DATE OF LAST CONTACT: 27th October 1992
MISSING FROM: Manhattan, New York City
DATE OF BIRTH: 8th January 1970
AGE AT DISAPPEARANCE: 22
HEIGHT: 5’6
WEIGHT: 145 lbs
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS: White male. Brown hair. Brown eyes. He has a scar under his right eye and another above his left eye. He has a pierced left ear. His front tooth is bonded. Robert was last seen wearing black sweatpants, a blue or black jacket and white Reebok tennis shoes. He also uses the aliases “Chris Lavae” and “Rob Lavae”.
INVESTIGATING AGENCY: Yonkers Police Department
BASIC CASE FACTS
- On Tuesday 27th October Robert Freilich drove his car to Manhattan, parked in front of the Paramount Hotel and was never seen again.
- The next morning his car was impounded for parking infringements.
- Investigations revealed that Robert was involved in the dangerous underworld of pornography and rumours abounded about his involvement in a snuff film, however there were other indications that Robert may have disappeared voluntarily.
Robert Freilich let a double life. He was involved in the world of porn and had contacts with figures described as “Underground” yet he was also training to be a cop! Robert was living the high life – flashing his cash and his numerous expensive possessions – yet he still lived in his parent’s basement. After Robert vanished from a popular and fashionable Manhattan hotel, police uncovered information that led them to believe that Robert had been murdered, yet a private investigator hired by his family found no evidence of foul play but instead discovered the possibility that he had disappeared to start a new life. Was Robert in over his head and murdered as a result, or did he simply choose to leave his life behind?
I would like to express my gratitude to the members of the Facebook Group Gay New York 1970s and 80s who have, as always, given me valuable information and insights into what was happening in New York at the time. Thank you for your patience and help with this!
ROBERT’S LIFE
Rob Freilich was born on the 8th January 1970 but not much is known about his early life. Rob was adopted by Carl and Judith Freilich but it isn’t known if he was adopted as a baby or when he was older, nor whether he knew who his biological parents were. Rob grew up with the Freilichs at their home at 45 Canfield Avenue in a middle class area of Yonkers, New York, where Rob had the basement room to himself. Rob attended Roosevelt High School, where he played on the Lacrosse team but he dropped out in his junior year in 1987.
After leaving school, Rob enrolled in The Center for Continuing Education in Yonkers between May 1987 and March 1988 as a drop-in student where he received his High School Equivalency.
DUAL LIFE
“He was money hungry”.
“He loved a dollar. That was his God”
In order to understand Rob we need to understand what drove him and the two statements above by his mother and a private detective sum him up :- Rob hungered after money and the lifestyle that came with it.
Rob was a contradiction who was leading a dual life. At the time he disappeared Rob was training to be a police officer and yet he was also involved in a dark underworld. Rob was a male escort and investigators found that he was involved in a dangerous underground world of pornography. His dad says “he earned as much as $3000 a night working his underground jobs. He would do anything for money”.
Rob’s parents were aware of his nefarious activities and describe how money appeared not to be a problem for him. He bought himself expensive sports cars, the latest stereo equipment, watersports gear, a king-size waterbed and even had a six-seater jacuzzi installed in his basement room. Rob was living his life to the full and seemed to be thriving in the escort business and in 1991 he got his first taste in the adult movie business when he starred in “Transsexual Troubles”; an adult movie directed by famed porn producer, Gino Colbert. Rob starred under his alias of “Chris Lavae”.
We have to consider at what cost Rob’s successful life came. The private investigator hired by his family says that he was “in a very dangerous world, playing a dangerous game. He’s dealing with deviants doing anything for sex and money”. Did Rob’s hunger for money lead him into danger?
There is a question mark over Rob’s sexuality. His role as a male escort and appearance in an adult movie with specific gay and transgender themes leads to speculation that he may have been gay however, someone who was acquainted with Rob says that they remember him having girlfriends and possibly even a fiancee.
DISAPPEARANCE
Tuesday 27th October 1992 was a cool, crisp night when Rob drove his 1987 model Corvette into Manhattan and parked outside the Paramount Hotel on West 46th Street and went inside. He was apparently wearing a dark jacket, white Reebok sneakers and black sweatpants that night, however it has been pointed out to me that this attire was singularly inappropriate for the hotel and the likelihood is that rather than sweatpants, he was actually wearing track pants – which were extremely popular and fashionable at the time.
