Daily News/Clinton Lewis

Warren County Sheriffs Detective Roger Castle stood on the two-lane bridge overlooking the shallow Barren River and could visualize the abandoned boat that sparked a missing persons investigation, now two years old. Something wasnt right. What began as a missing persons investigation evolved into a homicide mystery that continues to plague law enforcement authorities, as well as relatives and co-workers of Smiths Grove resident Walter Greg Fowler, 44.During the unusually dry summer month of June 1999, Fowler disappeared and has not been seen or heard from since. The Warren County Sheriffs Office initially investigated the disappearance as a missing persons case, but upgraded the incident to a homicide investigation when an extensive search of the Barren River and surrounding banks proved fruitless. Other details surrounding Fowlers disappearance led investigators to believe that more than one person may have been involved in the death of the neighborly outdoorsman, who weighed more than 220 pounds. Sheriffs Detective Roger Castle still carries a thick case file on the Fowler investigation and keeps a photo of Fowler on the front to remind him of the human life that was snuffed out. Castle was left with only a few puzzle pieces to the mystery, such as Fowlers mini-van and trailer abandoned at the end of a gravel road off Osborne Ford Road, just a few feet from a boat drop-off into Barren River. Roughly two and a half miles downstream, Fowlers boat was found floating near another boat drop-off at the Ky. 101 bridge on the Warren and Allen county line. As to how the boat got there, we cant tell you, Castle said. Did somebody put it down there? I dont know. What followed was a frustrating barrage of dead ends, leads and rumors from the realistic to the ridiculous, Castle said. Every lead, including that Fowler may have been killed and then transported out of the state, or that he is living as a recluse in the mountains, has been exhausted, he said. Castle is hoping that someday he will get the crucial tip that could lead him and other investigators to Fowlers body and eventually to the killers, he said. I hope that at some time, these people who do know what happened to him will come forward and say something, Castle said. This case will remain open even if I dont work for the sheriffs office, until we come to some good explanation for his disappearance. Fowler was reported missing by his wife, Debra Kay Fowler on June, 20, 1999, which was a Sunday. Debra Fowler reported that her husband had left on a fishing trip and had not returned as expected. Debra Fowler told police she saw her husbands boat in the water while driving on the Ky. 101 bridge, stopped and tried to drag it to shore when a work crew with the county jail was passing by and helped bring it in. A relative had called Fowlers workplace the previous Friday to report that he would not be in to work at Farmers Rural Electric in Glasgow. Coworkers of Greg Fowler still talk about the maintenance worker and serviceman for the company, according to Farmers Rural Electric resident and CEO Jackie Browning. He was a good employee and a good guy, Browning said. He continues to be in everyones thoughts and prayers at work. Workers at the electric company helped pitch in their time and sweat to search a 15-mile stretch of river and riverbank following the disappearance and a $5,000 reward still exists for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whomever caused harm to Fowler, Browning said. Fowlers case is one of several mysterious homicides and disappearances that continue to remain in the unsolved category for southcentral Kentucky law enforcement authorities. Bowling Green resident Carol Neal disappeared from her Bowling Green home in November 1998. Bowling Green police investigators believe that Neal, a mother of two small boys, died at the house or shortly after someone carried her out. The location of her body as well as sofa cushions from her home remains a mystery. Edmonson County senior citizen Alyne Barrick has been missing from her home on Lowell Ridge Road since April 1996.Kentucky State Police investigators found signs of struggle inside the womans home and speculate that her body may be in a shallow grave in the neighboring woods. In a different case, state police investigators found three bodies, but still are searching for suspects during a March 1990 slaying. Two men, Tommy Ferrell Hale, 34, and Kevin Thomas McClard, 27, were found facedown in the living room of Hales Happy Hollow Road home in the Temple Hill community. Both men were found shot through the temple. Nancy Hale, 34, was found dead in bed and also was shot through the temple. Tip numbers: Anyone with information about Greg Fowler is encouraged to call the Warren County Sheriffs Office at 842-1633. Information about Carol Neal should be directed to the Bowling Green Police Department at 393-4000. Information about the Hale triple slaying or Barricks disappearance should be directed to the Bowling Green state police post at 782-2010.