Her casefile was updated May 20, 2024; photos added and details of disappearance updated.
Robin, circa 1995; Howard Gombert
Details of Disappearance
Robin was scheduled to meet her boyfriend, Matt Esposito, for dinner in their hometown of Carmel, New York on April 9, 1995. She was last seen at approximately 7:30 p.m., walking in the Shop-Rite Plaza Shopping Center (alternatively called the Carmel Center or the Nichols Plaza Shopping Center) on Route 52.
Robin never arrived at the restaurant and has never been heard from again. The shopping center is less than one mile from her residence. Her mother's red Oldsmobile, which she had borrowed for her trip to the shopping center, was located near the Burger King restaurant in the mall's parking lot shortly afterwards. Her keys, wallet, purse and checkbook were discovered in a marshy, grassy area behind the center several days later.
Investigators don't believe Robin ran away from home. Less than two weeks before she disappeared, she bought candy and presents for her younger siblings for Easter, but disappeared before the holiday.
She dropped out of high school prior to her disappearance to take a job at the Shop-Rite supermarket, but had decided to return to school and planned to eventually enroll in college and become a journalist. Esposito was questioned regarding Robin's case and cleared as a possible suspect early in the investigation.
Authorities announced that Howard J. Gombert Jr. was a suspect in Robin's disappearance after his arrest on sexual assault and child endangerment charges in March 2000.
When the police arrested him in 2000, they found Robin's underwear hidden in a suitcase in his girlfriend's house; they were able to get DNA from the underwear and match it to Robin. When Gombert was asked about the panties, he said he often collected clothes left behind by customers at the laundromat where he worked, and would take them home, sort and clean them, and then donate the clothes to charity.