Barry James Schmalbach

• Missing Since 07/19/2023
• Missing From Cape Coral, Florida
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Date of Birth 10/15/1966 (58)
• Age 56 years old
• Height and Weight 6'0 - 6'3, 200 - 220 pounds
• Medical Conditions Schmalbach has a serious heart condition and had previously suffered a heart attack requiring a 27-day hospital stay. He regularly takes prescription medication for his heart.
• Associated Vehicle(s) Jeep (accounted for)
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Blond hair, blue eyes.

Details of Disappearance

Schmalbach was last seen leaving Cruisers Bar in Cape Coral, Florida at 11:00 p.m. on July 19, 2023. That night he got into an argument with his live-in boyfriend of four months, Christopher Gregory Davis and had walked out of the bar while Davis chased after him. He has never been heard from again. A photo of Davis is posted with this case summary

The same night Schmalbach was last seen at Crusiers, he had left a voice mail for a friend, Miguel Angel Blanco, sounding very upset, and said, "I need to get rid of this idiot because I can't take this anymore." Blanco interpreted this as a request to help Schmalbach break up with Davis and kick him out of the apartment. He tried to call him back, but didn't get an answer.

On July 20, Davis texted Blanco's husband, Tom Wilson, screenshots of a supposed text conversation between himself and Schmalbach, during which Schmalbach said he was fine and was staying with friends because he needed some space. Wilson and Blanco do not believe the text conversation was authentic.

On July 21, Wilson and Blanco went to Schmalbach's apartment and let themselves in when no one answered the door; they had previously been given a key. The apartment was very messy with personal belongings scattered and mud tracked everywhere, and all the lights were on, which was uncharacteristic of Schmalbach's behavior.

At 1:21 p.m. on July 22, Davis called the Cape Coral police to report Schmalbach missing. He said Schmalbach had "ghosted" him three or four times before and he was in the "middle stages of worried" about his disappearance. He stated Schmalbach had left his smart watch behind and when Davis turned it on he found a text about having dinner with someone on the night of July 21. He told police, "I think that things might be taking like different kind of shape."

Police officers went to their home in response to the call, but the missing persons report wasn't completed, because when Davis greeted the officers at the door he told them he had just taken medication, was very sleepy and was "in no condition to speak with anyone". He also said the police should look for Schmalbach on dating websites which he said Schmalbach used to interact with other men. He asked them to return the next day so he could help them finish filling out the report.

At 8:21 p.m. that same day, Blanco also called the police department to report Schmalbach's disappearance, and this time a report was completed. When the authorities later asked Davis about the text conversation where Schmalbach supposedly said he needed space, Davis said they had an "open relationship."

Davis told the police he saw Schmalbach near their home in the 1800 block of Beach Parkway East on the morning of July 20, getting into a car he didn't recognize, possibly an Uber. Authorities were later able to determine this story was false.

Schmalbach's Jeep wasn't in the apartment parking lot when his friends came there on July 21. By the next day it had reappeared. The sides of the Jeep were mud-stained, there was a lot of sand in the back, and the doors were unlocked, all of which is not how Schmalbach normally kept his car. He is described as a neat person who usually kept his vehicle clean and his apartment tidy. It's also uncharacteristic of Schmalbach to go more than a day without speaking to his family; he was in constant contact with them.

Between July 21 and July 23, Davis purchased a pickax, a shovel, a fireproof safe, a deadbolt lock and a swing bar guard lock. He later disposed of the pickax and shovel, which he had said he needed to remove tree roots. Five days after Schmalbach went missing, when the police were interviewing Davis, they noted he had fresh injuries including cuts and scratches on his hands, forearms, ankles and shin.

Police learned Davis had given them a false date of birth for himself when the officers visited his apartment after he called them about Schmalbach's disappearance, and also that he had active arrest warrants out of South Carolina and Georgia. On August 3 he was arrested on a 2018 probation violation warrant out of South Carolina, and later that month he was extradited to South Carolina to serve a five-year sentence.

The authorities had cadaver-sniffing dogs check Schmalbach's Jeep, and the dogs indicated the scent of human decomposition. The Jeep had pinged multiple times in Hendry County, Florida after Schmalbach went missing, and during that time period Davis had rented an Airbnb in Clewiston in Hendry County under his brother's name and paid for it for his brother's credit card. The owner of the property said after Davis checked out of the Airbnb, they found an unusual amount of sand and debris inside it.

One neighbor who lived below the couple's apartment said the night Schmalbach disappeared she heard sounds like someone getting "tossed around" the couple's bedroom, as well as the sounds of a muffled voice yelling "No" and crying. She assumed Davis and Schmalbach were having an altercation but didn't intervene or call the police. Another neighbor who also lived below the couple said two days after Schmalbach disappeared, he was awakened at 4:00 a.m. by noises like a tarp was being dragged. He went outside and saw Davis dragging something on the ground, and shortly after that he heard the sound of a car driving away.

In January 2024, authorities announced they were charging Davis with Schmalbach's murder, even though the missing man's remains had not been located. In June, Davis was extradited back to Florida to face charges of second-degree murder, evidence tampering and fraudulent use of personal identification of a deceased individual. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.

Foul play is suspected in Schmalbach's case due to the circumstances involved.