Arrest Made in Missing Lakeland Pilot Case

ORLANDO, FL—This afternoon, Stobert Lindell Holt, Jr, age 42, was arrested by law enforcement authorities in Orlando, Florida without incident. Holt was indicted by a state grand jury on December 16, 2009 on first degree murder, kidnapping, extortion, and for written threats to kill or do bodily harm. The charges are related to the Robert A. Wiles kidnapping investigation, which was initiated in 2008. Wiles, age 26 at the time of his disappearance, was last seen at his place of employment, National Flight Services (NFS), Lakeland Linder Regional Airport, 3480 Airfield Drive West, Lakeland, Florida.

Holt was previously employed as the Lakeland NFS operations manager and resided in Apollo Beach, Florida, at the time of Wiles’ disappearance.

On April 1, 2008, Robert Wiles reported to work at his family’s Lakeland aircraft maintenance business, NFS. However, he vanished that day with no explanation.

On April 3, 2008, the Wiles family discovered a ransom demand pertaining to Robert Wiles’ disappearance. Subsequently, a joint law enforcement investigation was initiated by the Lakeland Police Department, Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the FBI.

Investigative leads were pursued in Lakeland, Tampa, Orlando, Brevard, Sarasota, Fort Myers, Miami, Key West, and Melbourne, Florida.The case also pointed investigators to Lexington, Kentucky; Toledo, Ohio; five cities in Tennessee—Knoxville, Chattanooga, Manchester, Murfreesboro, Nashville; to Canada, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Venezuela, and Thailand.

This investigation is ongoing and criminal prosecution of this matter will be addressed by the Office of the State Attorney – 10th Judicial Circuit, Polk County, Florida.

The investigative efforts of the following agencies were also instrumental in this case:

• Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
• Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office
• Orlando Police Department
• Orange County Sheriff’s Office
• Marion County Sheriff’s Office
• Osceola County Sheriff’s Office
• Miami-Dade Police Department
• United States Attorney’s Office – Middle District of Florida
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
• Interpol
• United States Diplomatic Security

As in any criminal case, a person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.The indictment filed merely contains allegations of criminal conduct.