Nicholas Tonic, from Severn, was 18 years old when his mother, Susan Baker, reported him missing on Dec. 10, 2003. A month later, Anne Arundel police found him dead in the woods in Hanover and have been searching for answers ever since.

That was until last year when Anne Arundel homicide detectives received a phone call from someone — their identity remains unknown — claiming they had information on the case, according to Anne Arundel Det. George Davis.

Following a story on WMAR-2 Baltimore, tips began coming in.

“That got our phone lines ringing,” Davis said.

The information that Davis and his partner, Det. Robb Cremen, received led to a search of a residential area in Millersville on Thursday. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security were also involved.

“The individuals that we believe that were involved, and even individuals that were giving us information, even over 20 years ago, all kind of populated that area around there. And then, based off updated information that we got recently, we were following up on a lead that there might be pertinent information, pertinent possible evidence in that particular area,” said Cremen, who worked on the original case.

Cremen declined to detail what was found. Instead, Davis said the information was “meaningful” in moving the case forward.

“It has helped us solidify a lot of questions that we had that have given us answers. It’s also opened up other questions for us that we have to find answers to. We’re better today than we were yesterday, and we’re way better than we were a year ago when we first started this,” Davis said.

Baker described recent events as “an emotional rollercoaster.”

“It’s got me pretty much sitting on the edge of my seat at this point, a flood of emotions, you know, absolute flood of emotions,” she said in a Friday afternoon phone call. “Sometimes I’m in tears, sometimes I’m on the edge of my seat, anxious, trying to, you know, hear.”

Police are asking for people who have information on the case to call the Anne Arundel County Homicide Unit 410-222-4731 or the anonymous tip line 410-222-4700.

Have a news tip? Contact Megan Loock at mloock@baltsun.com or 443-962-5771.