Robert Fraser, a Panama City Beach subcontractor known for helping local families and frequently picking up hitchhikers, disappeared after working at Sassy Morgan’s on the night of August 5, 1996. He owned a heavily customized Ford F-150; surveillance reviewed later showed he never made it home and he did not call a friend as he had promised.

Three weeks after he vanished the truck was discovered in a condominium parking lot. The doors were locked, the alarm disabled, and investigators found blood inside the vehicle and on a sheet taken from the condos. Clay and dust on the tires and around the truck suggested it had recently been driven on a dirt road, which his mother said was unusual for a vehicle he kept very clean.

On December 4, 1996, a hunter located Fraser’s mummified remains at an illegal dump in Pine Log State Forest near Highway 79 in Ebro, Florida. He had been buried under about 18 inches of dirt and died from a gunshot wound; insect activity indicated he had been dead at least 24 hours before burial. The case has gone cold with no suspects publicly named.

If anyone has information about Robert or his F-150, please contact Panhandle Crime Stoppers at (850) 785-TIPS (8477).