Name: Charles Edward Collingwood
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: December 12, 1979
Location Last Seen: Titusville, Brevard County, Florida
Date of Birth: August 26, 1959
Age: 20 years old
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 135 lbs
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Tattoos on left forearm, left hand, left fingers, and right arm
Dentals: Unknown
Fingerprints: Available
DNA: Unknown
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Charles was last seen on December 12, 1979. He was incarcerated at the Brevard Correctional Institution. While on work detail outside the prison, Charles asked to use the bathroom and escaped. While sheriff's deputies were searching for him, they discovered his clothes in a wooded area near the prison. Charles had served most of a four-year sentence for auto theft. He was never seen again.
The main suspect in Charles' case was a man who worked as a prison guard at the time of Charles' disappearance. Authorities learned the guard was allegedly having an affair with Charles. The guard denied the affair and claimed Charles was his snitch, keeping him informed about other inmates.
In the 1950s, the suspect murdered and dismembered an 8-year-old Michigan boy. He served 20 years in prison for the crime. After his release, he and his family moved to Florida, where he was hired as a guard at the Brevard Correctional Institution; the prison housed mostly teenagers. While working there, five local boys disappeared. He is also considered a suspect in the disappearances of Keith Fleming, and Kipling Hess. Neither of these boys have been found.
The guard was convicted in the 1987 murder of 14-year-old Randy Ray Laufer. In 2005, he was sentenced to life in prison. He died in prison later that year.
Charles' is presumed murdered. The guard was not charged in his murder but remains the main suspect.
Agency Name: Brevard County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: Agent Don Reynolds
Agency Phone Number: 321-633-8419
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 79-46243
NamUs Case Number: 54247
NamUs
Florida Today Cocoa, FL - Dec. 13, 1979
Detroit Free Press - Nov. 29, 2004
Added: 2007; Last Updated: 4/9/22 - By: Doe-NamUs-App
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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