Family hopes body of missing Avon man is found

The Norfolk District Attorney and Avon police are asking deer hunters in the Blue Hills Reservation for help in the search for the body of a man missing for nearly two years and presumed dead.

James "Jamie" Robertson was 37 when investigators say he was lured from his parents' Avon home by men dressed as constables, claiming Robertson needed to be drug tested as part of his probation. Robertson never returned home.

"They had his probation paperwork with his picture on it. They had guns and handcuffs, badges," said Jamie's father, David Robertson. "Ginny went out with Jamie and talked to the driver, and they got in the car, and the last thing we remember is him driving up the street in the back of the car. And that's the last time we saw him."

Four men have been charged since Robertson's disappearance on New Year's Day 2014, including Michael Schoener, a Dedham police officer accused of lending his department-issued equipment to alleged mastermind James Feeney, the ex-boyfriend of Robertson's girlfriend.

Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey said Monday that information his office has gathered leads them to believe Robertson was killed and his body was dumped in a wooded area. A final ping of Robertson's cell phone was traced to nearby Canton.

Department of Conservation and Recreation staff will hand out fliers to hunters on Tuesday, urging them to call investigators if they find human remains or clothing, such as a red or maroon sweatshirt, a black shirt, blue jeans and brown shoes.

"We know it's a needle in a haystack, but stranger things have happened,"

Morrissey said. "Hunters in particular have been quite helpful in discovering and finding missing people in the past. So we hope to use this opportunity to get the word out to those hunters in the Blue Hills."

Morrissey encouraged hunters, as well as hikers, in areas outside the Blue Hills Reservation to be vigilant, too.

Avon Police Chief David Martineau said his department and the DA's office have been in constant contact with the Robertson family, and their priority is bringing him home.

"The nature of the beast, we figure the worst has happened," Martineau said. "This time of year, we just want to bring Mr. Roberson home for the family."

The Robertsons have accepted Jamie's death, and they hope someone stumbles upon his body. Finding him will never bring them closure, they said, but it would start the healing process.

"It's a daily heartache," Jamie's mother, Ginny Robertson, said. "We want him home."

Until then, they choose to remember happy memories of the young father whose son and daughter are now 11 and 5.

"He had a happy walk, he had a beautiful smile," Ginny said. "He loved his kids. He lived for his kids."

All four suspects will appear in Dedham Superior Court for a hearing on Dec. 18.

All but Schoener, who has posted bond, remain in jail.

Cox Media Group