Mystery of missing investor deepens after boat turns up

DANA POINT, Calif. _ There were two men aboard the 23-foot sailboat when it sailed out of Dana Point Harbor for what was supposed to be a quick trip on the high seas to close a business deal. Only one man came back with the boat. What happened on the open seas remains a mystery.Authorities are desperately trying to find the missing man, a 71-year-old retired computer programmer from Phoenix who traveled to Southern California on Friday with visions of finally cashing in on a get-rich software investment to the tune of $1.2 million.

His investment partner, a Virginia man, turned himself in to authorities Tuesday after showing up with the boat and without his partner.


He has been named a person of interest.


The vanishing of Robert Lee Vendrick is a tale of money, intrigue and deception, and one that has not yet worked itself to a conclusion as U.S. Coast Guard crews scanned the ocean Wednesday for signs of the missing man.

Authorities spent Tuesday searching for Shawkey, a self-proclaimed entrepreneur, motivational speaker and married father of two teenage boys, hoping to find clues to Vendrick's mysterious disappearance. But it was Shawkey who called Long Beach, Calif., police about 8 p.m. Tuesday and wanted to talk, authorities said.

During hours of questioning by sheriff's investigators, Shawkey said he and Vendrick sailed out of Dana Point on their newly purchased boat, Odyssey, said Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino. And Shawkey was the one who sailed the boat to Long Beach, without Vendrick, Amormino said.


But what authorities are still trying to figure out is what happened to Vendrick _ and why.


"It is a really suspicious story," Amormino said. "He said he just doesn't know where he is."


Shawkey tried to rent a permanent berth for the Odyssey but was turned down because he was not listed as the boat's registered owner, Amormino said. Shawkey docked the tiny sailboat in a temporary mooring and wandered around Long Beach before calling police, authorities said.


Vendrick and Shawkey are both listed on the purchasing receipt of the Odyssey, bought from a San Clemente, Calif., man. Shawkey took possession of the boat Feb. 14. The next day, Vendrick touched down at the Long Beach Airport, rented a car and made the short drive to Dana Point.


He told family members he was going with Shawkey to San Clemente Island to meet some "highly placed government people" to sign the papers on a computer programming contract.


It was Shawkey who lured Vendrick to California with promises of a cut of a federal government contract and fortune, according to Vendrick's younger brother Fred. But to secure the contract and convince them that the venture was viable, Vendrick needed to have $100,000 in an account at a Laguna Niguel Wells Fargo Bank.


Bob Vendrick wired $60,000 to the bank and persuaded his brother to wire $40,000 to the same bank. Fred Vendrick sent the money.


"It was stupid, I know, but I did it," Fred Vendrick said. The account where the money was deposited, authorities said, belongs to Shawkey.


Deputies found a roaring fireplace in Vendrick's second-floor room at the Dana Point Marina Inn on Monday night. Vendrick's suitcase, laptop and diabetes medication were all inside the room. Vendrick was gone.


Sheriff's investigators expect to have the Odyssey towed to the Orange County crime lab in Santa Ana, Calif., on Thursday to comb it for clues. The Odyssey's previous owner is not connected to Vendrick's disappearance, Amormino said.


Shawkey, who runs several Internet-based companies with his wife, Stephanie, is the target of numerous complaints of ripping off true believers in get-rich-quick schemes and children's charities. He is the author of "If I Can ... Anybody Can."


Shawkey was released after questioning.