Human remains identified as missing Fort Myers man Porter Albert

Porter Albert disappeared after an ordinary stop at a Big Lots store in North Fort Myers, and six years later Fort Myers police finally have a name for the partial remains found in Southwest Florida. Detectives said DNA testing by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement matched the remains to Albert, the 78-year-old man last seen on January 15, 2020, at about 6:45 p.m. inside the store on US-41, also known as North Cleveland Avenue.

The identification moved the case out of the missing-person lane and into a death investigation, but it did not explain how Albert died or where his remains were found. Police have not publicly released where the remains were discovered or when they were located, leaving a gap in the timeline that still hangs over the case. For Albert’s family, the match gives a name to the remains. For investigators, it opens a new phase rather than closing the book.

Albert was reported missing on January 21, 2020, but the case took an early turn the day before that report. Cape Coral police found his vehicle on January 20, 2020, being driven by Tiffany Zora Rachel Contestabile, who was arrested for driving without a license. Detectives later named Contestabile a person of interest in Albert’s disappearance. Reporting has said Albert’s family believed he had been helping Contestabile and her mother, who had been homeless.

The circumstances at Albert’s home deepened the mystery. Earlier reporting said his house was unlocked, with no signs of forced entry, and his phone and second vehicle were still there. His bank accounts, retirement funds and credit cards were untouched after he vanished. A friend, who said Albert was unusually dependable, contacted police after four days without hearing from him, a silence that immediately stood out to people who knew him.

That is why the DNA identification matters so much and still falls short. It answers the first question, what happened to the remains, but not the harder ones about Albert’s final movements after that Big Lots visit, or how he ended up dead. Fort Myers detectives continue to ask for tips, and Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers remains part of that push. Six years after Albert walked out of the store and into a cold-case mystery, the identity has finally surfaced, but the manner of his death is still waiting to be explained.