A New Home
Myrtle Reuter purchased the Otto home in 1974. She became Robert’s companion and kept him when she moved to Von Phister Street six years later. In 1994 she donated Robert to the Fort East Martello Museum claiming ‘he moved around her house on his own and was haunted.’ Myrtle died a few months later, but Robert remained active.
Museum staff noticed a shift of energies at the Fort East Martello Museum. Though Robert was not initially on display, he started receiving visitors as word spread about his new residence. Once he was put on exhibit, cameras and electronic devices malfunctioned in his presence, and soon letters began arriving addressed to the doll offering apologies for disrespectful behavior or asking forgiveness.
Letters continue to arrive daily. Ghost hunters, TV shows, psychics, skeptics and believers visit Robert on a regular basis to witness first-hand the strange stories they have heard. Is Robert cursed by voodoo? Thriving on the energy placed upon him? A misunderstood doll with a playful spirit? Or perhaps just a doll joined by the spirit of his lifelong companion?
Visit Robert at his home in Key West’s Fort East Martello Museum where you can decide.