On the evening of December 8, 2024, 60-year-old Richard Fluegel Sr. of Irondequoit, New York, was reported missing after he failed to return home and missed a scheduled flight the next morning. His vehicle was found in a parking lot in the Village of Dansville on December 9, which prompted Livingston County investigators to join the inquiry.

Late on December 9, a defense attorney contacted the Livingston County Emergency Communications Center to report that a client was at the sheriff’s office parking lot and wished to turn in a deceased body. Deputies found 30-year-old Richard Fluegel Jr. and the body of his father in Jr.’s 2018 Audi; the elder Fluegel had apparent gunshot wounds. Investigators say the shooting occurred at a Bonner Road property in the Town of Ossian, where Fluegel Jr. had been attempting to set up a marijuana cultivation operation, and that the father was shot twice with a 12-gauge shotgun.

On December 10, 2024, Richard Fluegel Jr. was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, first-degree criminal use of a firearm, and tampering with physical evidence. He pleaded not guilty at arraignment and was held without bail due to two prior felony convictions. The motive and the precise events leading to the shooting remain under investigation.

If anyone knew Richard Fluegel Sr. or has information about the Bonner Road property or the days before December 8, please come forward.