Robert Nichols 
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|---|---|
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| Name | Robert Ivan Nichols |
| Sex | Male |
| Found | July 30, 2002 |
| Location | Eastlake, Ohio |
| Missing from | Napa, California |
| Identified | June 2018 |
| Span | 15 years |
| Age | 75 |
| Cause of death | Gunshot (suicide) |
Robert Ivan Nichols, previously known as Joseph Newton Chandler III, was an identity thief who later committed suicide in Ohio. It it believed that the subject had been a "violent criminal" who was eluding police since he stole a deceased child's identity in 1976.
Case
Nichols shot himself in the mouth approximately a week before his body was discovered. It was discovered the identity he used had been stolen sometime in 1976 and the actual Joseph Newton Chandler III had died in 1945 at the age of 9. It is theorized he may have been a violent fugitive. Police are currently investigating a possible connection to the unsolved 1989 murder of Amy Mihaljevic.
The man's body was cremated and his fingerprint records were lost. Tissue samples from a surgery in 2000 were used to obtain his DNA.
In 2016 some evidences were found that the man's real last name may have been Nicholas or Nichols. In June 2018, with the help of the DNA Doe Project, he was officially identified.
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