Fla. Man Vanished 2 Years Ago. Now, Search for Him Is Revived After His House Burns Down

Authorities are taking a fresh look at the disappearance of a wealthy Florida man who vanished two years ago after a recent fire destroyed his waterfront home.

On Friday, Jan. 10, firefighters raced to a home on the 12000 block of Conners Highway in Okeechobee where a fire had broken out.

The firefighters fought for hours to extinguish the blaze but were unable to save the home, which is located on a canal on the eastern side of Lake Okeechobee, and two cars in the garage, including a red 1955 Ford Thunderbird.

Now, as the smoke clears on the charred husk of the home, new questions are being raised about the whereabouts of the homeowner, John Henry Mallouk, 78, who went missing two years ago.

While fire officials are investigating the cause of the fire, detectives are looking to see if the blaze is connected in any way to Mallouk’s mysterious disappearance.

“Our detectives have put so much time in this,” Martin County Sheriff John Budenseik told local station WPBF.

“We’re just looking for closure wherever the answer leads us,” Budenseik continued. “He does have family who are concerned about him and his whereabouts.”

A concerned relative reported Mallouk missing in January 2023, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post. He had not been seen or heard from since August 2022, prompting an investigation.

“When detectives initially searched Mallouk’s home, they found no signs of struggle or foul play,” the MCSO said in the post. “The premises appeared untouched, with doors left unlocked, food still in the refrigerator, and a cell phone abandoned on the counter.”

In light of the recent fire, detectives revisited the site to search for any additional clues that could shed light on Mallouk’s disappearance and to explore whether there might be a correlation between the fire and his case, the MCSO said in the post.

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Mallouk was 76 when he vanished, was 5’10” tall, and weighed 160 pounds, according to a post on The Charley Project. He had gray hair, brown eyes, and a gray mustache at the time of his disappearance.

According to Zillow, the 1,092 square-foot house has two bedrooms and two bathrooms and sits on a two-acre lot. Pictures of the home show a palm tree-lined driveway running through the lush green property, a sprawling deck in the back, and a carport under the house.

Anyone with information about the fire or Mallouk’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Martin County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division.