Man Reported Missing, Before Son Shows Up at Sheriff’s Office with Dead Body In Car

Richard Fluegel Sr., 60, was reported missing by his family on Sunday, December 8 to the Irondequoit Police Department, after the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office says he “hadn’t returned home as expected.”

He also failed to show up for a flight early the following morning.

On December 9, police reached out to the sheriff for assistance, after Fluegel Sr.’s vehicle was found in a parking lot in Dansville. While authorities investigated the disappearance, around 11:30pm that evening, Livingston County Emergency Communications Center allegedly received a call saying a man was in the Sheriff’s parking lot “and wanted to turn in a dead body.”

Deputies responded to the scene and met with Richard Fluegel Jr., 30, the missing man’s son. After a search warrant was obtained for the vehicle, authorities say Fluegel Sr. was found inside with “apparent gunshot wounds.”

“That’s very abnormal, as you can imagine,” Sheriff Thomas Dougherty told WHAM. “I have never heard of that in my career here. I don’t think a lot of law enforcement agencies have people doing that. It’s a very unique situation where someone calls and says ‘Yeah, I’m here and I want to turn in a body.'”

Dougherty also said the homicide scene is believed to be in Ossian, where Fluegel Jr. is trying to start “some kind of marijuana growth operation” through the state.

Citing the felony complaint, WHAM reports Fluegel Jr. is accused of using a 12-gauge shotgun to shoot his father twice. The weapon was recovered, while the son is also accused of wrapping his father’s body in a tarp and concealing it in his 2018 Audi.

As for who called authorities, it wasn’t Fluegel Jr. — but his attorney, who Dougherty said showed up to the same parking lot in a separate car. The attorney told WHAM he received a call from his client on Monday night, saying he needed legal counsel and had a body in his vehicle.

Fluegel Jr. was arrested on December 10 and charged with murder in the second degree, felony criminal use of a firearm in the first degree and tampering with physical evidence, all felonies. He pleaded not guilty earlier this week and is being held without bail.

He’s due back in court Monday, December 16 for a preliminary hearing.