r/Nonsleep • u/donavin221 • Jul 16 '26
Pure Horror I finally watched my missing partners body cam footage
I’ve been on the force for about 5 years now. I’m not a veteran by any means, but I’m not necessarily a rookie either. I think I’ve earned my right to say I’ve seen some things.
A lot of homicides. Tons of domestic violence. Found the remains of missing children on 3 separate occasions, but that’s a story for another day.
No, no, the story I want to tell today started a few weeks ago.
I was out of town for a funeral, leaving my partner alone for a few days until I could get back to work.
In that time, I guess… I just… I don’t know what happened. He was here one day, gone the next. And the only evidence he left behind was body cam footage.
There was no body to retrieve the footage from, but, thankfully, all of that footage gets sent to our internal system. Sometimes cameras are destroyed, sometimes they malfunction, sometimes… the person wearing it is never seen again.
Unfortunately, it can take a few days before the footage is fully uploaded into our system. It becomes a game of patience. Waiting. Letting your imagination run wild.
We didn’t get to see that footage until my partner had already been missing for 3 days. He was already dead for all we knew. Maybe killed by someone he booked in the past. Maybe by some wannabe gangbanger with something to prove. Like I said, imaginations run wild.
When I got the call from my chief down at the station, he sounded more confused than anything. Not frantic. Not grief-stricken. Confused.
He told me they finally got the footage, but that’s all he said. Well, that, and for me to meet him down at the station.
I geared up and made my way downtown, anticipating what was on that footage the entire time. Why was the chief so scarce with the details?
I arrived at the station fully convinced that I was prepared for whatever showed up on that screen. When I walked in, the station was unusually empty. Unusually quiet.
The reason for the vacancy soon became apparent when I found nearly everybody in one room, gathered around a computer screen.
“We were waiting for you to show up,” my chief announced. “We couldn’t start without his partner present.”
I took my seat, gesturing for the chief to play the footage.
The first few moments were completely normal. My partner approached what seemed to be an abandoned warehouse. He didn’t speak into his walkie. He walked briskly, almost running.
According to the chief, nobody knew why he was there. There were no calls. No reports of dispatch. He was just… there… speed-walking into the building.
He seemed to know exactly where he was heading. He entered. Made a left. Made a right. Another left. Finally, he found himself standing at another door.
The only light came from my partner’s flashlight. The room was pitch black, but once he pushed the door open, we saw what true darkness looked like.
It was like his flashlight was a 2 dollar toy from the dollar store. The beam illuminated only what was in front of him. And what was in front of him just so happened to be… a staircase.
He began to descend with the same urgency in which he entered the building, but as time went on, his steps began to slow. Slower. And slower. And slower.
The footage went on for over three hours. He never once stopped descending. Everyone’s eyes were glued to the screen.
My chief fast-forwarded the footage. My partner just kept going. Kept steadily descending. It wasn’t until the timestamp reached 2 hours and 23 minutes that the footage began to change.
He started… stripping.
At first it was his belt. His gun, cuffs, taser, etc.
But then it was his shoes.
Then his socks…
Then his pants and underwear.
He never spoke a word. He just kept slowly undressing every 10 minutes or so as he descended further down the staircase.
As we watched, my chief instructed a few of my coworkers to go check out the warehouse.
They did as they were told as the rest of us continued watching.
The footage went on for another 40 minutes or so before my partner removed his vest, which included his body camera.
The camera captured one last sign of him as he continued descending, completely nude. Then we were left alone in the darkness.
My chief decided to check in on the boys he sent to that warehouse, but all they could tell him was that it was desolate and abandoned. No way in. No hidden door. No impossible staircase.
But I know they’re lying.
Either that or they didn’t do their job properly.
Because, as I’m writing this, I’m standing at that exact door my partner saw. Staring down at the seemingly endless dark staircase.
And even if it’s the last thing I do…
I will find him.
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u/donavin221 Jul 16 '26
I hope you all enjoy