Once inside The Paramount Hotel Rob made his way to The Whiskey Bar – the hotel’s in-house bar – and then he vanished without a trace.
Opened the previous year, The Whiskey Bar quickly became the “in” place to be. It was cozy and intimate with specially designed couches and booths and there was always the chance to see a celebrity such as Calvin Klein or Rupert Murdoch who were frequent visitors. Bear in mind that it was a Tuesday night, so the bar was probably not full that night.
After speaking to people who were at the bar that night the police established that Rob had last been seen at about 11pm but after that time he was never seen again. Rob’s corvette, which had received several parking violations, was impounded and towed early the next morning from outside the hotel where Rob had left it.
INVESTIGATION
After Rob was reported missing the first thing police did was locate his car, which is when they discovered it had been towed from the street outside the hotel. Although they processed the car, no evidence of what happened to him was found.
After speaking to relatives, friends and people at the bar police developed an idea of Rob’s lifestyle and spoke to people in the underground porn industry who informed them that Rob had been murdered performing in a snuff film. “Word is that he performed in a snuff film and was killed”, said Detective Pellegrino of the Yonkers police, “I actually think that the rumours about the snuff film might be true”. But not everyone believed this rumour.
Rob’s parents hired a well-known private detective; Irwin Blye. He came to a different conclusion to the police. After speaking to Rob’s friends and associates he concluded that there was absolutely no evidence that Rob was murdered: “There is nothing to indicate foul-play”, he told a reporter in 2002.
Irwin Blye told the same reporter “He just folded the tent and was gone. He could be dead, but I don’t think he’s dead”. Apart from the lack of evidence of foul play, Blye pointed to the fact that Rob’s mother had been receiving a lot of hang-up calls and, what he considered most damning of all, a book that he discovered on Rob’s bedside – a ‘How to’ book about changing your identity and starting a new life. Blye believes Rob was burdened by his dual life and just decided to vanish. It is interesting how law enforcement and the private investigator came to such different conclusions.
SNUFF FILM
Detectives who spoke to what they call “people in the underground pornographic industry” were told that Rob had been murdered in a ‘snuff film’. For those who don’t know, a snuff film is a specific type of adult movie where the actor is murdered on-screen. The actor would be offered a huge amount of money to perform very kinky scenes and at the end of the final scene they would be murdered. They of course have no idea that this will happen and the big money never needs to be paid out to them.
Let me clear – there is absolutely zero evidence that snuff films are a real thing. Despite being a persistent and popular myth since the 1960s, no one has ever managed to prove that such films exist. I did some of my own digging and delved into some dark areas – but I found nothing to suggest that snuff films are anything more than a myth. So, unless the Yonkers Police Department know something the rest of the world don’t, then I am surprised that they are going with this theory. And of course, you have to wonder why people in the pornographic world told the detectives this information in the first place – I just find it difficult to imagine that it was common knowledge known to so many people. I have my doubts about this story being accurate.
THE CAR AND THE WHISKEY BAR
There are a couple of further things to consider in this case that stand out to me. The first is Rob’s car. It was an expensive sports car that Rob seemingly parked right outside the hotel. There were, and still are, parking restrictions on this street; in fact no cars at all were permitted to park – only commercial vehicles were allowed. Rob will have been aware of this fact from the many signposts informing people, and yet he still chose to park his expensive car there where he risked being ticketed and the car being impounded. For someone training to be a cop, it seems an unusual decision.
It almost seems like Rob only planned to be at the bar for a brief period of time before driving away again, and yet he never did so. I also considered that maybe Rob didn’t drive the car there himself and someone else abandoned it, but Rob was seen in the bar so we know that it was he who parked it there. The only reasonable explanation is that Rob, willingly or not, left with someone else and decided to leave in their vehicle. No one remembers a struggle or fight that night so it means that Rob likely chose to leave with someone else and willingly abandoned his car – despite the likelihood that it would be towed. Perhaps he thought he would be back soon? Or perhaps he never planned to return at all?
Despite the Whiskey Bar being the new trendy place to be, I have been reliably informed by people who regularly visited the bar at the time that there was a seedier side too. It seems that it was a well-known fact that male sex workers were plying their trade there. I have been told that male dancers from The Gaiety Theatre (a male strip club) would come to The Whiskey Bar after the show at the theatre and engage in escort work there. If this was happening then it seems reasonable to assume that Rob was using the bar in the same way – to meet or pick up clients.
