Disappearance leaves only questions

The day before his disappearance, Lakewood resident and South Park Ambulance District employee Eric Pracht went kayaking with his father, Randy.

“We are pretty close, and he seemed fine as we went kayaking,” Randy said.

The next day Eric would vanish completely.

The last time Eric, 25, was seen was right about midnight on July 22. He and his fianc e were hosting some friends at their Lakewood condominium, and after a discussion about recent violence toward police, he said he needed to get some air.

He never returned.

“He walked out without any shoes on, but had his wallet and cellphone,” said Randy. “There’s been nothing since then.”

In the more than three months since his disappearance, family, friends, colleagues and police have not given up hope that Eric will return home. But as time stretches on without any clues, family and investigators are left with unanswered questions.

“This case is still strange to me,” said Lakewood Detective Timmy Marquez. “We don’t know whether he left the area under duress, if something was done to him, or if he did something to himself. We just don’t know.”

There has been no indication of foul play, Marquez added, but without any clues, it cannot be ruled out either.

It was about 12 hours before police received a call that Eric was missing, but once they did, a search was immediately started. Since the condo Eric lived in is in the Green Mountain area, with trailheads just across the street, that was the area first searched by police and volunteers. Randy said a large portion of Green Mountain was searched on foot, horse, trained dogs and even by drone, with nothing to show for it.

“We worked with the FBI, and were able to obtain Eric’s cellphone records,” Marquez said. “The FBI was also able to analyze Eric’s cell data, to give us other areas to try to search.”

Eric had been taking CPR and first aid classes at St. Anthony Hospital, so the area around the hospital was searched. According to Randy, the search has expanded as far the Stone House, located at South Estes and West Yale Avenue. Still nothing.

There has been no activity on Eric’s phone, credit and debit cards or social media pages, either, according to Steve Davis, Lakewood’s public information officer.

“The case isn’t closed, and we’re not giving up hope, but it’s just hard,” Marquez said. “We still have some K-9 units searching, and have new areas mapped out to try.”

Both Eric’s family and police are urging anyone who may have seen anything to contact police at 303-987-7111. Eric is described as 5-foot 11-inches tall, weighing 150 pounds with blond hair and blue eyes.

“We want to people to call the moment they see anything,” Marquez said. “Don’t wait because you may be unsure.”

Randy and the rest of Eric’s family just want answers.

“He’s a good kid and we miss him,” Randy said. “We love him, and just want him to come back, no questions asked.”

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