UT UT - Robert Marvin, 55, Moab, 4 Sept 1984

The Doe Network:
Case File 1903DMUT

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1903dmut.html

Robert G. Marvin Sr.

Missing since September 4, 1984 from Moab, Grand County, Utah
Classification: Endangered Missing



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Vital Statistics
•Date Of Birth: April 18, 1929
•Age at Time of Disappearance: 55 years old
•Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'9"; 155 lbs.
•Distinguishing Characteristics: White male. Blond hair; blue eyes. Wears glasses with wire frames.
•Clothing: Short sleeve shirt, khaki brown shorts, brown shoes. Watch (description not available).
•AKA: Bob



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Circumstances of Disappearance
Marvin was last seen at a gas station in Moab, Utah on September 4, 1984. He was a prominent Albuquerque geologist, employed by Santa Fe Mining, and traveled back and forth between Moab, UT and Albuquerque, New Mexico. He had left Albuquerque on August 31, to spend the weekend with his girlfriend in Moab. His girlfriend informed police that he left her home at 9.30, and that he intended to go to Telluride or Durango in Colorado to look for condominiums.

On September 6, Santa Fe Mining called Marvin's home looking for him, and his family, who had thought he was out of town for business, filed a missing persons report. Law enforcement officers in Utah, New Mexico and Colorado searched for Marvin.

His orange and white 1974 Volkswagen convertible was located at the Albuquerque, NM airport, a couple of weeks after. Marvin's tobacco pouch and other personal items were in the car. Traces of blood were found on the pouch, but not enough to determine if it was Marvin's blood.
Marvin did not withdraw any money from the bank before he vanished, and a paycheck went uncashed.
Foul play is suspected.

Marvin's wife, Lola Marvin was murdered in July 1979. She was found shot to death in her car, at the Albuquerque Airport. The homicide occurred when Robert Marvin was in Canada on company business.


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Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Moab Police Department
435-259-8938

Agency Case Number: 84-1068

NCIC Number: M-469450177
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
National Center for Missing Adults

Deseret News


http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/marvin_robert.html

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/136/1/
NamUs profile:
Dental: NA
DNA: NA
Fingerprints: NA

Snipped NamUs case report:

Circumstances Unknown. Robert was last seen leaving his residence in the vicinity of the 200 block of E. 100 S. in Moab, UT. He was a successful business man and traveled back and forth between Moab, UT and Albuquerque, NM frequently. He was later seen on September 12, 1984 at a gas station in Moab, UT. His orange and white 1974 Volkswagon convertible was later located at the Albuquerque, NM airport.

Click to expand...

I couldn't find archived articles on Robert or his wife Lola.

I did find this for Lola:
http://www.nmsoh.org/marvin_lola_us.htm
Note: Robert and Lola had at least 2 Sons.

Prayers for their children. May they find the answers that they seek.

Robert has been missing almost 26 years. Come home soon.

Details updated, 10/20/20:

Robert G. Marvin Sr. – The Charley Project

poor man lost his wife and now he must know the whole truth ... together in heaven

Robert G. Marvin, Sr. - Missing Person From Utah

Since I’m a newbie to WebSleuths I’m a late comer on all cases. I have a particular interest in Utah cases. I’ll probably be posting stuff on most of them here and there, even though some of the cases are years old. I hope I can add a little bit of new information for anyone following these old cases.

*** While looking into this case, I found that it’s a case with a lot of twists and turns. The police aren’t sure if he is missing on purpose, or if someone else made him go missing. I’m of the same opinion after reading the many articles on the case.

As mentioned in a previous post by Kat, Robert’s wife was murdered in 1979 and he was apparently a suspect at one point.

If I'm correct I believe the posting rules don't allow for items to be clipped and posted from subscription sites, just the links. So, I’ll post the links to each article so that those with a subscription to Newspapers.com can read the full articles. I think that’s going to be the easiest way for me to proceed. Sorry for the inconvenience to those without subscriptions to Newspapers.com. If I'm wrong about that would someone please let me know so I can add the actual articles in my posts and not have to summarize them. Summarizing takes time which I don't mind, but it leaves out important information on the case. I would really appreciate advice on that please.

