Robert Lee Vendrick,71,Phoenix man goes missing on SoCal business trip,msg 2-16-08
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingn...nclick_check=1
(some snips)
A 71-year-old Phoenix man who traveled to Orange County to seal a $1 million deal on what he was told was a promising computer program venture has gone missing, authorities said Wednesday.Sheriff's deputies began searching for Robert Lee Vendrick after he failed to return home to Phoenix on Monday as planned. They found his rental car parked near a dock in this beachfront city... his clothes, suitcase and medicine still at his hotel...In Long Beach..authorities found a 23-foot sailboat Vendrick had bought with his investment partner, Gary Shawkey. Authorities also found Shawkey in Long Beach... Shawkey, who was interviewed by homicide investigators, is considered a person of interest in the case but not a suspect....Meanwhile, investigators were waiting for a warrant to search the boat...While it is not clear how the two men met, Vendrick invested more than $1 million in the deal....Promises of a handsome contract with the federal government persuaded Vendrick to ask his brother Fred Vendrick to wire him $40,000 more after he arrived in California...Vendrick left his wife in Phoenix and flew to Long Beach, where he rented the car and drove to Dana Point. He called his wife on Saturday and told her he was preparing for a boat trip to San Clemente Island to close the deal........
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