The engineering student was last seen or heard from in December 2020, the year that marks the beginning of the covid pandemic. 

Dane Elkins belonged to and lived in California. He disappeared after leaving his car and belongings on a freeway in Southern California.

The circumstances leading upto Dane’s disappearance make his mother, Deborah Elkins, believe that he had a psychotic break and is currently willingly living off the grid or with homeless people.

Deborah filed a missing person report with the police, who pulled every trick up their sleeves to locate Dane. 

No matter what the authorities or other people say, Deborah has still not stopped looking for her beloved son. She is a firm believer in the phrase “do not fear failure but rather fear not trying.”

Deborah Elkins has launched an intense social media campaign to find her son and bring him home.

A lot of controversy and mystery surrounds Dane’s disappearance. On the day he went missing, he posted a very out-of-context video on Snapchat. 

“He did one last Snapchat and told us that the government was after him and our family. That is when we knew something was really wrong,” Deborah Elkins said.

Dane was not one to go astray. He was an exceptionally talented 21-year-old. While he was enrolled at UC Santa Cruz as an engineering student, he also earned a black belt in karate and was a racquetball champion who won 23 junior national titles in both doubles and singles competitions.

“It was an amazing pleasure to work with him, you know. He was a true gentleman who had amazing manners. Super hard worker,” said Cliff Swain, Dane Elkins’ racquetball coach.

Dane was the life of the party. His family and friends profoundly loved him. He loved making silly videos with his siblings and never missed anyone’s birthday or any celebration in the family. 

Dane started suffering behavioral changes soon after covid forced everyone into isolation. His mother said that he spent most of his days lying in bed and would go out somewhere at night. 

One time he told his family that he would spend the night at a friend’s house, but it was later discovered that he was living in his car. 

What happened on the night of Dane’s disappearance?

On December 21, 2020, Dane Elkins called his mother from the highway, saying it wasn’t safe for him to come home.

“One of the last things Dane said to me was, it’s not safe, Mom. Your life is in danger. Mom, there are targets on you. And there are more targets on dad,” said Deborah Elkins. 

Police found Dane Elkins’ car along a mountainous section of highway with a flat tire. His wallet, cell phone, and computer were still inside.

According to Deborah Elkins, Dane was scared of being traced by the government, so he left everything traceable in his car. 

According to U.S authorities, cases like Dane’s have become more common since the beginning of the pandemic. Isolation has forced people to do things they had never thought of doing.