Nathaniel Austin was a 71-year-old retired piano teacher found dead in his ransacked Tulsa home at 545 E. Zion after a deliberately set fire on the afternoon of March 6, 1998. Firefighters discovered his body facedown on the living room floor; an autopsy showed he had been assaulted but gave no clear cause of death. There were no external injuries and an absence of sufficient soot in his lungs to indicate fatal smoke inhalation, raising the prospect that the blaze was intended to conceal the assault.

Family told investigators Mr. Austin often carried large amounts of cash, and some of his credit cards were later found discarded on a nearby street, so robbery is considered a possible motive. Witnesses reported seeing a remarkably clean light blue 1970s Chevrolet parked near the scene, driven by an unidentified man in his 40s wearing a wide-brimmed wide-brimmed hat. No arrests have been announced and the case remains unsolved.

If anyone has information about the Chevrolet, the man in the hat, or Mr. Austin’s activities around March 6, 1998, please come forward.