Found Deceased VA - Robert Kovack, 24, Blacksburg, 18 Sept 1998

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I think it is likely a suicide. 12k seems like a lot when you are student, and that can add a lot of stress. The investigators do not suspect suicide. I have had 2 close friends that committed suicide and nobody saw it coming, but they did.

The roomates had plenty of opportunity to get rid of his personal stuff if they were involved. They didn't.

His parents thought it out of character that he didn't call before leaving for home. There would be no need to call if he knew he would never get there.
 
Why would he commit suicide if he was going to the VT game? that he so wanted to go. I don't believe he committed suicide. And why would anyone take $80 out of the bank to go to the game, when he told his friends that he was going in the 1st place. I believe that someone did something to Robert. I know WV is so rural and the gas station is miles away. But didn't LE state that his tracker was out of gas and keys still in the car? Where was the last stop to a gas station and to what in what area before his tracker was found around New River Gorge Bridge? I just don't believe he committed suicide. There is more to this story that LE isn't talking about.


And mystery around the Sodder children has me baffled.
 
Human remains possibly linked to missing Virginia Tech student found near New River Gorge

http://www.virginiafirst.com/news/local-news/human-remains-possibly-linked-to-missing-virginia-tech-student-found-near-new-river-gorge

Remains found in West Virginia on Thursday may be related to a missing Virginia Tech student.

State Troopers converged on the forest below the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia after Park Rangers reported finding human remains in the area.

Investigators entered the woods this afternoon and were seen leaving the area with evidence including bones.

Captain B.A. Mankins tells us the remains could possibly be linked to an 18-year-old case involving a missing Virginia Tech student.
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This case is one of my "pet" cases too. The other one, Grateful Doe, was solved recently. I hope this one is too, although we may never know what happened.

He was my age, a VT student (like me) and I lived in Blacksburg at the time. It will always be close to my heart.
 
Robert is from my hometown, I was only 8 when he when missing but my dad knew him from growing up and school. I learned of his disappearance about 5 years ago and think about it often. I have many of my own theories and as it's possible some type of foul play happened at the site I find it unlikely. I feel like he never left Blacksburg when he supposedly did, the foul play happened there and his car was planted there. I feel that it was someone he knew or knew well enough to know his route and where to place his car. I also beleive that his body might have been there all along when the car was taken there but I also think that maybe it's a possibility it was dumped/buried after the searches. I unfortunately think this was a planned out crime and I personally like his roommates should have been questioned more.

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lrd said:
Robert is from my hometown, I was only 8 when he when missing but my dad knew him from growing up and school. I learned of his disappearance about 5 years ago and think about it often. I have many of my own theories and as it's possible some type of foul play happened at the site I find it unlikely. I feel like he never left Blacksburg when he supposedly did, the foul play happened there and his car was planted there. I feel that it was someone he knew or knew well enough to know his route and where to place his car. I also beleive that his body might have been there all along when the car was taken there but I also think that maybe it's a possibility it was dumped/buried after the searches. I unfortunately think this was a planned out crime and I personally like his roommates should have been questioned more.

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I really hope you are wrong. Our university has seen so much happen in the past 10 years that adding this is just one more thing, but no matter the outcome, I hope they find out exactly what happened.
 
Remains found with ID of Virginia Tech student who went missing in 1998

http://www.roanoke.com/news/education/blacksburg/remains-found-with-id-of-virginia-tech-student-who-went/article_e09c03f1-b312-509b-bf2e-e9bc2bc301f5.html

The remains — along with Kovack's driver's license, a college ID, credit cards and what are believed to be his car keys — were found in a heavily wooded area, about 700 feet below the New River Gorge bridge on U.S. 19 — near where Kovack’s car was found shortly after his disappearance.
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Mike Kovack, Robert Kovack's older brother, said he's waiting for a positive ID from the medical examiner's office — which may take days.

“As a family, we’re hopeful this is truly remains of my brother. However, until we can get proof positive identification, it’s speculation and conjecture, at best," he said on Friday. "At that point we can all be at ease. But until then, we’ve got hopes that this is him."
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laughin said:
I really hope you are wrong. Our university has seen so much happen in the past 10 years that adding this is just one more thing, but no matter the outcome, I hope they find out exactly what happened.
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I hope so too. It's such a tragedy, I hope either way they find out how this young man died and give his family the closure they deserve after all these years

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I hope the family can get an answer to the suicide claim. 48 bodies have been found under this bridge since Rob went missing. Wow!


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Happy his family will be able to lay him to rest.
 
Any updates on this case? Has he been positively identified? Cause of death?
 
plexibabe said:
Any updates on this case? Has he been positively identified? Cause of death?
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In the local newspaper it said they expect results by April 1st

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Human remains found in March still not positively ID’d - September 26th

http://www.fayettetribune.com/news/human-remains-found-in-march-still-not-positively-id-d/article_7c89490e-828d-11e6-a4a5-a30fa8762f88.html

In March, skeletal remains were found under the New River Gorge Bridge and sent to the West Virginia Chief Medical Examiner’s Office for identification.

Both the West Virginia State Police and a family in Marion County are waiting to know if the remains are those of Robert L. Kovack, who went missing nearly two decades ago on his way home from college in Virginia.

Medical Examiner’s Office spokesperson Toby Wagoner said Monday that state law only allows autopsy information to be released to law enforcement or next of kin.

Wagoner said identifying a body can be a lengthy process.

“I can tell you that positive identification in some cases can take months or years in complex cases,” he said.
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I don't believe that there has been an official announcement made about the remains found a year ago but an obituary was published online yesterday for him. RIP Robert.

http://obituaries.timeswv.com/story/robert-kovack-889820772

Robert Leroy Kovack of Morgan Street, Rivesville, passed away in southern West Virginia.

On Sept. 18, 1998, Robbie Kovack was reported missing as he attended Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia.

In March of 2016, Robbie's remains were found near the New River Gorge in Fayette County.

Robbie graduated from Fairmont Senior High School in 1991 and Fairmont State College, with a degree in architectural drafting, in 1995.

He was attending Virginia Tech University, pursuing a degree in architectural engineering.

Robbie held various jobs including Blackwood Associates as a draftsman, DeGarmo Funeral Home, a bartender for the Legends in Greentown for Mike and Tine Caputo, and Habitat for Humanity in Blacksburg, Virginia, for Terry Fitzwater.

He enjoyed hunting, fishing, camping and playing pool. He also enjoyed riding various trails on his mountain bike.

Survivors include his parents, Michael Joe and Jacqueline Lane Kovack of Rivesville; his brother, Michael Joe Kovack Jr. of Fairmont; two nephews, Austin and Aaron Kovack of Fairmont; aunts and uncles including Rodney and Betty Kovack of Charleston, Wanda Fultz of Maryland, Nancy Aspinall of Fairmont, Diana Connor of Fairmont, James and Carolyn Bagwell of Fairmont, Ronald and Ruth Bagwell of Fairmont, and Patricia and Junior Goddard of Baxter.

He was preceded in death by an uncle and aunt, Kenneth and June Kovack.

Michael, Jackie and Mike Jr. would like to thank the many people over the years for all the care and concern shown to their family.
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