“Missing man prompts search is Moab area”
The Times-Independent (Moab, Utah) 27 Sep 1984, Thu Page 6
27 Sep 1984, 6 - The Times-Independent at Newspapers.com

“4 States on Alert for Missing Geologist”
The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah) 02 Oct 1984, Tue Page 8
2 Oct 1984, 8 - The Salt Lake Tribune at Newspapers.com

“Police Find Missing Geologist’s Car”
Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 04 Oct 1984, Thu Page 43
4 Oct 1984, Page 43 - Albuquerque Journal at Newspapers.com

“Car of missing geologist discovered”
El Paso Times (El Paso, Texas) 04 Oct 1984, Thu Page 19
4 Oct 1984, 19 - El Paso Times at Newspapers.com

“Missing Man’s Car Searched”
Carlsbad Current-Argus (Carlsbad, New Mexico) 04 Oct 1984, Thu Page 3
4 Oct 1984, 3 - Carlsbad Current-Argus at Newspapers.com

*** Notices were placed under the Personals Column in different papers. Here’s 3 of them. The address to send tips was PO Box 113, Philmont, NY. Possibly a private investigator? I checked the address online and it definitely isn’t anyone connected to the case now.


Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 02 Mar 1985, Sat Page 46
2 Mar 1985, Page 46 - Albuquerque Journal at Newspapers.com

The Times-Independent (Moab, Utah) 30 May 1985, Thu Page 12
30 May 1985, 12 - The Times-Independent at Newspapers.com

The Daily Sentinel (Grand Junction, Colorado) 24 Feb 1985, Sun Page 33
24 Feb 1985, 33 - The Daily Sentinel at Newspapers.com

Note: I'll add summaries for the articles in future posts.

Robert G. Marvin, Sr. - Missing Person From Utah

“Death of missing man’s wife examined”
The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, New Mexico) 02 Oct 1984, Tue Page 3
2 Oct 1984, 3 - The Santa Fe New Mexican at Newspapers.com


“Officials Look at Mystery Death”
The Daily Herald (Provo, Utah) 03 Oct 1984, Wed Page 32
3 Oct 1984, 32 - The Daily Herald at Newspapers.com


“Geologist’s Absence Stirs Probe Into Unsolved Killing of Wife”
The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah) 02 Oct 1984, Tue Page 8
2 Oct 1984, 8 - The Salt Lake Tribune at Newspapers.com

“Geologist’s Disappearance Spurs Interest in Wife’s Death”
Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 02 Oct 1984, Tue Page 19
2 Oct 1984, Page 19 - Albuquerque Journal at Newspapers.com

Robert G. Marvin, Sr. - Missing Person From Utah

*** Articles on Lola’s murder investigation for anyone interested.

“City Woman Found Death In Automobile”
Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 05 Aug 1979, Sun Page 4
5 Aug 1979, 4 - Albuquerque Journal at Newspapers.com


“Police Suspect Foul Play In Death of N.M. Woman, 49
The Daily Herald (Provo, Utah) 06 Aug 1979, Mon Page 11
6 Aug 1979, 11 - The Daily Herald at Newspapers.com


“Death Studied”
Carlsbad Current-Argus (Carlsbad, New Mexico) 06 Aug 1979, Mon Page 4
6 Aug 1979, 4 - Carlsbad Current-Argus at Newspapers.com


“Reward Offered in Woman’s Killing”
Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 22 Jul 1981, Wed Page 13
22 Jul 1981, Page 13 - Albuquerque Journal at Newspapers.com

Robert G. Marvin, Sr. - Missing Person From Utah

“Sons frustrated that parents’ killer still free”
The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, New Mexico) 21 Jul 1985, Sun Page 18
21 Jul 1985, 18 - The Santa Fe New Mexican at Newspapers.com

Summary

The two sons of Robert and Lola are not only frustrated but angry and frightened. The two sons are George Marvin age 27 and Robert Marvin, Jr. age 25.

They found their mother’s decomposing body in her car at the Albuquerque, NM airport. She had been shot to death. Her blood-alcohol level was 3 times the legal limit and she was a non-drinker. The brothers say that the Albuquerque Police didn’t pursue their mothers case very vigorously and had already closed their fathers case (missing 4 Sept. 1984 – article 21 July 1985).

The article says that Robert G. Marvin was a suspect for a while in his wife’s murder. Yet the police never searched the home at the time because they said they didn’t have probable cause.

