FL FL - Porter Taylor Albert, 78, Fort Myers, 15 Jan 2020

[GuyfromCanada]

Fort Myers Police are seeking the whereabouts of a 78-year-old white male, Porter Taylor Albert. It is suspected that Albert has been missing for approximately one week, but he lives alone and has no local relatives that can confirm when he was last seen.

Albert's friends and his ex-wife reported they had not heard from him and it is unusual for him to not contact anyone. Albert has no known medical conditions and does not take medications.

If anyone has contact with him or knows his location, they are asked to call the Fort Myers Police Department at (239) 321-7700.

Fort Myers Police Department

78-year-old man reported missing in Fort Myers

 

[PommyMommy]

JAN 25, 2020
78 -year -old Porter Alberts' neighbors are speaking out regarding his sudden disappearance 10 days ago.

Fort Myers Police now searching for missing elderly man
[...]

... Police say he was last seen on January 15th at the Big Lots on North Cleveland Avenue in Fort Myers. He was last seen wearing light colored shorts, and a two tone long sleeve shirt.

[...]

CS, a neighbor suffering from muscular dystrophy, says Albert helps take care of him, and he would never just leave without alerting someone.

[...]

CS says recently he noticed something very strange.

“Actually it was probably 3 or 4 days after he was missing , I was talking to a friend of mine and they had made the comment that his car is not there anymore in his driveway like it usually is,” said CS.

He believes someone might have taken advantage of Albert’s kindness.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

JAN 24, 2020
Police update last known location of missing Fort Myers man

Police have released further details on a Fort Myers man that went missing last week.

On Wednesday, The Fort Myers Police Department reported 78-year-old Porter Albert as missing after his family says they lost contact with him the previous week.

Now police have a better idea of his last verified location. They have released a surveillance image from the Big Lots store in North Fort Myers on Wednesday, January 15th.

[...]

Fort Myers Florida Police Department

 

[coffeeandacig]

Teen arrested after driving missing man's car

"LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Cape Coral Police arrested a teen caught driving a missing Fort Myers man’s car days after his disappearance then released her.
Porter Albert, 78 was last seen in Big Lots on N. Cleveland Avenue in North Fort Myers on January 15th. Nearly a week later on January 21st Cape Coral Police found Tiffany Contestabile, 18 driving his car on E. Cape Coral Parkway and Del Prado Blvd.
Police arrested Contestabile then arrested and released her for driving without a driver’s license. She told police she was looking for Albert.
Neighbors also told Fox 4 police found her bike in Albert’s Lexus sedan. That bike is now in front of her home in Sun Coast estates.
As of Wednesday night, police have not named Contestabile as a suspect, but said they have Albert’s car in custody.
Contestabile is due back in court for driving without a driver’s license February 10th."

This is not looking good...
Yeah...How did this 18 year old get into the car "to go look for him"?

 

[PommyMommy]

JAN 30, 2020
Porter Albert, last seen in North Fort Myers, still missing 15 days later
[...]

Cpt. Medico confirmed for the first time that detectives spoke with Tiffany Contestable, 18, who was arrested by Cape Coral Police Dept. driving Albert’s car days after he disappeared. But, they are not willing to clear Contestable or call her a person of interest in Albert’s case.

“We interviewed Tiffany shortly after the report and that’s all I can go into at this time,” Cpt. Medico said.

Contestable told us off camera that Albert is a family friend who usually kept the doors to his home unlocked, so she went there hoping to find him. When Contestable did not see him, she grabbed his car keys and went to look for him. Contestable was arrested for driving without a license and was later released.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

JAN 29, 2020
Cape Coral police arrest woman driving missing Fort Myers man's car​

The day before a Fort Myers man was reported missing, Cape Coral police arrested a woman driving his car.

Fort Myers police had said they thought Porter Taylor Albert, 78, was missing for about a week at that point. Their investigation later determined he was last seen on Jan. 15 at a North Fort Myers Big Lots store.

[...]

Tiffany Contestabile

She was driving a silver Lexus east in the 1100 block of Cape Coral Parkway East about 1:30 a.m. Jan. 21, made a U-turn, pulled into a dark parking lot and shut off the lights, the officer reported.

Although she was across from a gas station, she told the officer she was running low on gas and pulled over.

[...]

She told the officer that the person — the pronoun was redacted in the police report — had been missing a few days, so she took the car and drove to Cape Coral to try to find the person.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

Teen arrested after driving missing man's car

"LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Cape Coral Police arrested a teen caught driving a missing Fort Myers man’s car days after his disappearance then released her.
Porter Albert, 78 was last seen in Big Lots on N. Cleveland Avenue in North Fort Myers on January 15th. Nearly a week later on January 21st Cape Coral Police found Tiffany Contestabile, 18 driving his car on E. Cape Coral Parkway and Del Prado Blvd.
Police arrested Contestabile then arrested and released her for driving without a driver’s license. She told police she was looking for Albert.
Neighbors also told Fox 4 police found her bike in Albert’s Lexus sedan. That bike is now in front of her home in Sun Coast estates.
As of Wednesday night, police have not named Contestabile as a suspect, but said they have Albert’s car in custody.
Contestabile is due back in court for driving without a driver’s license February 10th."

