An only child, Eugene “Gene” Francis Fish, was born in Upstate New York to his parents, Bill and Agnes. He graduated from Siena College and went on to have a successful career, first as an Air Force pilot and then as a Federal Agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
On February 18, 1997, Gene and his girlfriend of 4 years, Lynn tied the knot in Las Vegas. In January 2003, he retired and the couple purchased a home on South T-Bar Ranch, a gated community in rural Cañon City, Colorado. Soon, they began construction of a second home on their 35-acre property.
Less than a year later, Gene suddenly fell off the face of the earth.
A Retired Federal Agent Goes Missing
On June 20, 2004, Gene called Bill to wish him a happy Father’s Day. Sadly, it would be the last conversation the father-son duo would ever have.
On June 29, Lynn made a disturbing call to her in-laws, birthing a mystery spanning nearly two decades. She claimed an enraged Gene smashed his computer to bits, sliced up his credit cards, and took off in his red 2000 Ford F-150 pick-up truck following a heated argument on June 21.
Lynn claimed that the truck reappeared inside their rural gated community two days later with no sign of Gene but it would have taken two people just to drop it off — one to drive the truck there and another to pick the driver up.
Lynn told Bill that his son was unhappy with his retirement and angry over construction costs. She said the 54-year-old told her he “knew how to disappear” and that he was going to Mexico or South America to “get away.”
After speaking with Lynn, Bill contacted Gene’s college friend, New York Police Officer Chuck DeLuca, and shared his concerns regarding her story.
Acting oblivious, Chuck called Lynn and asked to speak with Gene. She said he couldn’t come to the phone because they were working on a rock wall. She also told Chuck that Gene wouldn’t be able to join him in a golf tournament the pair had planned to attend together because he was going to Mexico.
On September 1, 2004, Chuck reported Gene missing.
A Brief Timeline: 2004 and Onwards
June 20, 2004: Gene called his father to wish him a happy Father’s Day. Gene complained about the cost of construction work and some computer problems he was having. He made plans to visit his parents the following month.
June 21, 2004: Bill received an email from Gene. The contents haven’t been disclosed and it’s unclear whether it was Gene who actually wrote it.
June 28, 2004: Lynn transferred $42,000 from two joint bank accounts into an account solely in her name and used it to pay off her credit card debt.
June 29, 2004: Lynn told her in-laws that Gene took off.
July 21, 2004: Lynn filed for divorce. A judge granted her conservatorship of Gene’s estate which included a $500,000 inheritance, land, investments, a truck, and a tractor. She continues to receive his $4,700 monthly pension.
July 26, 2004: Lynn had a new mattress delivered to the home. The delivery men told investigators they never hauled off an old mattress.
July 27, 2004: Chuck DeLuca spoke to Lynn on the phone. He said she appeared to be nervous and was “out of breath.”
September 1, 2004: Chuck DeLuca reported Gene missing.
September 2, 2004: Authorities paid a visit to the Fish home. They spoke with Lynn but were not allowed to conduct a search without a warrant.
September 7, 2004: Lynn agreed to take a polygraph test. Two days later, she hired an Attorney who sent investigators a letter ordering them to cease all contact.
2005: Bill and Agnes Fish hired a PI to find out what really happened to their missing son. They spent nearly $100,000 on the investigation.
May 2007: Bill filed a wrongful death suit against Lynn and construction worker, Johnnie Ray Florez, alleging they killed Gene.
May 19, 2007: Bill passed away at the age of 89. He suffered from cancer and Parkinson’s disease. The wrongful death suit was dismissed due to his death.
October 8, 2009: Agnes passed away. She suffered from Dementia.
December 2011: Lynn sold the home on South T-Bar Ranch for $249,000.
The Search Warrant: Blood Was Found on the Wall
A search warrant was not retained and/or executed until two years after Gene’s disappearance — long enough for any evidence to be destroyed.
Among the evidence seized from the Fish home was a metal box containing Gene’s birth certificate, and passport along with letters and money.
Investigators also seized a computer tower, an envelope containing a disk, a Wiccan databook, Lynn’s Will, 4 knives, a computer, Gene’s bank statements, and 3 blood samples all found on a rock wall.
Authorities have not revealed to who the blood belongs.
After Gene Disappeared, Lynn’s Story Kept Changing
- When Gene’s truck reappeared, Lynn told authorities the key was in the ignition. During a police interview on June 16, 2005, she stated there were no keys found with the vehicle at all and that she had to use a spare key.
- Lynn told Gene’s father, Bill, that the truck’s CB radio was found completely obliterated. She later told investigators it never had a CB radio, to begin with, despite the fact it had an exterior CB antenna.
