Bob Hatcher
Robert Scott Hatcher
38 YOA
Iowa Riverfront Trail
Beneath Interstate 480 Bridge
Council Bluffs, IA
Pottawattamie County
March 8, 2007
On March 8, 2007, Robert Scott Hatcher, 38, was shot seven times near Playland Park in Council Bluffs, Iowa, as he stood on the Iowa Riverfront Trail beneath the Interstate 480 Bridge on the city’s western edge.
In November 2008, stepbrothers Jimmy Joe Caballero, 22, and Derek Gaston, 25, were arrested in connection with Hatcher’s death and charged with first-degree murder, but the charges were dropped by February 2009.
According to a March 13, 2011 article published in the Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil by Chad Nation — who has written extensively about this case:
Informants had told investigators a number of stories about the two men, but little physical evidence existed.
At the time of the dismissals, an assistant Pottawattamie County attorney said the state needed more time to investigate the case further to make sure the charges were against the right person.
There was evidence that needed further evaluation before the case proceeded, and additional witnesses were also being sought.
Nothing else has ever been filed.
Family members told the Nonpareil that Robert was walking back from a job fair, and the paper said documents indicated Hatcher was there to meet two men about a money issue.
The Nonpareil also stated:
Court documents indicated that sources told authorities the murder weapon was thrown in the Missouri River. So while the case is not closed, it is not considered active either.
On the four year anniversary of Hatcher’s death, his family held a memorial in his honor and released balloons.
When the five year anniversary arrived, Hatcher’s parents, Bill and Marjorie Hatcher, told KETV Channel 7 in Omaha they’d nearly run out of hope. They hoped that by telling their story, someone would come forward and provide a clue to what happened to their son.
“Bob was always the one that called me all the time, so I miss all of his phone call,” Marjorie Hatcher told KETV. “It just feels like there’s a big hole in your heart.”
Mrs. Hatcher described her son as a shy man who would help anyone, and said it had to be someone with a mean reason for having shot [Bob] that many times.
The couple memorialized their son by planting an evergreen tree in front of their Treynor home.
Bill Hatcher told KETV they are frustrated that justice hasn’t yet come for their son. “It seems like it’s going to end up being a cold case,” he said.
“We thought maybe if somebody saw it again, somebody would remember something,” his wife added.
The couple acknowledged nothing would bring back their son, but believe someone knows who killed him and why.
“It would give us some closure and maybe we’d find out why,” Hatcher’s mother told Channel 7 News.
Robert Scott Hatcher was born March 21, 1968, in Council Bluffs to William C. and Marjorie Ann Hatcher.
If you have any information you think might help solve this crime, please contact the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office at 712-890-2200.
KETV Channel 7 Omaha: Interview with Bill and Marjorie Hatcher
January 27, 2012
Do you have any photos of Robert or favorite stories about him you’d like to see included on this page? We will be more than happy to provide proper attribution for any photos submitted. You may send information or photos to us via our Contact form. Thank you in advance.
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Robert (Bob) Hatcher was our son. We just saw this website and are wondering what you do other than write about the person. Do you do any investigating? I can send a picture of Bob. But would like to find out more about this website first. He was a loving person who would do anything for anyone he just wanted to be loved as much as he loved everyone else. We miss him a lot and wish that the people responsible for murdering him would be caught.
Thanks and would love to have you contact me at my email address and give me more information about this website.
Marjorie A. Hatcher