Apparently a bloody finger print was found in Robert G. Marvin’s car when the Albuquerque police located it 25 days after Robert’s disappearance in 1984. The car was located at the Albuquerque, NM Airport the same place as Lola Marvin was found murdered in 1979. Albuquerque police never notified the Moab, Utah police of the cars discovery. Moab police didn’t find that out until months later and when they asked to see the car Albuquerque police said they had given it back the Robert’s sons. Moab police said there isn’t much more they can do without assistance from the Albuquerque police (which apparently Moab isn’t getting).

The most interesting part of the article is that in 1982 the Albuquerque police received a tip from a woman in California who identified Lola’s killer and had specific details about the route both to and from the murder scene. The tipster also described a small out of town motel (just out of Albuquerque) where they would find the person’s name registered.

Here’s an interesting part of the article. A few days after Lola’s murder when her sons were cleaning out her room they found an airline ticket used by their father, to the same small town where the motel was that was named by the tipster in 1982. The ticket was used just a few days after Lola’s murder.

The detective on the case said he thinks the name of the person named by the tipster was on the register, but by the time the police received the tip in 1982 it had been removed, since it wasn’t there when the police checked the register in 1982.

*** I mentioned in my first post that the police aren’t sure if he is missing on purpose, or if someone else made him go missing. Regardless, I hope for the sake of Robert and Lola's sons that they do get some answers to one day about the murder of their mother and the disappearance of their father. I can't even imagine their grief.

Robert G. Marvin, Sr. - Missing Person From Utah

There’s a lot of information printed in the newspapers on Robert’s case. After posting all those links on him and his wife’s murder (and giving it a lot of thought) I think it probably isn’t appropriate for me to summarize them. The fact is that Robert went missing and that’s all that really matters. With that being said, maybe some amateur detective can use the clues from the newspaper articles and solve this decade’s old case.

I decided instead to use my time going in another direction. I’ve been looking up and comparing unidentified remains in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and other connecting states hoping for something that would be a close match. Nothing real promising so far.

I’ve travelled the route Robert most likely took from Moab to Albuquerque more than once in my life. There are miles and miles of what I call scrub land and sometimes you don’t even see another vehicle for long periods of time. If foul play is involved, I hate to say it, but who knows what could have become of Robert’s body.

Information I read in the papers says that apparently about a week before Robert disappeared he cashed in $20,000 in stock. Some say it was so he could go on the run. On the other hand if Robert knew something about his wife’s murder, he could have been blackmailed and the blackmailer decided to do him in. Or, Robert decided to go into hiding because of blackmail or threats on his life.

This is a case that movies and mystery novels are made of. If living Robert would be 92 years old now. For the sake of Robert and Lola’s sons and loved ones I hope against all odds these two cases are solved in the near future.

Robert G. Marvin, Sr. - Missing Person From Utah

I don't have access to court or law enforcement records, so thank you for the information and corrections to my previous posts. I gathered my information from the various newspaper articles I found online. The article

“Sons frustrated that parents’ killer still free”
The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, New Mexico) 21 Jul 1985, Sun Page 18
21 Jul 1985, 18 - The Santa Fe New Mexican at Newspapers.com

is where I found the reference to a bloody fingerprint being found in the car.


“When Marvin Sr.’s car was found, police lifted a bloody fingerprint from it.”

“The Moab chief said he didn’t learn about that until several months after the car was searched. Moab police also said they asked to see Marvin’s car, but that Albuquerque police instead turned it over to the Marvin sons.”

The same article is where I got the information that Robert, Jr. found the airline ticket for his father’s flight to the same small town a few days after his mother’s murder. From the article it appeared that Robert Jr. cleaned his mother’s room reasonably soon after his mother’s death. I didn’t realize he cleaned his mother’s room 5+ years after her death and after the disappearance of his father. Thanks for the correction.

“Robert Marvin, Jr. said when he cleaned his mother’s room, he also found an airline ticket indicating that only a few days after Lola Marvin’s murder, his father flew to the same small town where the tipster said the murder suspect signed the motel register.”

You have some great points about staying in small town motels. The suspect probably didn’t use a real name and would have used cash. It appears through law enforcement and court records you know the name of the small town and the name of the suspect (and various aliases). I know you’re probably not at liberty to name either.

I got the idea that Robert Sr.’s car was found at the Albuquerque, NM airport from the Doe Network listing on the case.

<modsnip: referenced post removed >

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Thanks for the help and sorry I made a mistake.