- Lynn originally claimed Gene took $8,500 with him when he left. This amount later changed to $20,000. The date he left also changed from June 20 to June 26 to June 27.
- Lynn told neighbors Gene went back to New York. She told Chuck he went to Mexico. She told others he went to “start fresh somewhere else.”
- In 2003, Lynn told her father-in-law that Gene hit her in the face, knocked out her teeth, and threw her across a table. During her deposition in the conservatorship proceedings, Lynn testified Gene had “never struck” her.
- Lynn told investigators that Gene and his father argued during their last phone call on June 20, 2004. Bill contests this claim.
- Investigators found several guns and rifles in the barn. Gene was an avid hunter. Despite this, Lynn claimed she had no knowledge of his firearms. She said she was “too scared” to touch a gun but Bill recalled a conversation he had with Gene shortly before they moved to Cañon City. Gene told him he bought Lynn a gun and even taught her how to use it.
- When investigators visited Lynn’s property in 2005, they found two recently landscaped areas covered with rocks and gravel, large enough to be burial plots. Lynn said she had buried two dogs. Her vet confirmed that although one of her dogs had died in 2004, it had been cremated.
- Lynn resisted efforts to search her property. She refused to provide a blood sample and quickly hired an attorney. Despite this, she sent a letter to the Gazette in 2007 claiming she had been 100% cooperative writing, “Almost three years later and there is still no evidence to support any of his (Bill’s) claims. I also have rights. There was no foul play, just a husband who has serious issues and left, and authorities know this well enough by now.”
Friends Say Gene Was in a Troubled Marriage
By all accounts, Gene was something of a ladies’ man. He had relationships with various women, never settled down for long, and wasn’t particularly keen on marriage. Knowing this, close friend and ex-girlfriend, Dr. Faith Leibman was surprised when she received a call from Gene in the late 90s; he was now married and unhappy about the state of his relationship.
Dr. Faith Leibman wasn’t the only one Gene confided in.
Another ex-girlfriend, Joyce Shirley, claimed Gene called her in 98′ and vented about his marriage, stating he had made a mistake. When she asked Gene whether he had already begun cheating, he said yes.
Gene was incredibly close with his parents and he called them every Sunday. He commuted 8 hours just to see them for the weekend while stationed in Philadelphia and he continued to visit even after he moved to Cañon City. Though he hated the East Coast, he stayed to be near his mother.
In April of 2004, Gene traveled alone to New York to visit his parents for an entire month. When college friend, Larry Durkin asked Gene why he was visiting for a month rather than his usual weekend trip, Gene said he was having marital problems with Lynn, “Wherever I go, she’s calling me every 10 minutes to find out where I am. It’s been going on for a while.”
In an email to me, Dr. Faith Leibman shared her belief that Gene was blackmailed, perhaps even into marriage, and mu*rdered. She believes Lynn threatened to expose the fact Gene had secretly fathered two illegitimate children, one being the child of a woman who was in a relationship with a close friend of his at the time, when he brought up divorce.
After Gene vanished, Lynn, herself stated she had found evidence of “3 to 4 illegitimate children” and in an email to me, Dr. Faith Leibman confirmed Gene did indeed have two children. Today, they would be in their fifties.
The Wrongful Death Suit
Workers who were hired to construct Gene and Lynn’s new property claimed Gene often refused to pay, engaged in petty arguments, and threatened them. Some accounts call Gene arrogant and racially intolerant of Hispanics.
One of the construction workers was Johnnie Ray Florez. Witnesses later reported they heard Johnnie say he could “bury a body with a backhoe and no one would ever find it.”
In 2007, Bill filed a wrongful death suit against Lynn and Johnnie, alleging she hired him to help her k*ill Gene and dispose of his body using a tractor. By this time, Johnnie was incarcerated in North Carolina on unrelated charges. The suit was ultimately dismissed.
If You Know Something, Say Something
While much of this is speculation and circumstantial evidence, Lynn’s behavior following Gene’s disappearance didn’t seem to be that of a concerned wife and she has since contradicted her own statements.
While it’s certainly possible Gene left voluntarily, he never accessed his bank account, his passport has never been used and his cell phone was left behind. It seems unlikely Gene would have abandoned everything just a day after making plans to visit his ailing parents who he loved so dearly.
Did construction costs and an unhappy marriage really lead Eugene Francis to disappear and “start fresh” or is something much darker at play?
At the time<em> of his disappearance, Gene was 5’11” ‘nd”190lbs with blonde hair and blue eyes. One of the fingers on his left hand is crippled. If you have any information, contact Fremont County Sheriff’s Of’ice at 719-276-5550.
