This time, changing what she said happened to Kevin's remains, which, just to warn you, he's jarring. She later gave a version of the story which involved Kevin being brought downstairs, but then the assistance of two men who worked for a tree service company,

she believed ran Kevin's body through a wood chipper in the backyard of the residence. Can you imagine, I think it's more of a movie thing. I don't think anybody can even fathom what that would look like and debris field that that would leave. But law enforcement did follow up on this lead.

Law enforcement was able to confirm that there did not appear to be any human remains of any type or substance located at that residence worthy. Woodcheper would have been used on Kevin. Detective Martin wouldn't share any additional information about what has come of their investigation into this and other leads because the case is still ongoing. there is always a possibility that Kevin wandered off and doesn't want to be found. I find that highly unlikely due to the way we do things in today's society. Our names, our social security numbers, our date of birth, I find it very hard to believe that Kevin fell off the grid and is just living someplace and his name has never popped up.

He's never tried to reach out to family. I unfortunately think Kevin's deceased and I really want to know why. Today, Kevin's family continues to search for him. As they wait for answers, they honor him by releasing balloons on his birthday. And they've held vigils on what Dee calls his angelversary, the day that he went missing. And Leanne credits Kevin for the lasting impact he had on her life. I'm basically the person who I am, which I would say is a nerd or a person who just loves all of other. There are things that you wouldn't suspect to like.

So growing up with him, he really, really meant the world to me. He was someone that I really could look up to. He was somebody that I knew if something was happening, I could go to him right away. And I knew I was basically in a safe space with him. He was a really, really amazing brother. Fort Wayne Police Department is continuing to investigate the mystery surrounding Kevin Nugent. If you have any information about his disappearance or whereabouts, detectives want to hear from you.

You can submit a tip anonymously to crime stoppers online at their website or by using the P3 Tip Line app that's available on all Android and iOS iPhone platforms. Those tips are completely anonymous. You'll be assigned a number and no one will know who you are. You can also contact the Fort Wayne Police Department Detective Bureau at 260-427. 1-201. And if you want to reach out to us, you can reach us by email. Tips at AudioChuk.com.

The Deck is an AudioChuck production with theme music by Ryan Lewis. To learn more about the Deck and our advocacy work, visit the Deckpodcast.com. I think Chuck would approve.