Philbert Leo Shorty

• Missing Since 01/28/2021
• Missing From Fort Defiance, Arizona
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race Native American
• Age 44 years old
• Height and Weight 5'8 - 6'0, 150 - 180 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A black Carhartt jacket, light blue pants, brown steel-toed size 9 1/2 Justin James boots, and a white/beige cap with red print. Carrying a plain black trifold wallet.
• Associated Vehicle(s) Blue 2005 PT Cruiser with the Arizona license plate number CLH0702 (accounted for)
• Distinguishing Characteristics Native American male. Black hair, brown eyes. Shorty is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. He has a bump on his left elbow, a 2 1/2 scar on the right side of his neck, tattoos on his arms, and a tattoo of feathers and the word "DINE" on the left side of his neck. He had a goatee and a light mustache at the time of his disappearance.

Details of Disappearance

Shorty was last seen leaving his aunt's Fort Defiance, Arizona residence between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. on January 28, 2021. He told her he was going to Navajo, New Mexico and then possibly to Tsaile, Arizona. He has never been heard from again.

On January 31, his blue 2005 PT Cruiser with the Arizona license plate number CLH0702 was found abandoned and stuck in the mud along Navajo Route 12 at milepost 75 outside of Tsaile. There was no sign of Shorty at the scene. His vehicle was toed.

In 2023, authorities finalized a plea deal with Shiloh Aaron Oldrock in Shorty's presumed death. Oldrock admitted he and his uncle, Erwin Beach, had killed Shorty in an argument on January 29, the day after he was last seen, and dismembered and burned his body. Months later, Oldrock killed and decapitated Beach also; he said he thought Beach had killed his grandmother and was afraid he was going to kill him, Oldrock, as well.

Oldrock pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Beach's death and voluntary manslaughter in Shorty's death, and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Shorty's body has never been found, but foul play is suspected due to the circumstances involved.