MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – The year was 1959.
At just six years old, Robert Moehling started selling cucumbers on the roadside, hoping to help his struggling family.
It would be the humble beginnings of “Robert is Here,” as young Robert became a roadside staple.
His little stand would one day become iconic amid the sprawling South Florida farmlands.
The now-Miami-Dade County landmark, “Robert Is Here” offers exotic fruits, baked goods, vegetables, and famous milkshakes. Decades later, tragedy would strike.
In 1992, Robert’s mother, Mary Moehling, who came up with that homemade sign idea, was brutally murdered.
“Her son arrived on the property... and found his mother,” Juan Segovia, a homicide detective with Miami-Dade Police said.
Moehling found her body himself, a devastating memory that would haunt him for life. She was strangled and brutally murdered.
“I found something upside down, it was my mom,” he said.
Just weeks after thes murder, Hurricane Andrew ravaged South Florida, dealing another blow to the family. It took them 15 years to fully recover.
“Hurricane Andrew hit, it wiped everybody out,” said Moehling.
Despite years of investigations, the killer has never been found. Miami-Dade Police still consider the case open, with new DNA technology giving them a slice of hope.
“The pool of suspects is very large,” Segovia said.
After 65 years, Moehling holds onto hope for justice for his mother.
“It made me tougher. Now I am getting even weaker,” he said.