KY KY - Robbin Lewis Slaughter, 36, Owensboro, 14 Oct 1993

[MadMcGoo]

NamUs #MP7820
Robbin Lewis Slaughter

• The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
• Robbin Lewis Slaughter – The Charley Project
  
• 1171DMKY - Robbin Lewis Slaughter
• Robbin Lewis Slaughter - Kentucky Missing Person Directory

Date of Last Contact: October 14, 1993
Missing From: Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky
Missing Age: 36 Years
Race / Ethnicity Black / African American
Sex: Male
Height: 5' 7" (67 Inches)
Weight: 130 lbs
Hair Color: Black, cut above the ears
Eye Color: Brown/Hazel

Clothing: A short-sleeved gray sports shirt with a black collar, a gray and blue sweater, blue jeans and white sneakers.

Circumstances of Disappearance: Slaughter was last seen by his wife on November 14, 1993, at their home in the 2700 block of west 10th Street in Owensboro, Kentucky. He left to walk to Franey's Food Mart, a convenience store in the 800 block of Carter Road, five or six blocks away. He said he would be back in less than an hour, but he never returned. He has never been heard from again.

Surveillance cameras show he never arrived at the store, although someone who knew him claims to have seen him in the store's parking lot. Slaughter did not drive at the time of his disappearance and normally walked to places he wanted to go. He was a regular customer at Franey's, coming in several times a week.

In 2002, investigators in Slaughter's case spent two days searching his home in the 2700 block of west 10th Street for evidence in his disappearance. Slaughter's wife, who has since remarried, gave her consent for the search. It is unknown what, if any, evidence was located, but authorities did seize a door for forensic testing.

Authorities do not believe Slaughter left of his own accord, but the circumstances surrounding his disappearance are unclear. He had a job with the city sanitation department in 1993; he had held it since 1977 and his boss described him as a good employee with a good work history. His family stated it is extremely uncharacteristic of him to leave without warning.

Slaughter's wife stated he had been behaving normally prior to his disappearance, was in good health and was not having any problems that she knew of. Foul play is possible in Slaughter's case, but it remains unsolved.

2 Unidentified Person Exclusions
UP6471 05/06/1994 Alexandria, VA
UP6484 01/16/2003 Arlington, VA

 

[MadMcGoo]

Oct.29 Unsolved Crimes.. The Disappearance of Robbin Slaughter

Oct.29 Unsolved Crimes.. The Disappearance of Robbin Slaughter
October 29, 2002 at 9:22 PM CST - Updated July 12 at 5:01 AM

Rev. Lucinda Calhoun, claims harassment by the Owensboro Police Department

Robbin Slaughter, disappeared 9 years ago
Stefanie Silvey, reporter
Jill Seiler, web producer

The Reverend Lucinda Calhoun claims she's the victim of harassment by an Owensboro Police detective assigned to her husband's missing person's case.

Members of the Universal African Peoples Organization have come from St. Louis, Hopkinsville, Louisville and other areas to rally together behind her at the home she shared with husband, Robbin Slaughter. Police recently dug up her yard and searched her home after they say they received new information in the case.

One of the representatives from the Universal African Peoples Organization even meet with the mayor, and chief of police. And Zaki Baruti says Lucinda Calhoun has been cooperative, and so should investigators. "She has passed a polygraph test. They have searched her yard, dug up her yard. At what point in time is enough enough? That is why we are here."

The controversy stems from the disappearance of Calhoun's husband nine years ago. Robbin Slaughter disappearance case has been cold for years, but just recently the police department began relooking at it after they claim they discovered new evidence in the case.

Lucinda Calhoun says her husband left their home to walk to a nearby convenience store nine years ago, but never returned. Now, she's remarried and she says harassed by local police.

Police served Calhoun with a search warrant to search her now vacant home and also to dig up her backyard for any possible evidence. This after they say they learned Calhoun had taken out a substantial life insurance policy on her husband shortly before his disappearance. Something Calhoun denies.

Officers removed items from the home including the door to a closet. The items are being sent to the state crime lab for testing. Police say it's an active case and they are interested in any information that can help them solve this case. Calhoun says she wants the same. "Yes. Either way, alive or dead, he still remains the same in our hearts."

