Robert Fox kissed his wife goodbye, climbed into his Jeep, and drove off to run an errand near their South Point, Ohio home. He never came back. More than seven months later, his wife of 25 years is still fighting to find him.
Fox called his wife, Letitia, just before 8 p.m. that night to say he was waiting on a friend named Lynn Pauley and would be home shortly, according to NBC News. He had planned to deliver traffic cones to Pauley's home that evening. When Letitia called back around 8:30 p.m. and got no answer, she went looking for him herself and found his Jeep parked at Lawrence Village Apartments — but no sign of Robert.
Other accounts of the case, including WSAZ, describe Fox leaving home after dropping his wife off to visit a friend who lives nearby on Lick Creek Road. The outlet reported Fox was last seen on Thursday, March 19, while WOWK, citing the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office, reported he was last seen Friday, March 20, in the Lick Creek Road area also known as County Road 15. The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System lists his date of last contact as March 19, 2026, though that entry does not resolve the discrepancy between the other accounts.
Jeep Found, But Not the Man Driving It
Fox was not at the apartment complex where his Jeep turned up, and he was missing his phone and keys. According to NBC News, security footage showed a man exiting Fox's Jeep at 10:24 p.m., and Letitia identified the man in that footage as Pauley. Fox's employer later reported that he had not shown up for work, and the same report states that an apartment manager at Lawrence Village answered Fox's phone before it was eventually found in a drain on the property, still containing his ID and cards. His car keys turned up separately on the complex grounds.
Fox's family has said his Jeep, keys and phone were found scattered around separate areas within the apartment complex, the station's report on the family notes, according to WSAZ. Letitia reported Robert missing to the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office on Friday, March 20, and deputies met with Pauley that same day, with Pauley giving investigators a statement, per NBC News. Pauley reportedly had a daughter who was learning to drive at the time, though NBC News reports Dateline did not receive a response from Pauley for its story.
Search Warrants, Cadaver Dogs and a Forensic Lab
In the days after Fox vanished, investigators conducted roughly 15 search warrants within the first three or four days, interviewed numerous apartment residents and community members, and collected additional security footage, according to NBC News. Crews searched neighboring properties numerous times and used cadaver dogs, drones and ATVs in the effort, the outlet reports. Investigators also searched Pauley's property and sent Fox's phone to a forensic crime lab, with analysts still awaiting results as they hope his text messages will help determine what happened.
NBC News reports that Pauley has been described as a person of interest in the case, and that investigators are looking into numerous other persons of interest as well — though no suspects have been named. The Lawrence County Sheriff's Office continues to seek public information about Fox's disappearance. Anyone with information is asked to contact the LCSO at 740-532-3525 and choose option 8, per WOWK.
A Case Still Open, A Community Still Rallying
By September, deputies continued to actively investigate Fox's disappearance, but there have been no new leads in the case that have been made public, WSAZ reported. Around that same time, community members gathered for a fishing tournament and fundraiser to rally behind the Fox family, an effort held roughly six months after Robert vanished to keep attention on the case and support his wife.
In July, Fox's family was still publicly urging the public to come forward with any information about Robert or his disappearance, the same WSAZ report states. That month also marked Letitia's 25th wedding anniversary, which she spent without her husband. Fox is described as 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighing 230 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair, and he was last seen wearing a blue King's Daughters Medical Center t-shirt, khaki pants and white sneakers.
