CARMEL, N.Y. — Last week marked the 30th anniversary of one of the most notorious crimes in Putnam County history and local police are still searching for answers.
On April 9, 1995, 17-year-old Robin Murphy was walking in the parking lot of Camel ShopRite Plaza on Route 52 in Carmel Hamlet on her way to meet her boyfriend for dinner. She never made it to the restaurant. She was never seen again.
At the Town Board’s April 9 meeting, Carmel Police Chief Anthony Hoffmann noted it has been three decades since the disappearance and told the board that his department is still working on the cold case and is appealing to the public for help.
Hoffmann said detectives have recently been following new leads.
“We are following other leads and are continuing the investigation,” said Hoffmann, who hadn’t yet begun his law enforcement career when Murphy disappeared. “We are following through with other states and other agencies.”
The Charley Project, a website that was created 25 years ago, originally known as the Missing Persons Cold Case Network, breaks down what happened on that April day 30 years ago and the subsequent investigation.
According to the Charley Project, Murphy was scheduled to meet her boyfriend, Matt Esposito, for dinner in Carmel on April 9, 1995. She was last seen at approximately 7:30 p.m., walking in the Shop-Rite Plaza on Route 52 but never arrived at the restaurant.
The shopping center was less than one mile from Murphy’s home. Her mother's red Oldsmobile, which she had borrowed for her trip to the shopping center, was found near the Burger King restaurant in the plaza parking lot shortly afterward. Her keys, wallet, purse and checkbook were discovered in a marshy, grassy area behind the shopping center several days later.
According to the Charly Project, investigators don't believe Murphy ran away from home, noting that less than two weeks before she disappeared, she bought candy and presents for her younger siblings for Easter but disappeared before the holiday.
Murphy had dropped out of high school to take a job at the ShopRite supermarket but decided to return to school and planned to enroll in college and become a journalist.
Esposito, her boyfriend, was questioned and was cleared as a possible suspect early in the investigation, the Charley Project notes.
Eventually, authorities zeroed in on a suspect. Howard J. Gombert Jr. was questioned about Murphy after his March 2000 arrest on sexual assault and child endangerment charges in a different case. He was taken into custody after sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl, as well as his own girlfriend, the Charley Project explains. Gombert was eventually sentenced to 30 years in prison.
When the police arrested Gombert on the sexual assault case, they found Murphy's underwear hidden in a suitcase at his girlfriend's house. (They were able to get DNA from the underwear and match it to Murphy.) When Gombert was asked about the underwear, he said he often collected clothes left behind by customers at the laundromat where he worked, and would take them home, sort and clean them, and then donate them to charity.
The Charley Project notes that Gombert had previously resided in Carmel and the laundromat where he worked was in the same shopping center where Murphy disappeared. He said he knew her and that Murphy was his "best friend" and asked him for advice about her relationship with her boyfriend. Gombert stated he had spoken to Murphy at 3 p.m. the day she disappeared, and they talked for a few minutes. In the days after Murphy went missing, Gombert attempted suicide and had to be hospitalized.
Gombert has never been charged with Murphy’s disappearance. He has prior criminal records in New York and Connecticut and was charged with first-degree rape in 1991, but the charge was dismissed when the 13-year-old alleged victim recanted her story shortly after his arrest. He was eventually convicted in the 2000 sexual assault case and Hoffmann said he believes Gombert remains incarcerated in a Connecticut prison.
In April 2024, local media reported that unidentified remains were found in Putnam County. Many in the community believed they belonged to Murphy. At the time, authorities believed the remains were those of a white woman, between the ages of 17 and 28 and that the victim was deceased for at least 10 years, the Charley Project reported. However, two months later the remains were identified, and they did not belong to Murphy.
The Carmel Police Department took to social media last week to inform the community that they are still looking for information regarding the missing teen.
In the post they share more details, explaining that Murphy was 17 at the time and was last seen in the ShopRite Plaza in the evening hours of April 9, 1995.
The post states that if anyone has any information regarding the case, they are encouraged to come forward, no matter how insignificant they think the information may be. Even the smallest detail could make a difference in helping bring closure to this case.
Anyone with information can call the Detective Division at Carme PD at 845-628-1300.
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