FL FL - Miami, WhtMale 662UMFL, 16-20, blonde, alias 'Bobby Copeland', Jan'88

[Grungster]

That's a very interesting find. Did you end up reporting it? Or did you find out anything else about this Robert?

I noticed that Bobby's NamUs page was updated recently, but I don't have an account and can't see what changed.

It was just the rule out page

 

[Bit of hope]

I don't know exactly how things were in 1988, but the Marco Polo (Beach) Hotel has a rich history and was always kind of upscale, at least in the beginning of it's existence. My guess is the room was rented by somebody else, and he "visited" there. Or maybe even used by an hotel worker, for the occasion? You would expect a registered name for the room? Or was it so "upscale" that you could buy yourself a room anonymously through the head of security, the one as in many other hotels decides who can work as a sex worker and who doesn't. Nothing about that in the investigation at all. As a sex worker, he could have earned a lot of money on the side, beside from selling magazine subscriptions, making renting a room there affordable for him. What name was associated with the room he was found in?

Marco Polo Hotel, 19201 Collins Avenue.
History | Marco Polo Beach Resort

Could it be LE protected a kind of well known person? Why is there nothing known about the arrested person and the follow up?

Sorry....edited a lot to add.

 

[Bit of hope]

I wonder what could come up if somebody filed a FOIA request.

 

[Grungster]

I wonder what could come up if somebody filed a FOIA request.

I tried but they asked for my address and I don’t want to give that away. I do think they are willing to release the report.

 

[Bit of hope]

I tried but they asked for my address and I don’t want to give that away. I do think they are willing to release the report.

Well....they could do it if they are willing to without a FOIA. What is taking them so long.....We are talking about a child who was shot to death......for whatever reason....There can never be a good enough reason to take another human beings life...IMO.

 

[Grungster]

Well....they could do it if they are willing to without a FOIA. What is taking them so long.....We are talking about a child who was shot to death......for whatever reason....There can never be a good enough reason to take another human beings life...IMO.

Apparently, he wasn’t shot to death, I have previously emailed the ME who said he wasn’t, so I can only imagine it was worse…

 

[Bit of hope]

Apparently, he wasn’t shot to death, I have previously emailed the ME who said he wasn’t, so I can only imagine it was worse…

HUHHH big revelation.....what is it about this case....weird???

 

[Grungster]

HUHHH big revelation.....what is it about this case....weird???

I should have told you guys this sooner…sorry

 

[Bit of hope]

I'm not sure what is going on here.....I don't like it at all. Did he took his own life? Why was it called a homicide....What is it that is so difficult...whatever happened, he was a child, almost reached adolescence....Makes me fuel my feelings more this was kind of a cover up, to protect somebody.....bah!

 

[PropaneYeeter]

Apparently, he wasn’t shot to death, I have previously emailed the ME who said he wasn’t, so I can only imagine it was worse…

That's weird. I wonder where the information he'd been shot came from then, because I remember that being largely accepted and circulated as the COD. I'm gonna have a look on Newspapers.com for any contemporary articles. Will report back if I find anything.

 

[PropaneYeeter]

I'm gonna have a look on Newspapers.com for any contemporary articles. Will report back if I find anything.

Aaaand nothing. Not so much as a mention of the poor boy's death. No relevant hits for the name "Bobby Copeland" or "Robert Copeland", nor any for "Marco Polo Hotel". None about a body being found in the area, either. None naming a suspect or even talking about an arrest. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place, but it just seems as though this case was completely swept under the rug.

 

[coffeeandacig]

DBM

 

[carbuff]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Exclusions -- two additions.

MP7087
MP1 Anthony Allen 10/01/1978 Sebastian AR
MP3117 Steven Anderson 04/07/1975 Burlington NJ
MP2049 Steve Arrowood 04/04/1975 Gaston NC
MP4391 Rogelio Cerda 06/29/1975 Matagorda TX
MP35524 Michael Fischer 08/14/1984 Hartford CT
MP4615 Michael Gaughan 07/20/1975 El Paso TX
MP41033 Robert Hampton 11/26/1986 Kitsap WA
MP7089 Reed Jeppson 10/11/1964 Salt Lake UT
MP6244 Danny Jones 09/01/1974 Upshur TX
MP2551 Robert Keck 06/30/1979 Lehigh PA
MP1058 John Kinsora 02/26/1982 Maricopa AZ
MP7429 Randall Leach 11/07/1980 Bonneville ID
MP4674 Rodney Longman 03/14/1985 Lancaster NE
MP7512 Darrel Nichols 04/01/1973 Summit UT
MP6482 Brian Page 01/12/1975 Multnomah OR
MP27011 Alan Stanfill 01/13/1988 Baker FL
MP1165 Tom Starkel 12/05/1979 Los Angeles CA
MP12919 Christopher Vigil 04/30/1978 Larimer CO
-- Terry Wallace PA
MP4 Mitchel Weiser 07/27/1973 Sullivan NY
MP6800 Chester Wetmore 05/27/1986 Manatee FL

 

[madamx]

I found this person on Ancestry yearbooks. He was not reported missing as far as I know.
He is in the 1988 yearbook as a freshman in Groveland Florida (which should have been photographed fall 1987 ) but not in the 1989 or 1991 yearbooks from that school.

What do you all think?

View attachment 291736


View attachment 291737

Does anyone know if Anything ever became of this guy?

 

[Bit of hope]

Apparently, he wasn’t shot to death, I have previously emailed the ME who said he wasn’t, so I can only imagine it was worse…

I'm sorry @Grungster....what do you consider worse?

 

[Bit of hope]

Does anyone know if Anything ever became of this guy?

It's an interesting find @apearn You came up with him. How old would this person be in 1988?....It's kind of delicate, sleuthing him, because as far a I know this person isn't an official missing person. But I see a resemblance.... It would mean he wasn't an orphan and not from NY state....Am I right? Would it be possible to ask around f.i. on this site Log into Facebook

 

[Grungster]

I'm sorry @Grungster....what do you consider worse?

I can only imagine how he died was worse than we thought. The reconstruction makes it look like they covered up a throat wound.

 

[Bit of hope]

I can only imagine how he died was worse than we thought. The reconstruction makes it look like they covered up a throat wound.

So it was a homicide but not by gun shot.....? I don't know...it's all weird...the info I mean. I don't see that in the recons btw.

 

[Grungster]

So it was a homicide but not by gun shot.....? I don't know...it's all weird...the info I mean. I don't see that in the recons btw.

The throat thing is something I just see. Regardless, the homicide of a child is horrific.

Does anyone know where the info regarding him being shot came from?

 

[Bit of hope]

The throat thing is something I just see. Regardless, the homicide of a child is horrific.

Does anyone know where the info regarding him being shot came from?

Sorry, I don't know where this info came from.