Roberts lived with his daughter in the Puna Palisades section of Kalapana, Hawaii at the time of his disappearance. On March 18, 2004, police were called to the residence between 10:00 and 10:30 a.m. after neighbors reported that Roberts and his daughter were fighting. No arrests were made in the incident. A neighbor saw Roberts at 4:30 p.m. that same day, standing at the entrance to his subdivision. He has never been heard from again. His car was left behind when he vanished.

Roberts is formerly from Miami Beach, Florida. He has also previously lived on the island of Maui, Hawaii; he operated a business in the Paia area of Maui. He has relatives living in Florida and Hawaii. He frequented the Paia, Haiku and Makawao areas of Maui during the late 1970s and early 1990s. At the time of his disappearance, Roberts frequented the Pahoa Village area; he drove there every day. He was a frequent contributor to the letters to the editor page of the Hawaii Tribune-Herald and made comments at City Council meetings, speaking out against a smoking ban and marijuana eradication efforts; he believed they violated people's civil rights.

Roberts's family believes he was murdered; they describe him as a creature of habit who would not have left home so suddenly and without telling anyone. Authorities stated that they were unable to rule out foul play or suicide in Roberts's disappearance, but they think foul play is unlikely. His case remains unsolved.