Body identified as that of missing Reno man

Tuesday, May 20, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

A partially decomposed body found near Frenchman's Lake in California was positively identified on Monday as that of Robert Whitmore, 79, who has been missing for at least two weeks.

His caretaker told police he last saw Whitmore on May 5, when Whitmore said he was going to go visit a friend. The caretaker, Charles May, 37, has since been arrested for forging checks written to himself but drawn on Whitmore's account.

The charges against May involve eight checks totaling more than $12,000. They were written about the time May disappeared or a little before.

The search for Whitmore intensified a week ago when blood was found at his home and his car turned up at the Reno airport. His body was found late Sunday in a military-style tool box at Frenchman Cove Valley. The cause of death was attributed to a beating.

May is being held in lieu of $42,500 bail on 16 forgery counts and one of embezzlement.

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