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Who Killed Robert Vargas? A Look Inside 8 Years Of Unsolved Frustration

PLACER COUNTY (CBS13) — Robert Vargas was a standout athlete who played football and baseball. He was known as an all-around good guy that always pretty much kept to himself on his Placer County property.

It's been more than eight years since he was gunned down in what's been one of the most frustrating homicide cases in the county.

Vargas allowed few visitors to the property near Lincoln, and the few he did allow would be seen well before a knock on the door, thanks to his long driveway.

But in July 2008, the 32-year-old ironworker who lived alone didn't see what was coming. Investigators say he was in his pajamas on the couch with a Dr. Pepper before something had him running for his life.

"It appears he ran out of his house to get away from whoever was attacking him and whoever was attacking him caught up with him and shot him in the head," Det. Chris Joyce.

Detectives say he was executed. He was shot in the back and in the head.

Ula Lagow talks about the moment she found her son's body.

"When I went around the house to the backside --there I'd seen him by the trees--shot," she said.

Detectives thought they'd solve the murder relatively quickly, but it remains unsolved after Vargas would have celebrated his 40th birthday.

They say they know someone knows what happened that night, and they're hoping someone will come forward.

That someone, investigators say, includes members of the victim's family.

As his sister Lisa Vargas reads from a letter she wrote to prepare for our interview, she says she can't think of anyone who would want to hurt her brother.

Placer County detectives aren't convinced that's true, saying whoever did it has a tight bond and just hasn't talked about it. They think someone in the family knows, and needs to come forward.

Homicide detectives believe Vargas was killed over money from a six-figure workers comp payout. He was injured on the job and got the money just months before his death.

Vargas' mother says she's offended hearing a detective believes she knows who killed her son.

"It hurts very much," she said. "In that they're not focusing on who really did it."

Part of the skepticism seeping into the case comes from detectives who say they people who were close to Robert that they've interviewed have changed their stories.

Lisa Vargas says if some stories have changed, it's because the time that's passed has impacted what they remember.

"We didn't do nothin' to my brother—we would never do nothin' to my brother—never in a million years," she siad.

But the bottom line is a man is dead, and eight years later it remains one of the most difficult and frustrating cases to ever cross the desk of Placer County homicide detectives.

Investigators say this case won't be solved by forensics of a DNA swab, it has to be solved by someone coming forward.

And if you do know something, visit http://tips.placercrimestoppers.com/. You can stay anonymous, and get a reward up to $1,000.

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