This is not looking good...
Yeah...How did this 18 year old get into the car "to go look for him"?

Yeah, I agree. Not good. Can't say I buy what she's selling. MOO

 

[coffeeandacig]

Yeah, I agree. Not good. Can't say I buy what she's selling. MOO

Yeah...She was driving from North Ft Myers to "downtown" Cape Coral to look for an elderly man who was said to have liked visiting Sarasota County beaches... Mmm hmmm...(opposite directions if you're not familiar with SWFL)

 

[silverkitty]

I think the very worst kind of predators target the elderly, the disabled, children, and animals. I'm praying they find this poor man before something really bad happens to him.

 

[coffeeandacig]

Fort Myers Florida Police Department

No new updates.
Just looked at the area where Mr. Albert lives. His address is 1825 Linhart Ave, Ft Myers. His home is located in the Tropical Trailer Park, in back of Lee Memorial Hospital.

To me, it doesn't look like a great place to leave your door open....

Google Maps

 

[PommyMommy]

FEB 6, 2020
$3000 reward for tips leading to missing Fort Myers man's whereabouts

 

[Luckyzmom]

Oh not good ... Good Samaritan driving this gentleman's vehicle needs to be investigated a little more . Hope family can go to his home to see if things are where he kept them. Prayers that Porter is found safe. It's been too long ! Don't people there check on elderly or disabled people, just as a kindness ? That's scary MOO

 

[ExitMusic]

Seems someone might have taken advantage of his old age in South Florida. I hope he is found safe and the public gets an update. This area he is from is known for retiree residents so I’m wondering if he had much family who was local.

 

[coffeeandacig]

Just wondering out loud...
Why did Mr. Albert go to that Big Lots in North Ft Myers when there is one closer to his house?

My understanding is, that he traveled at night, (which older people rarely do) north on US41 from his home. He made a quick stop at Big Lots and bought among other things, toothpaste, and potato chips.

He would've seen a million places along US41 to pick up toothpaste and chips, but he stopped there because he knew this is was the last one before he got to his destination. So he was not going as far north as Punta Gorda.

He wasn't meeting someone at their house, because everyone has toothpaste in their homes. He needed the toothpaste, because where he was going may not have had it. So therefore, he was meeting someone at a motel or at a covert meeting place north of the Big Lots at the intersection of US41 and Pondella Road.

When the Lee County Sheriff's Office stated that Mr. Albert enjoyed going to the beaches in Sarasota County. It made me think of Caspersen Beach, located in Sarasota County, where often men alone will hook up. There are numerous one night stay motels north of Pondella Road on Business 41 just a short distance from the Big Lots. He could've also met someone at a parking lot or picnic bench at Prairie Pines Preserve, Yucca Pens or Babcock Ranch.

It's my understanding that "both" cars belonging to Mr. Albert were recovered. Now, I wonder if the car that he used that night was not the Lexus but another one, perhaps he had a pickup truck. LCSO hasn't stated where the car was found. Please correct me, if I'm wrong.

Pure speculation, but this man didn't get himself lost while out driving around.

 

[Luckyzmom]

Thanks Coffeandacig, good post. Praying that he turns up safe . Have a bad feeling about the circumstances

 

[ExitMusic]

Disappointing that there hasn’t been an update anywhere about this gentleman.

 

[Luckyzmom]

Have not found a dang thing in media either, will.keep praying and searching. It is frightening and sad

 

[oceanstarryeyes]

Did the officers check inside the truck of his cars?

 

[Luckyzmom]

Did not see that mentioned, fairly sure they did on vehicle the young woman was found driving. Her explanation was odd to me. If LE knew this gal I would imagine they did what they thought was important to the investigation.

 

[YaYa_521]

This is the last Civic Alert released by FMPD regarding Mr. Albert's case.
Fort Myers Florida Police Department
Posted on: March 18, 2020

Continuing efforts to locate missing person Porter Albert the Fort Myers Police Department will be distributing flyers to local businesses along the 3000 block of US 41/Cleveland Avenue. This afternoon at 2PM Detective Vincent Doyle will be speaking with merchants and asking that they post the flyer for their customers to see.

Mr. Albert was last seen on January 15, 2020, at the Big Lots department store at 13970 N. Cleveland Avenue in North Fort Myers and reported missing on January 19th. Anyone who may have information is asked to please contact Detective Vincent Doyle at (239) 321-7742 or vdoyle@fmpolice.com. Tipsters can also contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS and be eligible for a reward of up to $3000.