BUNNELL, Fla. — The Flagler County Sheriff's Office Cold Case Unit announced Thursday that they have identified a homicide victim 26 years after the man was murdered, according to a news release.
Robert Bruce McPhail was 58-years-old at the time of his death as the release states, the man was from the "Kenora/Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada area." McPhail, who went by his middle name Bruce, had a passion for boats and moved to South Florida sometime in the mid-1990s, the release states.
On Sept. 10, 1997, FSCO deputies were notified of a body that was seen floating in the intracoastal waterway northeast of Boston Whaler, located at 100 Sea Ray Dr. in Flagler Beach, also formerly known as Sea Ray Boats.
When deputies arrived and recovered the body from the water, they discovered that McPhail had been tied up, shot and stabbed multiple times before being dumped in the water, the release states.
FCSO says at the time, investigators and the Medical Examiner's Office estimated that McPhail was believed to be between 30 and 50-years-old, approximately standing 5 feet and 8 inches tall and weighing 170 pounds, following a forensic anthropology exam.
In 2020, the release states that Sheriff Rick Staly created the sheriff's office's Cold Case Unit and in 2021, the unit submitted McPhail's bones to Othram, a private forensic genetic genealogy corporation and FCSO's Detective Sarah Scalia, who were then able to positively identify McPhail as the victim.
Although there are no known photos of McPhail, a facial approximation of the man was created by Betty Pat Gatliff of Skullpture Inc. in 1997, according to the release.
"Cold cases, especially with unidentified victims, and forensic genetic genealogy is a time-consuming process to identify and solve,” said Staly in the release. “This case required a lot of outside-the-box research and the cooperation of multiple agencies to give the victim a name. Now that we have identified the victim as Robert Bruce McPhail our Cold Case Unit can work on finding who murdered him and why to bring justice for him and his family. I commend Detective Scalia for diligently working on this case but there is more work to do. We know someone out there has more information and I ask you to call us or Crime Stoppers. We won’t give up until the killer or killer(s) are caught.”
Anyone who may have information about Robert Bruce McPhail's life or has information about his murder, the FCSO is asking them to submit a tip through email at TIPS@flaglersheriff.com, email detective Scalia at SScalia.flaglersheriff.com or call 386-313-4911. If you would like to remain anonymous and receive a possible reward of up to $9,500, contact Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida at 1-888-277-TIPS.
