Robert Aaron Mobley was a 50-year-old South Carolina Highway Patrol sergeant when he was shot and killed during a traffic stop on the evening of July 19, 1979. While patrolling Highway 51 a few miles south of Florence, he stopped a motorcycle for a defective rear light. A struggle on the shoulder resulted in the rider seizing Mobley’s service revolver and firing; Mobley was shot six times and collapsed at the scene.

Authorities arrested Elijah Belin Jr. the next day and charged him with murder. The case against the gunman focused on the lawful stop, the struggle in which the trooper was disarmed, and the fatal shooting of a uniformed officer. Mobley’s funeral included full military honors and he was later inducted into the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame; a stretch of SC-51 near the shooting was named Sgt. Robert A. Mobley Highway.

If anyone knew Sergeant Mobley, his family, or saw activity on Highway 51 around July 19, 1979, please share what might help preserve the record of that night.