Finger Lakes motel. Missing Minnesota man was staying at Patty’s Lodge, a motel in western New York when he was savagely tortured, apparently for weeks, and killed.
Police: Remains show horrific torture for weeks
CANANDAIGUA, N,Y. — The remains of a transgender man from Minnesota, Sam Nordquist, 24, were found in a field in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. Nordquist, originally from Red Wing, had been subjected to “repeated acts of violence and torture,” apparently over three months starting in December, according to Captain Kelly Swift of the New York state Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Swift, a 20-year law enforcement veteran, called the murder “one of the most horrific crimes I have ever investigated.” Police began investigating Nordquist’s disappearance on February 9 after his family in Red Wing reported losing contact with him. Because it was believed he was staying at Patty’s Lodge, a motel in the touristy Finger Lakes wine region. At the request of Norquist’s mother in Minnesota, Police conducted a welfare check at the motel. Details of the welfare check and a subsequent search were not released. Police confirmed, however, that Nordquist traveled from Minnesota to the Finger Lakes in September. The remains were in a field 15 miles southeast of Patty’s Lodge.
Nordquist. From a family album
Patty’s Lodge profile
Patty’s Lodge is an aged and sprawling roadside motel where Nordquist was last seen alive. Although facing Highways 5 and 20, the motel is easy for passersby not to notice much. The motel is near touristy Canandaigua, population, 10,000. The motel’s 22 rooms are rented out mostly to people on government housing stipends. The manager, Manny Patel, said that Nordquist stayed in Room 22. Neighbors said he was with someone going by the name Precious Arzuaga.