Robert Keith Palomares

Case background and investigation

Robert Keith Palomares, 24, was working as an armored car guard on the morning of November 29, 2004, when he was shot outside an AMC movie theater in the Ahwatukee area of Phoenix, Arizona. According to the Arizona Republic's reporting, carried by Yahoo News, he was shot several times in the head, and the gunman took a money bag holding about $56,000 before leaving the scene on a mountain bike. Phoenix Magazine reported that the money was the theater's receipts.

Investigators focused on Jason Derek Brown within days. According to Phoenix Magazine, fingerprints recovered from the bicycle, which had been left behind, were matched to prints on file in Utah, where Brown had recently bought a .45-caliber Glock pistol and ammunition from a firearms instructor. The magazine also reported that witnesses had described a man resembling Brown watching the area from a silver BMW, and that he had checked into a hotel near the theater several days before the shooting.

According to Wikipedia's summary of the case, an Arizona warrant charging Brown with first-degree murder and armed robbery was issued on December 4, 2004, and a federal warrant for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution followed on December 6. Brown has not been arrested, and the charges have never been tested in court. He is an accused person, not a convicted one.

News accounts say Brown drove the BMW to California and later switched to a Cadillac Escalade. That vehicle was found at Portland International Airport in January 2005, according to Phoenix Magazine. On December 8, 2007, the FBI added him to its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list as the 489th person named to it. Phoenix Magazine reported that the reward was doubled to $200,000 in March 2013. Reported sightings in Utah, Idaho and overseas were never confirmed.

The FBI removed Brown from the Ten Most Wanted list on September 7, 2022. An FBI spokeswoman quoted by the Arizona Republic said that years of investigation and publicity had not established where he was, and that keeping him on the list was not expected to produce information leading to his capture. Arizona's Family (KTVK/KPHO) reported that the bureau had received more than 10,000 tips and quoted retired agent Lance Leising as saying that none had produced a corroborated sighting. Leising also said he believed Brown would have been found if he were alive, while acknowledging there is no proof of that.

The FBI said the investigation remains active and the warrants are still in force. As of September 2026 no arrest has been reported, and no one has been tried for the killing of Robert Palomares.