Something happened to Robert Lomax 25 years ago in Saratoga, Ark.
He disappeared Thanksgiving night of 1992.
The community of Saratoga is located on the east side of Millwood Lake among the rolling hills and valleys.
Robert Lomax was a nice, 80-year-old man who liked to sit on the wooden bench outside the Saratoga, Ark., store and visit with his old friends. They probably solved all social issues basking in the sunshine.
A black and white photo shows Mr. Lomax with his friends Ed and Frank Fontaine sitting on the side of the old Saratoga building.
Mr. Lomax would help customers load groceries in their vehicles if they looked like they needed help.
For an 80-year-old man, he was in good condition because he walked everywhere. "He didn't have a driver's license," said Dale Gathright who knew Mr. Lomax.
Gathright was a child when he first met Mr. Lomax.
When Gathright grew up he worked as a broadcast news reporter for radio stations in Nashville, Ark., and Ashdown, Ark.
He owns the Gathright store in Saratoga and is the editor of the Saratoga Arkansas Digest.
Each Thanksgiving, Gathright is compelled to write a news story about the disappearance of Mr. Lomax.
The Howard County missing person report lists the disappearance as a homicide.
"There is no doubt it was foul play," said Gathright.
"He didn't just wander off. He was in too good of shape. He walked everyday," he said.
"It stunned everybody. Saratoga is a small town," Gathright said.
The case remains open and active at the Howard County Sheriff's Office in Nashville.
Gathright published the following report about the disappearance with information taken from the narrative from the sheriff's 1992 report.
"Witness statements reflect that Lomax had Thanksgiving dinner at the residence of Henry and Peggy Olden (he was a relative), who lived near him (on what is now called Chapel Hill Street) in Saratoga. He reportedly stayed until about 5 p.m. and left to walk the short distance home, saying 'he needed the exercise.' That was the last time he was seen alive."
An extensive search was conducted by then Sheriff Dick Wakefield and his department utilizing approximately 100 searchers and a helicopter. The search was called off after three days. Sheriff Wakefield believed foul play did exist in the matter and asked the Arkansas State Police to assist in the investigation.
Investigator Jerry Reed, now deceased, of the Arkansas State Police conducted interviews of people in the area and searched the Lomax residence. According to an unsolved case posting on the Howard County Sheriff's website is this statement, "Although there is no evidence of foul play at the residence, the feeling of local residents were that Mr. Lomax was robbed and killed. He was known to carry large amounts of cash on his person at all times."
Gathright was involved in the story, and here is his account: "I was standing outside talking with Dornell Trotter when we were approached by Stanley Cephonis, (now deceased) who was in for a stay at his wife's family (Walkup) home. He had befriended Robert and told us he had taken a Thanksgiving plate of food by Robert's house Thanksgiving afternoon (when Mr. Lomax was probably at the Olden's) and went back Friday to get the plate, where he found it untouched. Dornell and myself then start up to the house when we meet my cousin, Deputy (retired) Travis Hughes on routine patrol and tell him what's going on. We three then go to Robert's house and get no answer. Our first thought was he was inside dead. The door was locked, so Dornell was able to climb through a window and let us in. The house was cold. (Robert was very cold-natured.) Saturday morning the search started. Though Robert was 80, his mind was sharp and he walked everywhere, so we also immediately thought something bad had happened "
An archeological dig in January 2010 near Saratoga and the area where Robert lived unearthed some human bones. Here's what Howard County Sheriff's Investigator David Shelton told Saratoga Arkansas Digest for a news story at the time: "an archaeology team was working around Millwood Lake in Howard County near Saratoga and where Lomax was last seen when they discovered human bones on top of the ground. Investigator Shelton said that was uncommon. Due to the proximity of this location and where Lomax was last seen, the bones were sent to the Arkansas Crime Lab, who forwarded the remains to the Center for Human Identification in Dallas, Texas. A DNA sample was obtained from a known relative of Lomax. Shelton said the DNA was not a match, with the Dallas lab saying the bones were the remains of a Native American."
The disappearance is considered a homicide. Anyone having information about the disappearance of Robert Lomax is asked to contact the Criminal Investigation Division of the Howard County Sheriff's Department at 870-845-2626.