Robert Patrick Picard was a quiet, non-confrontational man who mostly kept to himself. Raised in Volusia County, Florida, the 37-year-old was described by his family as a homebody. In 1997, he was living a reclusive life in a rented trailer on a large piece of property on County Road 2006 in a rural area west of Bunnell known as the Mondex. His sister, Marylin Legates, later recalled the devastating impact his disappearance had on their family, stating, "It's horrible what happened to my brother. It's devastated my family." Former investigators described Picard, a white male with blond hair and blue eyes, as a "peacenik" who was nonviolent. His primary mode of transportation was a bicycle.
Concern grew in late September 1997 when Picard failed to show up for some work he had promised to do and fell behind on his rent. On September 30, his landlord sent her son, Claude John Pellicer Jr., and her 15-year-old grandson, Claude John Pellicer III, to check on him.
They found Picard’s bicycle by the back porch and the trailer door unlocked. The inside was in disarray, but what immediately signaled a grim scenario was the large amount of dried blood. Investigators from the Flagler County Sheriff's Office were called to the scene and found evidence suggesting a violent struggle had occurred and that a body had been dragged from the home. Robert Picard was nowhere to be found, and despite extensive investigation, his body has never been recovered.
The investigation soon uncovered that just a week before he was reported missing, Picard's trailer had been burglarized. Four people were eventually convicted in connection with that burglary, including the landlord's grandson, Claude Pellicer III. Detectives in 1997 considered Pellicer III a prime suspect in Picard's disappearance and presumed murder, but he was only ever charged with burglary and theft. In the weeks after Picard vanished, Pellicer III's father, Claude Pellicer Jr., was arrested and charged with tampering with evidence and neglecting to aid police after he admitted to hiding items stolen from Picard's home in the woods. Investigators believed Picard was murdered inside his trailer and his body disposed of, possibly in one of the local lakes.
For years, the case grew cold. Then, in December 2014, the Flagler County Sheriff's Office announced it was reopening the investigation after receiving new information. Two anonymous calls came in within an eight-month period, with the callers indicating they had knowledge of the case and suggesting a possible location for Picard's remains off County Road 2006. A search of the rural area, which contains many fields and swamps, yielded no results. Corporal Nate Koep of the Sheriff's Office Persons Crimes Unit noted that advances in DNA technology prompted them to resubmit evidence from the case for forensic analysis.
A significant development that may have prompted the new tips was the death of a person of interest. Claude Pellicer III, the prime suspect from the initial investigation, was killed in a single-car crash in September 2013 at the age of 31. Authorities believed his death might embolden people who had previously been afraid to come forward. "We believe that someone may have information relevant to the disappearance of Mr. Picard and that at the time that person may have been reluctant to come forward out of concern for their own safety," Corporal Koep said in 2014. "We want to provide the Picard family with answers about what happened to their loved one."
As of January 2015, the disappearance and suspected murder of Robert Picard remain unsolved. He is believed to have been killed on or around September 1, 1997. The Flagler County Sheriff's Office continues to classify his case as an open, unsolved homicide, holding out hope that someone will finally come forward with the information needed to bring closure to his family. Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida offers a cash reward for anonymous tips that lead to an arrest. Anyone with information is urged to call 888-277-8477.
