Show zooms in on missing Flagler man
‘Cold Justice’ ties two suspects to DNA evidence, cash.
New DNA evidence, cellphone records, and a $23,000 spending spree may tie two suspects to the disappearance of George Contos, a Flagler County man who has been missing “under suspicious circumstances” since May 2015.
Flagler County Sheriff’s detectives have sent case records to the State Attorney’s Office recommending that prosecutors charge Donald Corcoran and his stepson, Andrew Nemec, both of Palm Coast, with first-degree murder.
That action was revealed during an episode of “Cold Justice,” a true crime TV show that airs on the Oxygen cable channel. Saturday night’s report focused on the mystery surrounding Contos’ disappearance and led investigators to believe that Corcoran and Nemec killed Contos and stole at least $25,000 in cash from his home.
Officials from the State Attorney’s Office did not return calls seeking comment, but Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly on Friday confirmed the names of the suspects and added that his agency submitted the case for review at least a month ago.
“It was another set of eyes going through the evidence, which kind of gave confirmation to our detectives that they had the right people and were on the right path,” Staly said.
Neither Corcoran nor Nemec could be reached for comment Friday.
Evidence re-examined
“Cold Justice” features unsolved small-town cold cases, partnering veteran prosecutor Kelly Siegler and her team of homicide investigators with local authorities. Saturday night’s episode featured Siegler and former West Palm Beach Police Detective Aaron Sam working with Flagler County Sheriff ’s detectives Gabe Fuentes and Mark Moy to re-examine evidence in the Contos case.
Contos was a southern Connecticut native who moved to Daytona North, a rural area of western Flagler County, in 2005. He had plans to return to his hometown just before he disappeared, according to friends and family members interviewed by detectives for the show.
Family members reported Contos missing on May 17 and sheriff ’s deputies found his 1997 Lincoln Town Car abandoned near an Ace Hardware store in the parking lot of St. Joe Plaza along Palm Coast Parkway three days later. Some clothes and his passport were in the trunk. The detectives said store surveillance video shows Corcoran made a purchase in the hardware store the same day that Contos was last seen.
The investigation began three years ago and detectives had already gathered the bulk of the evidence before the “Cold Justice” TV crew came to town, but DNA evidence seemed to put the investigation over the top.
Staly said the “Cold Justice” team paid to send DNA swabs to a lab for testing. That resulted in a key discovery of Nemec’s DNA on a driver’s side seat lever inside Contos’ abandoned car and on money bands detectives found discarded inside Contos’ home in the 5800 block of Apricot Avenue. The empty bands indicated Contos may have had at least $25,000 in cash in the home at the time, investigators said in the show.
Staly could not say why the testing wasn’t done before he took over as sheriff, but said he did not become aware it was needed to move the investigation forward until after the episode was recorded in May.
“When we reopened the case under my watch, if the detectives would have come to me to tell me that we needed DNA testing and it would’ve cost us $10,000 or $15,000, I would’ve approved it,” he said. “I don’t want the lack of testing to be the reason we don’t solve cases. It’s the cost of doing business.”
Following the money
Saturday’s “Cold Justice” episode reveals Contos’ lump sum of cash apparently came from selling a property he owned weeks prior to his disappearance, and that he was seeking to buy a 2013 Dodge Dually truck for $15,000 the day he vanished. Corcoran, a handyman who often did yard work for him, convinced Contos he had brokered a deal for him to buy the truck, the report suggests.
But investigators believe that was a ploy to lure Contos to Corcoran’s home along Fariston Lane in Palm Coast, where he was last seen alive May 9, 2015.
Investigators did not reveal any physical evidence linking either of the suspects to Contos’ alleged murder and his body has not been discovered. But Staly said evidence points to the reality that Contos is dead, and he’s hoping someone who watched Saturday night’s TV show will come forward with information about where to find his remains.
According to detectives, bank records tie Corcoran to Contos’ disappearance through several large purchases that Corcoran made totaling $22,834 between May 11 and June 4, mostly using cash.
Perhaps the tensest moments in the TV show came as detectives questioned Corcoran and Nemec separately after gathering evidence that appears to implicate both men.
Contos was last seen May 9. Meanwhile, video from traffic cameras show Contos’ Lincoln Town Car apparently trailing Corcoran’s jeep from his home that day, heading in the direction of the plaza where the car was later found abandoned.
Corcoran also denied that Contos was there to buy a truck, telling detectives that Contos actually came to his home to sell him pills.
Both Corcoran and Nemec told detectives on the show that Contos had come to Corcoran’s home that afternoon, although Nemec told investigators Contos visited for about 15 minutes while Corcoran said he was there no longer than an hour.
Detectives said cellphone records indicate Contos’ phone remained in the area of Corcoran’s home for more than three hours.
When asked about the cash purchases he made in the weeks after Contos vanished, Corcoran ended the interview and asked for a lawyer.
“When you consider all of that, there is a beautiful circumstantial case against both Andy Nemec and Don Corcoran for the murder of George Contos,” Siegler said near the end of the show.