Officers of the Owensboro Police Department have an obligation and a duty to investigate any leads on open missing person cases and of course we'll continue to do that in the future. That's what the citizens of Owensboro expect us to do", says Owensboro Police Chief John Kazlauskas.

Slaughter was an employee of the city for 15 years. He was never late, he never missed a day of work. Police say it's highly unlikely he left on his own. Anyone with information in this case is asked to call the Owensboro Police Department.

And if there is an unsolved crime you'd like Stefanie to investigate, email or call her at 433-3411 or 1-800-832-0014 ext. 411.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Unfinished Business

<snip> Robbin Lewis Slaughter didn't fit the profile of a person who wanted to disappear.

Slaughter, who was just nine days short of his 37th birthday on Nov. 14, 1993, had been a crew member with the Owensboro Public Works Department for 16 years. His supervisors said he was a good, reliable worker. Slaughter was also known for his closeness to his mother and siblings and was a bit of a homebody.

"He never went on any trips without family," said Slaughter's sister, Kitty

Board. "He didn't stay away from home. ... He never ventured out of his comfort zone. If you would say, ‘Where's Robbin?' there were five or six places he could be."

But Saturday night, Nov. 14, Slaughter vanished. Reports say Slaughter's wife told police he was walking from his West 10th Street home to Franey's Food Mart in the 800 block of Carter Road about 9 p.m. — something he did regularly — and never returned.

Surveillance cameras at Franey's did not show Slaughter was ever in the store, and the clerk, who knew Slaughter as a regular, said he didn't come in that night. A witness said he saw Slaughter in the convenience store's parking lot, but that report was never confirmed.

What happened to Slaughter that night is still a mystery.

"There were no extraordinary circumstances that stood out as to why he would fit the profile of someone who would want to get away from it all," said Sgt. Michael Walker, a supervisor in the Owensboro Police Department's criminal investigations division. "He had family here. There were no significant issues he was facing that would prompt him to take off without a word to anyone.

"He never tried to make contact, to say, ‘I know you have me listed as missing, but I'm not missing, I'm fine,' " Walker said. "He just (went) missing, and we didn't hear from him again."

Robbin Slaughter married Lucinda Slaughter, a childhood friend who attended the same church as Slaughter and his family, in 1991. The marriage was sudden and unexpected, Board said.

"Even though he was grown, he lived with my mom until a couple of months before he was married," Board said. Until the marriage, Slaughter's mother even had power of attorney of his finances, Board said.

"He was a sweet and lovable person, but he needed looking after," Board said.

Nothing seemed amiss in Slaughter's life around the time he disappeared in 1993, Board said. The last time Board saw Slaughter, he was at a social event for their church's minister.

"He was standing in the hallway with his wife's little girl, and they were like father and daughter," Board said. "She was very attached to him, and he to her."

But about two weeks later, Lucinda Slaughter came to Board's home, Board said.

"She knocked on my door and asked if I'd seen him," Board said. "I said, ‘No,' and she said, ‘Never mind, never mind.' I asked her what was wrong and she said, ‘Nothing.' " Board said her mother called a short time later, saying, " ‘Cindy was up here looking'" for Robbin, Board said.

"You know how you get sort of a sinking feeling?" Board said. "It was late at night ... It was 9 or 9:30, and he had to be at work at 7. He never missed a day's work."

After he was reported missing, investigators contacted other state agencies with information about Slaughter and posted his information in the National Crime Information Center, a case database. Detectives also monitored Slaughter's Social Security number to see if he was working somewhere else, to no avail.

"Every lead we followed up, until (the leads) were exhausted," Walker said. "... We followed up leads as far as sending two detectives to Florida, (but) that lead ultimately fizzled.

"We would like to believe if Mr. Slaughter had just walked off, he would have made a decision to let family know his welfare ... and that hasn't happened," Walker said. "The only other plausible theory is that foul play was involved in his disappearance."

Walker said in 2002, the department received "reliable evidence" that led detectives to search Slaughter's home in the 2700 block of West 10th Street, which was owned by Slaughter's wife. By that time, Lucinda had remarried and become Lucinda Calhoun.

