Private Investigator Murdered in Virginia

A former Bradenton private investigator working in Virginia has been discovered shot to death and stuffed in the trunk of his car.
Arthur “Greg” Brown, 50, whose father started Robert H. Brown Private Investigation in Bradenton in 1968, was found Sunday morning at the Valley Mall in Harrisonburg, Va., according to Mary-Hope Vass of the Harrisonburg Police Department.

The Harrisonburg Police Department began investigating the report of a missing man March 3 when Greg Brown failed to return home, Vass said.

At approximately 9:30 a.m. Sunday, police received a tip with information on the location of Brown’s gray Honda Accord and found it in a parking lot.

Brown’s exact cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner.

“Our thoughts are first with the friends and family of Greg Brown during this difficult time,” said Vass, the department’s crime analyst. “We will not stop with this investigation until we have all of the facts of the case before us.”

Police in Harrisonburg, which is about two hours from Washington, D.C., and Richmond, are looking for Ali Abid, 49, of Weyers Cave, Va. It is believed that he was the last person in contact with Brown, Vass said.

Brown’s slaying came as a shock to local licensed private investigator Chuck Chambers.

“I received an e-mail early this morning,” said Chambers, of Bradenton’s Chamber’s Investigations. “I was shocked. I hadn’t heard from him in three or four years. At first I felt it couldn’t be him. But then I looked at the photo posted and I knew.”

At the time of his death, Brown was working an infidelity case, Chambers said.

“These cases are dangerous. I know because I train investigators for the state of Florida. Things can happen like this because emotions run very high,” Chambers said.

As the son of one of Bradenton’s leading private investigators, the late Bob Brown, Greg Brown grew up in the business, Chambers said.

Bob Brown died in the early 2000s after about 40 years in the business locally, Chambers said.

“Greg was 6 foot 3 but his dad was 5 foot 5,” Chambers added. “His dad was known for his skill as a private investigator also. He could be a little gruff at times, but he was a kind man, well liked by all his clients.”

Greg Brown was much more easy-going than his dad, Chambers said.

“Greg was a quiet fellow with a very mild personality,” Chambers said. “He always had a smile. He had these remarkable green eyes, which were his most distinctive feature. You would expect a guy 6 foot 3 to be loud and bodacious, but he was not. He was a good man who was very religious.”

Greg Brown was a private investigator in Manatee County from 1983 through the early 1990s, Chambers said. After he left the area he was a preacher, Chambers added.

“About six or seven years ago he called me and asked me to write a letter attesting to his experience so he could open a PI agency in Virginia,” Chambers said. “I was glad to send the letter. Greg was a very experienced investigator.”

Besides his immediate family, Greg Brown is survived by a younger brother -- Robert Brown Jr. -- a sister, Leslie, and his mother, Patty, both of whom live in Colorado, Chambers said.

“Greg wouldn’t be the first private investigator to get killed due to a domestic dispute,” Chambers said. “We don’t have a backup to call. We don’t have a radio with 10 squad cars at our disposal. We can only rely on ourselves. Greg was well experienced but anyone can be caught. We are not bulletproof.”