So with this in mind, it seems possible that Rob met someone that night who he left with. Either it was a prearranged meeting, or it was someone that he met for the first time that night and he left with that person. I did consider whether the hotel itself was being used and sex-workers were renting a room for a night with a client/hook-up and Rob was murdered in the hotel and that is why his car remained there but I cannot imagine that you would be able to remove a dead body from a hotel without being seen so I abandoned this idea.
WHAT HAPPENED TO ROB?
There are three possibilities to explore:
FOUL PLAY
The police believe that Rob was murdered. After having spoken to people in the underground porn world they have come to the conclusion that Rob was murdered as part of a snuff film. I personally do not buy the snuff film angle, but I do think there is a chance that Rob was murdered. He was apparently associating with dangerous people and earning a lot of money. Money and sex are the two main motives for murder and Rob was right in the middle of both of them!
We are told by his parents and those who knew him that money was the driving force in Rob’s life. I think there is a strong possibility that his desire for more money made him willing to get involved in something dangerous – something which eventually cost him his life.
But I also think it is just as likely that his escort/sex work brought him into contact with the wrong person that night. It seems highly probable that Rob went to that hotel to meet a potential client, someone who he left with, and that this person did him harm.
VOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCE
There a few factors which point to this as being what happened, and it is what the Private Investigator believes. Rob was leading a double life and although there were no outward signs of problems, he must have been burdened. Rob was training to be a cop, yet at the same time was a porn star and gay sex worker – those two things are very much at odds!
Add to this the self-help book on how to change your identity found in his room and the mysterious hang up calls his mom received after his disappearance and there is definitely reason to believe that Rob simply chose to leave and start again somewhere where no one knew him. Against this theory is the fact that Rob left all his beloved possessions behind and apparently didn’t take his money with him – for a man whom we are told is wholly driven by the dollar, this seems odd.
Although people in the porn industry told police that Rob had been murdered in a snuff film, I do wonder if this was simply a cover story by them to keep Rob’s location and identity hidden. I wonder if Rob used his underground contacts to assist him in starting a new life, and perhaps wherever he went he continued to act in adult movies, something in which he was having some success.
TRANSITIONED
Two seperate people have suggested to me that Rob may have left because he wanted a sex-change and has since successfully transitioned into a woman. In fact one person told me that they had heard that Rob fully transitioned and now lives happily in Mexico City. Although there is no direct evidence for this, there is a hint in the fact that he was acting in transgender pornography, so perhaps there is some truth in the rumour – maybe Rob is living happily in Mexico! What speaks against this for me is the fact that he felt he needed to vanish and not tell his parents. Carl and Judy Freilich knew all about Rob’s escort and pornographic work and didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. I have to believe that this apparently liberal-minded couple would have supported their adopted son in whatever choice he made. Whether Rob realised this or not is the question.
I would very much like to believe that Rob is out there somewhere successful and happy and with a very full bank account and maybe he did choose to start a new life. But I think there is a very good chance that he met with foul play on that cool October night and his body is still waiting to be found.
…ONE MORE THING
While researching Rob I decided to do a facial recognition search to see if he might still be out there. The search returned three results: two were his photo from missing person sites. But the third was a blurred image of a man masturbating on camera! I was unable to follow the link to the source of the image and have not been able to locate it online. The image appears to have been taken by a webcam which places it after 1992. It is a male wearing a tan-coloured top, sitting on a chair and wearing no pants. Although I would normally dismiss this, the fact that it aligned so closely with Rob’s escort and porn work makes me wonder if it is indeed Rob and if he is out there somewhere.
Although I have taken a snippet of this image, I am not sharing it here. If someone wishes to see it in hopes of identifying the person or source of the image please feel free to reach out and ask (please note, it is very blurry).
Below is the Missing person flier created by the wonderful Locks of Reunification missing persons advocacy group. Please follow the link to their Facebook page to see the other wonderful work they do. Please feel free to share this flier.
SOURCES
The Reporter Dispatcher, 16th December 1992
Yonkers Public Library
Roosevelt High School 1987 Yearbook
IMBD entry for Transsexual Troubles
Never Seen Again 