Nashville father missing for 27 years

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — As of Sunday, June 23, a young Nashville father will have been missing for 27 years.

At the time of his disappearance, Andre El, 25, was living in an apartment complex at 2621 Airpark Drive in East Nashville. This is the same area where he was reportedly last seen, but details remain obscure.

Like his latest whereabouts, much of the information on the case is still unclear, making El's disappearance one of the most mysterious and difficult to solve for the Metro Nashville Police Department ( MNPD).

In an interview last year, MNPD Detective Matthew Filter told News 2 there was a gap of nearly six months between when El was reported missing and when someone found him spoke for the last time.

“I would like to say it's strange, but I've had other cases where the missing person just didn't stay in as close contact with people and so no one really knew they were missing for several months. and they couldn’t reach the person,” Filter said.

It was the mother of El's young child who finally filed a complaint on January 4, 1998. According to authorities, the woman lived hundreds of miles away in Atlanta, and at the time, police demanded that people make a statement in person.

“We needed a signature on the report in order to meet NCIC requirements,” Filter said. “Technically, it’s still kind of a rule today. However, we have found ways to get around this if someone is out of town.

Detectives still don't know exactly who was the last person to physically see El. After he was reported missing, investigators discovered a few people he was known to, but some of the names provided were just “street names ”, which made it difficult to locate them.

“It seemed like at least two or three of the people, the detective was never able to make contact with them,” Filter said. “And we still don’t know, to this day, who those people were.”

Authorities suspect El's disappearance may have been linked to some type of “criminal activity” and have said foul play is likely. However, little advice has been received since the 1990s.

Still, detectives believe there might be someone who knows something that could help solve the case — whether it's a neighbor who lived in the same apartment complex or someone one who knew more about El.

El would be 54 years old today. When last seen, El was 6 feet tall, weighed approximately 220 pounds, and had black hair and brown eyes. He might have a mustache, a beard or a goatee.

Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to contact the MNPD Cold Case Unit at 615-862-7329. Anonymous tips can also be shared by calling the police department's Crime Stoppers Division at 615-74-CRIME (615-742-7463).