Robert Eugene Shaw, a Mysterious Disappearance, and a Barrel at Lake Mead
Photos of Robert Eugene Shaw aka “Bob Shaw” from NamUs. Police are looking into whether Shaw is the body found in a barrel at Lake Mead in early May of 2022. (NamUs.gov)
Who was Robert Eugene Shaw?
News broke last week that police were seeking DNA samples from relatives of Bobbi Eugene Shaw a.k.a. Robert Shaw. Investigators believe Shaw may be the murder victim found in a barrel at Lake Mead in May of this year. Shaw’s sister, Barbara Brock, told reporters that her brother went missing in 1977. Brock also said her brother had ties to the Mafia - a particularly interesting fact given that the body found in a barrel at Lake Mead killed by a gunshot wound to the head bears the hallmarks of a gangland slaying.
We recently reported on the lack of information surrounding Shaw and his mysterious disappearance. The only reference we could locate in the Las Vegas newspaper archives were mention of a Robert E. Shaw that was arrested in 1976 during a strike on the Strip by the Culinary Union. This reference, coupled with the method of disposal in a barrel, immediately conjured thoughts of Culinary Union boss Al Bramlet, who suffered his own untimely end in the desert outside of Las Vegas in 1977 after refusing to pay a hitman team for a series of bombings of non-union restaurants around Vegas during the mid-70’s.
Further research clarified some of Shaw’s background but also resulted in more unanswered questions.
NamUs - the national database of missing and unidentified persons - lists Robert Eugene Shaw as having gone missing on May 14, 1977. On this day, Shaw and a friend were last seen by Shaw’s sister in Fontana, California as the two headed on the short drive to Las Vegas. Neither Shaw or his unidentified friend were heard from again after departing on their trip to Sin City.
Even more interesting is that a post was made on the popular true crime site WebSleuths about Robert Shaw’s disappearance on May 4, 2022 - only three days after an unidentified body in a barrel was discovered at Lake Mead. Perhaps the poster knew something more than the rest of us about the body in the barrel, since authorities did not release info about Robert “Bobbi” Shaw being the potential identify of the person in the barrel until early August of this year.
Link to NamUs: