Beneath the glitz of the Las Vegas Strip, a hidden community of homeless individuals lives in flood channels, battling addiction and despair. Kregg Nattrour, 54, rests on a pile of mattress foam 25 feet below the surface. 'I wanted to make this my last month down here,' he said. 'I can't handle another month of this.'
Homeless advocate Matt O'Brien, author of 'Beneath the Neon,' visits the tunnels twice a month. He notes that Nattrour looks skinny, partly because casino trips prevent him from eating properly. 'I gambled all my money!' Nattrour complained. He admitted spending $60 of his social security check on drugs and over $600 on slot machines.
Hundreds of people live in these tunnels, including full-time workers and panhandlers. They say the Strip offers opportunities: tourists drop money, gamblers give winnings away, and some leave slot machines with credits. However, round-the-clock access to gambling, drinking, and drugs creates a dark cycle. 'I should have been out of here a couple months ago. I just got depressed,' Nattrour said.
John Aitcheson, 59, sleeps near a tunnel mouth between shifts at a Strip convenience store. He chooses to live underground to save money. 'I could get an apartment, but all my money would go to rent, food, electricity, water,' he said. Both men claim that states like California, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada regularly swap homeless individuals.
Drug addiction is pervasive, with tunnels often segregated by preference for heroin, crack, or meth. Gambling addiction is also common. Lori Flores, clinic manager at the Problem Gambling Center, understands the allure: 'At the beginning, it was the only thing that gave me relief. I went there to not feel.' Frank Parenti of HELP of Southern Nevada adds that untreated mental illness underlies many of these struggles.
