Robinson’s disappearance still under investigation

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Burleson County sheriff’s deputies and the Texas Rangers are looking again at the December 2001 disappearance of Jerome Robinson of Snook, seeking new clues into a cold case.

Chief Deputy John Pollock said on Monday, Dec. 28, that they are seeking the public’s help with any information that would explain his disappearance.

“We are looking at this as a cold case,” and “we are in search of those with answers,” Pollock said.

Law officers believe Robinson was murdered at the Team Club in Tunis.

The officers recovered extensive forensic evidence on Aug. 21-22 at the Team Club in Tunis after executing a search warrant, and they sent the specimens to the DPS lab for further analysis, then Chief Deputy Mike Brackman said in August of 2002. Along with sheriff’s deputies, the Texas Rangers, officers from the DPS Crime Lab, agents with DPS Narcotics Division in Bryan and an officer with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission in Bryan executed the warrant.

The evidence at that time pointed to a possible struggle, Brackman said at that time.

Robinson disappeared after being dropped off at the club by a friend. Robinson had won about $1,500 in a dice game there at a previous game and was returning to collect some additional money still owed to him but was never seen again, Brackman said.

When the friend returned from Bryan to pick him up, some people at the club told him he had left with someone else. However, none of his friends reported giving him a ride or seeing anyone else who did, Brackman said.

His grandmother Jerlene Mack of Snook became concerned when he failed to appear for a Jan. 10, 2002, court appearance in Bryan on a drug charge and notified the sheriff’s department. Mack was told by Robinson’s friends that he was possibly out of town, but her suspicions and law officers’ only grew when Robinson never returned.

At one point, deputies heard that Robinson was killed, and his body was dumped into the Brazos River. Then they heard that the body was in a ditch along F.M. 166 in the Brazos River Bottom.

Deputies checked but turned up no leads.

Pollock said the case has been investigated steadily throughout the years by local deputies and the Rangers, and they continue to go over available evidence.

And they feel that any public input would be helpful to solve the case.

“We want to shed some light on this and see if there is anyone out there (with information),” Pollock said. “I feel like somebody knows what happened to him, and we are asking that they have the courage to come forward and provide us with this information.”

If anyone is aware of any information, they are urged to “come forward, contact law enforcement, give us the information and help us solve the case.”

Anyone with information is urged to call Pollock at (979) 567-4343 or Bluebonnet Crime Stoppers at 567-TIPS.