Robert W. Gilsey was 57 years old when he was last known to have contact on October 6, 2006, in Portland, Maine. NamUs lists him as a White/Caucasian male, about 6 feet to 6 feet 1 inch tall and 185 to 190 pounds, with gray or partially gray long hair and blue eyes. He lived aboard a sailboat moored at Diamond Cove Marina, part of the Casco Bay island community connected to Portland by water, and the Maine Marine Patrol in Augusta is listed as the investigating agency for his case.
At the time he disappeared, he was believed to have been wearing a green long-sleeved windbreaker and possibly brown shorts.
The case began as a maritime emergency after Gilsey failed to return as expected. Contemporary reporting from the Lewiston Sun Journal, citing the Coast Guard, said searchers were looking for information from anyone who might have seen him after he left Portland around 5:30 p.m. in his boat, Ripple, while headed toward his home on Great Diamond Island in Casco Bay. The same report said it appeared he never arrived. His 23-foot motorized boat was later found adrift in Portland Harbor with the keys in the ignition and the throttle open, and searchers believed the boat had been underway for some time while he was aboard, but he was no longer on it when it was found.
As the search unfolded, the effort extended across the waters south of Portland Harbor and toward the Cape Elizabeth area. The Coast Guard and Maine Marine Patrol were both involved, with helicopters, boats, and a Coast Guard cutter reported as part of the response. Another Associated Press report published by the Sun Journal said a Falcon jet joined a Coast Guard cutter and other rescue vessels before the search was suspended, and described Gilsey as having been last seen leaving Portland in Ripple, bound for Great Diamond Island. Press Herald reporting later said Ripple was discovered around noon off Richmond Island, about one mile south of Cape Elizabeth, with no fuel, the keys still in the ignition, and the throttle in the on position.
The discovery of the boat left investigators and searchers with a troubling, incomplete picture: the vessel was present, but Gilsey was not. NamUs records state that his power boat was found off Cape Elizabeth without him on board; the engine was on, the throttle was open, and it had run out of gas. Uncovered’s case summary repeats the same essential circumstances, noting that he lived on a sailboat moored at Diamond Cove Marina and that the unattended power boat was found off Cape Elizabeth after it had apparently continued without him. These details suggest a sudden emergency on the water, but the publicly available sources do not provide a confirmed explanation for how he became separated from the boat.
The public case information does not list a resolution status of alive or deceased, and no reliable source located for this synopsis confirms that Robert Gilsey has been found. Maine State Police note that their missing-person list is not a complete list of all missing persons in the state and that the Office of Chief Medical Examiner uses NamUs as the official state clearinghouse for tracking and managing missing person case files. NamUs itself is described by the National Institute of Justice as a central database and support program for law enforcement, medical examiners, coroners, investigators, and families working to resolve missing, unidentified, and unclaimed person cases. In overview, Robert W. Gilsey’s case is the story of a man connected to Portland’s island waters who set out by boat and never made it home, leaving behind only Ripple, found empty off the Maine coast, and an enduring search for answers about what happened to him.Last Seen: Oct 6, 2006
