FL FL - Robert Picard, 38, Bunnell, September 1997

The body of Robert Patrick Pickard has never been found. He was less than a month away from his 39th birthday when he was reported missing Sept. 30, 1997, from a rented trailer on County Road 2006. Pickard’s disappearance had “the ingredients of an ominous crime,” investigators said at the time...

“We think he’s somewhere off (C.R.) 2006,” Koep said, noting the rural area has many fields and swampy areas. “The person said he was buried in a vacant lot in the area of 2006.”

Koep said evidence from the case has been sent to a forensics lab. “DNA (testing) is more high-tech today than it was then,” Koep said. “Also, a person of interest recently died. There were people on the west side of the county who were afraid of him, afraid to speak out of fear of retaliation.”

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Koep is fairly certain Picard was killed and his death could have something to do with the marijuana he was growing inside the home...

"We've gotten two phone calls in the past eight months trying to tell us what happened," Koep said. "People are scared to say something. If that person wants to call us back, please call us back. You can remain anonymous and just help us with this case."

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One week before Picard was reported missing, the trailer was burglarized... Eventually arrested and charged in connection with the burglary were Claude John Pellicer III, then 15; Maynard Rupert II, then 20; and two 15-year-old males whose names were withheld. One was Rupert II’s younger brother, according to police reports.

In 2001, Pellicer III was convicted of burglarizing Picard’s home. He served three months of a two-year sentence in prison.

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