PORTLAND, Maine — Police Chief Michael Sauschuck said Monday that investigators have found an article of clothing belonging to soon-to-be Harvard Business School graduate Nathan Bihlmaier, who went missing from the Old Port early Sunday morning.
During a news conference on Monday afternoon, Sauschuck declined to say what article of clothing was found but said the item was found in Casco Bay near the Maine State Pier and Ri Ra Irish Pub, where he last was seen just after midnight Sunday. The chief asked for the public’s help in finding the missing Cambridge, Mass., man.
Sauschuck also said police “are very concerned for Nathan’s well-being.”
“At this point we’ve ruled out no options on this,” Sauschuck said. “We’re not sure what happened to Nate. We do have some divers in the water, and that concern is really just to look at all options. It’s certainly a possibility that Nate could be lost in our fair city, or maybe caught a ride somewhere, but given the information we have at hand, we are concerned with the proximity of the waterfront to where he was last seen.”
Bihlmaier, 31, was in the city with two friends celebrating his graduation when he was asked to leave Ri Ra around 12:20 a.m., the chief said, “for having a little bit too much to drink.”
“At that point he left the bar very cooperatively — there were no altercations; he just left voluntarily after being spoken to by bar staff,” Sauschuck said. “He subsequently had a couple of phone conversations with friends. Shortly thereafter, they lost contact with Nathan and we’re not sure what happened to him.”
Bihlmaier’s friends reported him missing to Portland police around 9 a.m. Monday, the chief said.
Sauschuck said the search has involved the U.S. Coast Guard, South Portland dive team, Maine Marine Patrol, harbor patrol and the Portland Fire Department. He said Maine State Police are slated to bring in side-scanning sonar to search the harbor as well.
Bihlmaier and his wife reportedly are expecting their first child.
A young man with everthing going for him. Very, very sad.
Late night, strange city, on the waterfront, kicked out because he’d had too much to drink.
Why didn’t his friends leave with him?
They are not friends. When my friends and I go out we resort back to the “Buddy System” Always in pairs! More so if your friend is inebriated.
I suppose it’s possible that his friends didn’t know he was being kicked out and only became aware of it after he was gone. The article says there were some phone conversations. Still, it doesn’t seem right.
That was my guess. I have been with friends who have said, “I’ll be right back, going to the bathroom” and then ended up getting kicked out. I had no idea til I noticed they hadn’t come back in a while and checked my phone with a bunch of missed calls and text messages. Anything is possible. Hoping for the best outcome here.
It’s the best guess. Sometimes, in my drinking days, I got so wasted that it happened to me a few times.
I think these and a few other items will be added to the update to the book “What They Didn’t Teach You at Harvard B. School.”
And what every boot learns right away in the Marine Corps: If one guys screws up the whole platoon suffers, so you always watch out for and take care of each other.
The Marine Corps? Really?
What’s your question?
How is this relative?
It’s getting to the point where it isn’t. Pretty soon we’ll be talking about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.
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It may not be “relative”, but it is “relevant”. Why are you people so hostile? I think the Marine reference is relevant to this subject.
Well now we can all refer to the new article and give our condolences and talk about how sorry we are for this man, his wife and unborn child….
Third cousin, twice removed?
I think bandbox’s comment is fine, what’s your problem? Or are you just being rude for the sake of being rude?
Why is he out getting wasted with a wife and baby on the way to the point of visible intoxication? I hope he is ok but we are talking about an adult here, an educated one as well. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY evidently should be a college course. SAD WASTE OF A GREAT LIFE. My condolences to the family.
You wouldn’t celebrate with classmates upon graduating from Harvard Business School?
Plus, as a devoted student, maybe just isn’t much of a drinker, and doesn’t know his limits.
Yeah, Dubya was a beacon of sobriety and personal responsibility, “bushfan.”
It’s too bad, but it happens. I understand it from my own experiences.
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why would you focus on that part of the article, this is a very sad story. dont make comments like that in regards to why he was drinking.
“When someone like that comes up missing, with his vehicle still here. With no information. It is certainly something we are very concerned for. Our records include bank records, cell phone records thing of that nature” I guess if you have money all resources will be utilized in the search for you after only a few hours go by. If your not so well off You will be lucky if a week goes by before any resources are used besides the police report your family files for you. Remember the poor young man at chicken fest found only a few hundred yards from where the stage was a few days after reported missing.
A grown man goes missing more than likely he isn’t missing. Unfortunate to his family that they are going through this, I hope they find closure to this mystery soon.
In the “chickenfest ” incident, his “friends and fellow band members” didn’t report him missing. The Freeport PD only learned of the missing man quite some time later and initiated an investigation at that time. The family’s economic status has nothing to do with the effort to locate a missing person.
It would be interesting to compare timelines and the manpower devoted to each respective search. I think if you did that you’d see the difference.
I hope he’s found safe and unharmed, however this story has some odd angles.
Why drive all the way to Portland to celebrate your graduation from Harvard? Boston has 10 times the nightlife as podunk Portland…
You have a gorgeous wife at home who is pregnant with your child. Go out drinking and get three sheets to the wind?
You get asked to leave the bar, and your drinking buddies stay behind to let you wander off? Really?
Again, I hope this man is found alive. He has some explaining to do.
I wondered the same thing…. maybe some of the friends he was out with are from this area? Maybe they had friends up here they were planning on meeting up with? It does seem odd to leave Boston to go to Portland for a “night out”… The only other thing I can come up with is maybe they were just looking for a weekend to “get away from it all” and Portland was far enough to do that, but still close enough to home to “escape” whatever responsibility, etc… he had at home.
Because there are more bars in a condensed area in Portland than in Boston? Because you don’t have to pay $6/beer like in Boston? Because Portland has a bunch of stuff to do on the waterfront? Because it is fun to travel? Because it is a major life event that he worked hard for and he earned the right to celebrate?
So sad..I do hope they find him for his familys sake…
you can be very booksmart, and not have much common sense…hope they find him
When I was a kid I almost died of hypothermia after passing out in the middle of winter, luckily
a friend found me.
Tell me again why marijuana is dangerous…
Bangor has gone to the gutter
Move!
I ask the same as bandbox–why weren’t his friends with him when he left? Does that mean the bar is responsible because he was kicked out of there because he was told he had too much to drink?