PORT ORANGE, Fla. — Detectives with the Port Orange Police Department are asking for help in their search for a beloved teacher who has been missing since October. 

Robert Heikka is a technology teacher at Creekside Middle School in Port Orange, where he has taught since 2002. Principal John Cash remembers seeing him for the last time on October 23.

“He left, you know, have a good weekend, see you on Monday," Cash said.  “I mean he intended to come back to work on Monday and he didn’t.”

When Heikka did not show up, Cash said he stopped by his home to check in. 

"So I drive over to the house, bang on the door, no answer so I ended up contacting his family so they would come over and check and PODP so they could do a wellness check and here we are six weeks later,” Cash said. 

Heikka was spotted on surveillance video on October 24 making a normal withdrawl at an ATM near Cocoa, according to police. The following day, they pinged his phone near I-4 around New Smyrna Beach. After that, his phone went dead and there has been no trace of him, according to police.

While it is not a criminal investigation, PODP is now working with the FBI and FDLE.

“We are trying to do everything in our power to find him and that is why we have reached out to all those agencies to assist and, you know, review stuff that we are doing and make sure nothing is being missed,” said Detective Steve Nagy of the Port Orange Police Department. 

Those who know him best explain that Heikka would not vanish on his own.  

“He would not just disappear without telling anybody, that is so out of his character,” Cash said. “The ironic part is this was his last year, he was retiring. He retired last year and asked for an extension, he wanted to do one more year, so this was his swan song. So we are all just devastated, we are looking for answers on what happened to Bob, our colleague.”​

Police explained that Heikka withdrew a normal amount of money from the ATM. 

Investigators are now asking anyone with information about where Heikka might be to contact them. 

“That could hopefully break the case open for us or assist us in just another detail,” Nagy said.

Many in the community continue to hope for his safe return. 

“Bob is a great man and I miss him dearly and I am hopeful," Cash said.  "I mean, we are concerned obviously, six weeks. We are going to remain hopeful but we are also realistic and we want closure for the family, we want closure for the school family and we want closure for the city of Port Orange.”