George Contos was a self-reliant man, well-known and liked in his Daytona North community just west of Bunnell, Florida. The 58-year-old, known to some as "Uncle Waldo," ran a business from his mobile home on Apricot Lane, where he had lived for about a decade. Originally from Connecticut, where he had worked as a welder, Contos maintained close ties with his family there, speaking with them regularly. He had a distinctive appearance, with a long gray goatee, a prosthetic left leg, and numerous tattoos on his arms, including a Viking helmet. He enjoyed riding his motorcycle and visiting swap meets.
In the spring of 2015, Contos was planning a move back to Connecticut to be closer to his relatives. He had recently sold some property and was carrying a significant amount of cash, intending to buy a 2013 Dodge Dually truck for $15,000. His regular, frequent contact with his family suddenly stopped around May 7, 2015.
He was reportedly last seen on May 9 in the F section of Palm Coast. After days of silence, his concerned family in Connecticut requested a welfare check. The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office officially listed him as a missing person on May 17.
Three days later, on May 20, 2015, deputies found his white 1997 Lincoln Town Car abandoned in the parking lot of an Ace Hardware store in the St. Joe Plaza on Palm Coast Parkway. As investigators looked into his life and last known movements, the case was quickly deemed suspicious. When they searched his home, they found evidence that approximately $25,000 in cash was missing. The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office soon announced they believed George Contos was the victim of a homicide, though his body has never been found.
The investigation uncovered surveillance footage from the day he disappeared showing his Lincoln Town Car following the vehicle of a handyman, Donald Corcoran, who sometimes did yard work for him. The footage showed them driving toward the plaza where the Lincoln was later discovered. Investigators learned that Corcoran had made a purchase at that same Ace Hardware on the day Contos was last seen. Further investigation revealed that between May 11 and June 4, 2015, Corcoran made several large purchases totaling nearly $23,000, mostly in cash. His stepson, Andrew Nemec, was also linked to the case when his DNA was found on the driver's seat lever of Contos's abandoned car. Both men were identified as suspects, but no charges have ever been filed in connection with the disappearance.
In the years that followed, authorities and family continued to seek answers. In January 2016, a billboard was put up on North Oceanshore Boulevard asking the public for information. The case gained national attention in September 2018 when it was featured on the Oxygen network's true-crime series "Cold Justice." The Flagler County Sheriff's Office stated its detectives had worked extensively on the case with the State Attorney's Office, but an arrest remained elusive. At one point, Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida and the Sheriff's Office offered a combined reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to his discovery or an arrest.
In an unrelated matter in 2021, Contos's son, Aaron Thayer, was arrested and later sentenced to prison on charges including attempted murder after threatening and chasing his girlfriend. Thayer, who had initially reported his father missing to the sheriff's office in 2015, has not been named as a suspect in his father's disappearance.
As of May 2026, more than a decade after George Contos vanished, his case remains an active but unsolved homicide investigation with the Flagler County Sheriff's Office. No arrests have been made, and the central questions of what happened to him and where he is remain unanswered. Investigators continue to ask anyone with information to come forward. The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office can be reached at 386-313-4911.
