Ronald Lee Gilbert

Gilbert, circa 1984

  • Missing Since 09/18/1984
  • Missing From Terre Haute, Indiana
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Male
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 05/05/1956 (67)
  • Age 28 years old
  • Height and Weight 6'1 - 6'3, 225 pounds
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, green eyes.

Details of Disappearance

Gilbert disappeared with Gary Lansaw from Terre Haute, Indiana on September 18, 1984. The two men left town that day, supposedly en route to Paris, Illinois. They were planning to collect a debt from Jerome E. Board. He owed Lansaw, a drug dealer, $2,800 for drugs. The men never returned to Terre Haute and neither of them has ever been heard from again.

In 2000, Jerome and his brother Herbert Board Jr. were tried for Gilbert and Lansaw's murders. Prosecutors alleged that the brothers and Dale Peterson decided to shoot the men to death on their father's property rather than pay back the money. Jerome's ex-wife, Debra Broad, testified for the prosecution, stating that when Jerry brought them to the property in Paris, Herbert and Peterson were lying in wait to shoot them. Afterwards they dismembered the bodies and burned them.

By the time the Board brothers were charged, Peterson had taken his own life. Debra did not give her statement about the murder until the police contacted her in 1999, and she was granted immunity from prosecution for her role in the alleged murders. There was no physical evidence to support the story. The Board brothers were acquitted of all charges in December 2000.

Gilbert's daughter is still alive and hopes to find her father's remains. Foul play is suspected in Lansaw and Gilbert's cases due to the circumstances involved.

Investigating Agency

  • Vigo County Sheriff's Office 812-232-3801

Updated 1 time since October 12, 2004. Last updated September 20, 2019; casefile added.