Kyle Fleischmann's Family Hopes Exposure Brings Answers

CHARLOTTE, N.C.,None — One of Charlotte's biggest mysteries was featured Monday in a program on the Lifetime network.

VIDEO: Kyle Fleischmann's Family Hopes Exposure Brings Answers

Kyle Fleischmann, 24, disappeared nearly four years ago from uptown. He hasn't been heard from since, and police have not uncovered his remains or made any arrests.

Those closest to Fleischmann hope the new national attention will lead to answers.

"For my wife and I, there isn't an hour a day we don't think about him," said his father, Dick Fleischmann.

Dick Fleischmann said the day his son disappeared is still fresh in his mind. In November 2007, Kyle Fleischmann left the Buckhead Saloon in uptown Charlotte alone after a night out with friends. He was last seen on surveillance video around 3 a.m. near Fuel Pizza, where an employee said Fleischmann bought two slices.

"I felt within the first couple of days that a crime had occurred," Dick Fleischmann said.

Friends, family and volunteers scoured the city for Kyle Fleischmann, and so have Charlotte-Mecklenburg police. The case has been on Detective Lee Tuttle's desk since the beginning.

"We actually mailed out photographs with Kyle's information to every cab driver in Mecklenburg County that's registered," Tuttle said.

One cab driver claimed to have seen him.

"He said he was concerned about Kyle," Dick Fleischmann said. "When you see someone and get concerned, that's a pretty good look."

"It's possible (it could have been Kyle) but the descriptions never matched what he was wearing and his physical features," Tuttle said.

It's no longer just a missing persons case. Two months ago, CMPD homicide detectives got involved.

"He was going to take another look at Kyle's cell phone and was going to look back and the area near the tower where it hit near Davidson," Dick Fleischmann said.

The Fleischmann family's private investigator is still pushing for answers, too.

"Going back to employees at Fuel Pizza who saw him -- maybe they have a different perspective," Dick Fleischmann said. "Maybe they'll say something they didn't think was important to us then that could help us now."

Detectives said the number of tips and clues coming in has dropped dramatically. The attention has faded.

On a Facebook page dedicated to the search, most of the recent posts are from people trying to sell things.

But for Kyle Fleischmann's family, the questions and the concerns have not faded.

"The hardest thing -- there is a cloud that follows you around every day," Dick Fleischmann said. "You don't feel true joy anymore."

Fleischmann's parents and police believe someone knows something.

"We believe it was two to three guys, or whatever the case may be, and one of them actually took his life," Fleischmann said.

He added: "I would hope that a bystander would come forward."

Dick Fleischmann said he won't have the strength to watch the story of his son's disappearance on Lifetime, but he prays others will.

"I do think about it a lot -- what could have been, what we should have done, what could we do," he said.

He hopes the national attention will help them to finally find answers.

The case was featured in "Vanished" on the Lifetime network. (Click here to watch the full episode.) The host is Beth Holloway, whose daughter, Natalee, disappeared and has not been found.

If you have any information that could help police find out what happened to Kyle Fleischmann, call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600. Tips can be anonymous.

WSOC