Police and search dogs checked the house and yard. Some items were seized for examination, and a portion of the backyard was excavated.

"We were unable to conclude a crime had taken place at the home," Walker said.

Coping with Slaughter's disappearance has been painful, Board said.

"At first, it's sort of like you don't know what to do, or where to go," Board said. "The thought of, ‘Where is he?' consumes you.

"Is he hurt? Is he suffering? You just want to know, even if the ending is bad," Board said. "In the beginning, I was just raw and confused. It bothers me that bad things happen to good people. I know good people aren't immune ... but there was no reason for him to be gone."

Lucinda Calhoun was arrested five years after the 2002 search at her house, on charges that had nothing to do with Slaughter's disappearance.

In 2007, Calhoun and her husband, John E. Calhoun Jr., were charged with receiving stolen property and tampering with physical evidence, after detectives found money in the West 10th Street home that was taken during a Oct. 16, 2007, robbery at South Central Bank on Frederica Street. Lucinda Calhoun was found guilty of abetting bank robbery, giving false statements and other charges in U.S. District Court in 2010 and was sentenced to 78 months in prison. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Calhoun is currently in a residential re-entry program, which she is anticipated to complete in June.

Walker said solving Slaughter's disappearance is a priority for detectives, and OPD hopes someone in the community might be able to provide information to bring the case to a close.

"If they don't want to come forward with their name, they can do so anonymously" through Crime Stoppers, a phone, website and text-based anonymous tip service, Walker said. "We're never going to turn away information. Some of our best detectives are citizens; we've had bank robberies solved by people calling in, and shootings solved by people calling in."

Board said the family has never had a memorial for Slaughter, because that would be too much like giving up all hope that he's alive. Whatever the outcome is, the family just wants to know what happened, Board said.

"It's hard for me to believe there isn't someone out there that knows something," she said. Not knowing what happened to Slaughter, "is harder than death, because death has a finality to it," she said. "You know how to deal with life after a death. You don't know how to deal with life after missing."

‘People know more than they think they know' <snip>

 

[Pennysmom2]

"Limbo: Man still missing," pt. 1

Clipping found in Messenger-Inquirer published in Owensboro, Kentucky on 11/17/1996. "Limbo: Man still missing," pt. 1

www.newspapers.com

"Police call off second search of yard," pt. 2

Clipping found in Messenger-Inquirer published in Owensboro, Kentucky on 9/13/2002. "Police call off second search of yard," pt. 2

www.newspapers.com

"Search for body comes up empty," pt. 1

Clipping found in Messenger-Inquirer published in Owensboro, Kentucky on 9/9/2002. "Search for body comes up empty," pt. 1

www.newspapers.com

"Search for body comes up empty," pt. 2

Clipping found in Messenger-Inquirer published in Owensboro, Kentucky on 9/9/2002. "Search for body comes up empty," pt. 2

www.newspapers.com

 

[Pennysmom2]

"Police looking for missing 36-year-old man"

Clipping found in Messenger-Inquirer published in Owensboro, Kentucky on 11/18/1993. "Police looking for missing 36-year-old man"

www.newspapers.com

 

[Pennysmom1]

Robbin Lewis Slaughter – The Charley Project

• 
  

Slaughter, circa 1993

 

[spartanx]

after reading about this case i have a few questions...did the police ever search the area around Franey's supermarket? from what i know they only searched Lucinda's property...if they didn't search the area why didn't they?..did the police take the case seriously from the beginning?...
considering that Slaughter's mother had power of attorney over his finances until he was 30 and he didn't drive it seems very unlikely that he could have disappeared on his own (although he has no reason to run away)...the only scenario where a voluntary disappearance makes sense to me is if Slaughter met someone and the two planned to start a new life together somewhere else...but who?
from what i read Lucinda was ruled out as a suspect after searches in 2002...which left the police with no other leads...was it a crime of opportunity and Slaughter was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time? Could he have seen something he shouldn't have and been kidnapped and killed in retaliation? ..
Whatever the case,
Rest in peace