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New details released on Ocala man accused of deserting Air Force 45 years ago

OCALA, Fla. — A 75-year-old Ocala man was arrested Tuesday on accusations that he deserted from the Air Force in 1972 and had been living under an assumed name for the past 45 years.

Linley B. Lemburg was known to his neighbors as 65-year-old William “Bill” Robertson since he and his wife moved into their home in The Falls neighborhood in 2005.

What they didn’t know was he had been on the run for more than four decades.

Lemburg enlisted in the Air Force in 1960 and by 1968 had been named a special agent in the USAF Office of Special Investigations.

He was stationed in Philadelphia when on Feb. 4, 1972, he walked away from his post and never returned, the Air Force said.

A month later the Air Force declared him a deserter.

As part of a cold case investigation, the Air Force developed a lead and asked the Marion County Sheriff’s Office to help track down Lemburg in Ocala, deputies said.

Neither the MCSO nor the Air Force gave any information on what may have led them to Lemburg’s Ocala address.

He was found living with his wife in the 7800 block of SW 5th Place Tuesday morning.

He was taken to the MCSO Evidence Division where his fingerprints were compared to Air Force records from his 1960 enlistment.

Once his identity was confirmed, Lemburg was taken into custody by the Air Force and was transported to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.

He was being held at MacDill Air Force Base pending his court martial.