Is there a high-profile fugitive in our midst? A 54-year-old man on the F.B.I.’s top 10 most-wanted list for murdering his wife and children in 2001 in Arizona may have been, or may be, in West Marin.
A local told the online news site and aggregator the West Marin Feed last week that the federal agency “was just here” in Olema, looking for a man named Robert William Fisher—a fact Sheriff’s Lieutenant Doug Pittman confirmed on Facebook.
“Yes, it’s true,” he wrote last Friday. “Without going into any detail, there have been a couple of reports of sightings of this individual who may have been or is currently hiding out somewhere in West Marin.” Lt. Pittman declined to elaborate, directing media inquiries to the F.B.I., which did not return a request for comment.
But Gail “Shorty” Coppinger, who manages produce at the Inverness Park Market, wrote on the West Marin Feed’s Facebook page that cops had told her that a weak tip indicated that Mr. Fisher may have been squatting at Duck Cove, the bayside community of 10 mostly abandoned homes.
Mr. Fisher, a six-foot-tall white man who chews tobacco and likes to hunt and fish, is wanted for allegedly murdering his wife, Mary, and their children, Brittney, 13, and Bobby, 10. His marriage was allegedly on the rocks, and his wife was contemplating leaving him.
The F.B.I. claims that in April 2001, in Scottsdale, Ariz., Mr. Fisher shot Mary in the back of the head and cut her and their children’s throats, then blew up the house. He has been missing ever since.
Just last month, the bureau released digitally enhanced photos of Mr. Fisher to depict him as he might look today. An agent told the Associated Press last month, “It’s a difficult case to work because he’s a loner. Loners are hard to find.”
Michele Stone, who lives in Inverness, has been warning her friends and family about him. “I was afraid to walk the dog,” she said. “It’s just creepy, thinking that a guy who murdered three people is out here.”
Anyone who provides information that leads to his arrest could net a $100,000 reward. A few people in West Marin have already made reports of possible sightings this week, one in Inverness’s Second Valley on Friday and another on the outskirts of Point Reyes Station on Monday.
In the past, the F.B.I. said he may have weapons, including a high-powered rifle, and is considered extremely dangerous. Anyone with information should call the bureau’s field office at (415) 553.7400.