Full Notification

Public Information Release
September 22, 2015
Lieutenant Steve Brooks, Public Information Officer


The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is continuing the search for two people who remain missing since the start of the Valley Fire. On September 16, 2015 a deputy sheriff was asked to conduct a welfare check on 66 year old Robert Taylor Fletcher, who was reported to live in Cobb. He was last heard from by a family member on September 10, 2015. The deputy responded to the residence and was unable to locate Mr. Fletcher. He advised that the residence was gone and appeared to have burned. Lake County Sheriff’s Detectives responded to the residence and conducted a search with two Human Remains Detection Dogs and their handlers, which were provided by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. The search provided negative results, as they were unable to locate any remains.

On September 17, 2015 a deputy sheriff took a missing persons report concerning 61 year old Robert Edward Litchman of Lower Lake. Mr. Litchman was reported missing by a friend who said he had not heard from him since the fire. He did not believe Mr. Litchman had left his residence due to not having transportation. He also said Mr. Litchman had refused to leave when told to do so by law enforcement. During the evacuation he was seen standing in the driveway waving vehicles by as others were evacuating. Lake County Sheriff’s Detectives responded to the residence and reported the residence was gone and appeared to have burned during the fire. They conducted a search with two Human Remains Detection Dogs and their handlers, which were provided by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. The search provided negative results, as they were unable to locate any remains.

The search for both Robert Fletcher and Robert Litchman will continue. Additional detailed searches using Human Remains Detection Dogs and an anthropologist have been scheduled.

If anyone has seen or knows the whereabouts of either Robert Fletcher or Robert LItchman, they are asked to contact the Lake County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 263-2690.