Cold case murder victim identified after 26 years

Robert Bruce McPhail, 58, was identified as the victim FCSO deputies found bound, shot and stabbed in the Intracoastal Waterway in 1977.

By Observer Staff
| 1:32 p.m. August 17, 2023

Palm Coast Observer

Last updated: Monday, Aug. 21

A homicide victim found in the Intracoastal Waterway in 1997 has been identified by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office’s Cold Case Unit.

The victim is Robert Bruce McPhail, 58. He was from the Kenora and Winnipeg regions of Canada, but moved to South Florida in the mid-1990s, according to a press release from the FCSO.

FCSO deputies found the body of an unknown white man floating in the Intracoastal Waterway, northeast of then-Sea Ray Boats, now Boston Whaler, on Sept. 10, 1997. They pulled the body from the water and found that the victim was bound and had been shot and stabbed multiple times.

Cold Case Unit Detective Sarah Scalia identified McPhail with help from Othram, a private forensic genetic genealogy corporation, the press release said. A facial approximation of McPhail, created in 1997, was the only known image of him until a tipster sent the FCSO photos of McPhail last week.

If anyone has any information about McPhail’s life or his murder, they can submit a tip through email at [email protected], directly to Cold Case Detective Sarah Scalia at [email protected] or call 386-313-4911.

Anonymous tips may be submitted to Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida by calling 1-888-277-TIPS (8477), and could be eligible for a reward of up to $9,500.