No connection drawn between missing Nampa teen, Boise murder suspect
Authorities have found no connection between the disappearance of 18-year-old Sage Thompson and Bruce A. Marchant, suspected of killing Boise State University student Sierra Bush.
Thompson was last seen Oct. 2 in the area of 16th Avenue North and Stampede Drive. Lakeview Park, the Boys & Girls Club of Nampa and the Hispanic Cultural Center of Idaho are all in that area.
He was last seen wearing a black, zip-up hoodie and camo pants. He is described as 5-foot-5, 125 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. He may also be wearing glasses.
Detectives received several leads but none of them panned out, said Sgt. Tim Riha of the Nampa Police Department. He encouraged anyone who might know something to contact Nampa police at 465-2257 or call Crime Stoppers at 343-2677.
“We don’t have any new information on Sage at all,” Riha said. “We wish we did.”
He said detectives plan to speak with their counterparts in Boise, but so far, nothing has tied Thompson’s disappearance to Marchant, Riha said.
Detectives do not know what happened to Thompson. Since he disappeared, none of his bank cards have been used, Riha said.
Thompson’s family has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to finding him.
Bush, 18, was last seen alive Sept. 24 near Maple Grove and Goddard roads in Boise. Her naked body was found Oct. 22 in Boise County, in a creek about 30 miles from Idaho City.
Marchant, 61, who recently lived in a Maple Grove home owed by Bush’s father, Phil Bush, was arrested last week at a Veterans Affairs hospital in New York City. He is accused of kidnapping, rape and murder.
While locked up in an Idaho prison, Marchant told a corrections officer he killed his cellmate. Joseph Edmund Chastain, 38, died of abdominal bleeding a day after being beaten by Marchant. Prosecutors declined to charge him in the death.
John Sowell: 208-377-6423, @IDS_Sowell
This story was originally published December 14, 2016 at 3:22 PM with the headline "No connection drawn between missing Nampa teen, Boise murder suspect."