Georgia Unsolved Mysteries: The Disappearance of Justin Gaines

Thursday, November 1, 2007, began like any other day in Duluth, Georgia. It was a clear day, with the average temperature hanging around 60 degrees. Justin Gaines, a freshman at what is now called the University of North Georgia, was headed home for a long weekend. It was customary for college students to avoid scheduling classes on Fridays, in order to have a longer weekend. Those who did have classes on Friday tended to go out on Thursday nights since most people would be gone for the weekend by Friday afternoon. Thursday night was known as the party night for college students.

Justin, the second oldest of 8 siblings, was 18 years old and just a few months into his freshman year of college. A social butterfly, he got along very easily with people and had no issues carrying on conversations with people he barely knew.

On this fateful night, he decides to go to the nightclub, Wild Bills. His friend Chris picks him up. Since Chris does not have an access pass to get into Wild Bills, he drops Justin off alone at the nightclub.

Wild Bills had security footage, which showed Justin throughout the night. Nothing seemed amiss about the footage, just a young college student enjoying his night out.

At approximately 1:30 a.m., Justin was caught on security footage standing outside the club. Phone records later confirmed that he was calling friends to find a ride home. It is unclear if he succeeded. This is the last time Justin Gaines was ever heard from or seen.

By Saturday, Justin's mom knew something was wrong when he hadn't come home or returned her phone calls. His friends confirmed that they hadn't heard from him either. Mother's intuition set in.

Monday, November 5, 2007, rolled around. It was time for Justin to return to school. At this point, his friends were very concerned and began calling his Mom for updates, who hadn't heard anything either.

Justin's belongings were still at his Mom's house, including his wallet. When his mom checked his school portal, she was able to see that he had not attended class or turned in assignments that were due that Monday. This was out of character for her son.

Justin was officially a missing person. Family, friends, the community, and the Gwinnett County police department did everything possible to try to find out what happened to the young man, but to no avail.

Today, there are many theories floating around, but nothing concrete. Walton County has now taken over the investigation in hopes of helping the Gaines family find out what happened on that fateful night.