Police said on March 10, 2023, that they wanted to speak to Derrick Perkins (pictured here) about Nathan Millard’s disappearance and death. (Image: Baton Rouge Police Department)
Police have arrested the man they wanted to talk to about Nathan Millard, 42, disappearing and being found dead in a rolled-up carpet in Baton Rogue, Louisiana. Investigators did not accuse Derrick Perkins, 45, of wrongdoing in connection with Millard’s death, but had also been seeking him for probation violation, criminal damage to property, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and three counts of access device fraud. Cops said he was arrested Monday night without incident and locked up at the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison.
Authorities did not specify what role they think Perkins played in Millard’s mysterious disappearance and death.
As previously reported, Millard, a resident of Covington, Georgia, was in Baton Rouge for what was supposed to be a brief work trip. Authorities initially said he was last seen the night of Feb. 22.
“Nathan was last seen on video leaving the Courtyard Marriott on 3rd Street and Florida Ave. wearing a black Carhartt shirt, jeans, brown boots, and a black Columbia baseball hat,” search and recovery organization Texas EquuSearch wrote on March 1. “It is known that Nathan visited Happy’s Irish Pub on 3rd Street and Convention St. and is believed to have left the pub, on foot, at approximately 11:30 PM to return to the hotel. His phone and wallet were found discarded several blocks away, but there have been no sightings of Nathan.”
Millard tragically turned up dead early March 6 in a vacant lot in the 2900 block of Scenic Highway. He was rolled up in a carpet.
Nathan Millard, 42, was found dead in the early morning of March 6, 2023, police said. (Image: Texas EquuSearch)
“It does appear that he was left there,” ” Baton Rouge police Capt. Kevin Heinz said in a press conference on March 7. “That’s most likely not where he died.”
Authorities said they tracked him through surveillance cameras from the night of Feb. 22 into early Feb. 23.
At one point, Millard wound up at a bus station, the captain said. A security guard offered to help him because she felt he was out of place, though he did not appear to be in distress. She offered to get him a ride or call the police for him. Millard declined and left on his own accord, Heinz said.
According to the captain, the man was seen through the next several hours and tracked to several local businesses. He was tracked until approximately 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday, said Heinz.
Describing the totality of this video evidence, the captain said Millard appeared to be at those locations under his own power, and he did not appear to be in distress. Heinz said there appeared to be nothing happening that was criminal in nature.
And yet somehow, Millard died and wound up in that vacant lot. Authorities still have to determine how he died — Heinz noted no signs of foul play, including gunshot wounds or blunt force trauma.
“No evidence of internal or external trauma noted,” said the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office in a statement obtained by Law&Crime. “Final autopsy results pending further studies including toxicology testing. Cause of Death and Manner of Death are pending completion of the final autopsy report.”
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