Overview

Last seen: July 12, 1964 — North Florida. Modern sources associate the disappearance with Lake Butler/Columbia County; the original 1964 bulletin said Clyatt was last seen between Lake City and High Springs on U.S. 41.

Main circumstances: Clyatt was reportedly traveling or last seen with another man, who later died. Bobby had received a work paycheck on July 11 that was never cashed. A later possible sighting in Levy County was reported but never confirmed. He has never been heard from again. There is no publicly verified evidence establishing that he was murdered.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Bobby Carl Clyatt Disappearance: Florida Man Missing Since July 1964

Bobby Carl Clyatt was only 21 years old when he disappeared in North Florida on July 12, 1964. More than six decades later, there has been no publicly announced resolution to his case, and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance remain largely unexplained.

Clyatt, who may also have gone by his middle name, Carl, was from the Lake Butler area of Union County, Florida. Modern missing-person records classify him as endangered missing.

Bobby Clyatt’s Last Known Movements

Modern case summaries generally list Lake Butler, Florida, as Bobby Clyatt’s missing location. Archived NamUs information reproduced by Websleuths states that he was last seen in Columbia County with another man. The Charley Project similarly reports that he was last seen with another man on July 12, 1964.

An original Florida Sheriffs Bureau notice published in October 1964 provides a more specific geographic description. It reported that Clyatt was last seen on July 12 somewhere between Lake City and High Springs on U.S. Highway 41.

These accounts are not necessarily contradictory. Lake Butler was associated with Clyatt and the investigating sheriff’s office, while his last reported travel may have taken him through Columbia County and along the U.S. 41 corridor toward High Springs.

The Man Who Was With Bobby

One of the most significant details in Clyatt’s disappearance is that he was reportedly with another man around the time he vanished.

Publicly available sources do not identify that man or explain the circumstances of their meeting, destination or relationship. The man subsequently died, apparently eliminating a potentially important firsthand source of information about Clyatt’s final known movements.

There has been no publicly verified evidence establishing that this individual harmed Clyatt. His presence is nevertheless an important unresolved element of the case.

The Uncashed Paycheck

Clyatt was carrying a paycheck from work when he disappeared.

The original 1964 notice stated that he had been given the check on July 11, the day before his disappearance, and that it had not been returned to the bank. Later missing-person summaries similarly state that his final paycheck was never cashed.

That detail is significant because there is no known financial trail showing Clyatt collected the money after disappearing.

He was never heard from again.

Possible Sighting in Levy County

Investigators also received information indicating Clyatt may have been seen in Levy County, Florida, sometime after his disappearance.

That sighting has never been publicly confirmed.

If accurate, it could indicate that Clyatt traveled farther southwest after leaving the Lake City–High Springs area. If inaccurate, his last reliable movements remain centered on the North Florida area where he disappeared on July 12.

What Bobby Clyatt Looked Like

Clyatt was a white male with blond hair and blue eyes. Modern records list him at approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall and between 120 and 130 pounds.

He had several potentially important identifying characteristics. A scar was located near his right temple and eyebrow. His left ankle or foot was described as deformed, and he had a lump, cyst or similar mass on the left side of his head in front of his ear.

Archived case information also states that his hair was thin or balding on top.

The original 1964 Florida Sheriffs Bureau notice contained two additional identifying details that are not emphasized in many modern summaries: Clyatt reportedly had full dentures and a speech defect.

When he disappeared, he was reportedly wearing a long-sleeved white shirt with pink stripes, blue jeans and brown loafers.

Differences in the Original 1964 Description

Some information in the contemporary notice differs from later records.

The October 1964 notice listed Clyatt as 22 years old and approximately 140 pounds. Modern records give his date of birth as August 14, 1942, which would have made him 21 on July 12, 1964, and generally list his weight as 120 to 130 pounds.

Because the 1964 notice was produced close to the time of his disappearance, details such as his dentures, speech characteristics and reported location along U.S. 41 remain potentially valuable. However, the differences in age and weight demonstrate why historical descriptions should be compared with modern case records rather than assumed to be exact.

Investigation and Available Identification Evidence

Archived NamUs information reproduced in the case discussion states that Clyatt’s fingerprints and DNA are available. Dental information was listed as unavailable in that record, despite the original 1964 notice reporting that he wore full dentures.

This is particularly important in a disappearance dating to 1964. DNA and fingerprint information can potentially be compared with unidentified-person cases that were discovered years or even decades after Clyatt disappeared.

Clyatt has, in fact, appeared on publicly discussed NamUs exclusion lists for unidentified remains. For example, a Websleuths discussion reproducing NamUs information reported that Clyatt had been excluded as the identity of an unidentified man found in Alachua County, Florida, in 1979.

An exclusion does not provide an answer to Clyatt’s disappearance, but it demonstrates the importance of maintaining his identifying information for comparisons with unidentified remains.

Latest Publicly Available Case Information

No publicly available law-enforcement announcement located for this article reports that Bobby Clyatt has been found, identified among unidentified remains or that anyone has been charged in connection with his disappearance.

His identifying information continues to appear in missing-person resources, and the Union County Sheriff’s Office remains the law-enforcement agency associated with the investigation. Its current official website lists the same main telephone number historically associated with modern summaries of Clyatt’s case: 386-496-2501.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse also continues to provide statewide assistance in missing-person investigations, including analytical support, lead processing, unidentified-person cases and DNA-related efforts.

The lack of a public breakthrough does not establish that investigative work has stopped. Florida authorities specifically direct people seeking information about an individual investigation to the law-enforcement agency handling that case.

Why Bobby Clyatt’s Case Still Matters

Clyatt’s disappearance presents several questions that have never been publicly answered.

Who was the man accompanying him on July 12, 1964? Where exactly did the two travel? Was Clyatt definitely seen between Lake City and High Springs? Was the later Levy County sighting genuine? Why was his paycheck never cashed? And what happened after his final confirmed contact?

The passage of more than 60 years makes eyewitness evidence increasingly difficult to obtain, but modern identification technology offers possibilities that did not exist when Clyatt disappeared.

DNA comparisons, fingerprints, unidentified-remains databases and digitized historical records can all potentially provide information in cases that once depended almost entirely on witnesses and paper files.

Anyone with credible information concerning Bobby Carl Clyatt’s disappearance should contact the Union County Sheriff’s Office. Even information that appears insignificant could help clarify the movements of a young man who disappeared from North Florida in the summer of 1964.