Missing Man in the OC

20Feb08

Where is Bob Vendrick?  And what role does this Doug Shawkey (”the business partner”)  guy play?  That’s the mystery OC Sheriff’s Deputies are trying to uncover.  And boy did we cover a lot of ground this morning!

When we left Burbank, the plan was to hook up for live interviews with the PIO at the Sheriff’s Office (Jim Amormino) at the Sheriffs’ HQ in Santa Ana.  But on the way we found out he was headed to the scene of the last sighting of Vendrick - the Marina Inn at Dana Point.  When Vendrick’s wife called to rpeort him missing, deputies searched the hotel room he was staying in.  They found his meds, his laptop, his clothes and outside, his rental car.  Certainly a scary time for Vendrick’s family.  He’s 71, mind you.  His brother Fred spoke with our Vikki Vargas about the disappearance and sounded very scared.  So for Today in LA, we were live in Dana Point.

Overnight, the folks at the KNBC Assignment Desk caught on to part of the investigation in the OC when deputies found a boat Vendrick and Shawkey had purchased over the weekend.  Apparently, as the story goes, the two were supposed to meet with a high-ranking federal government official at San Clamente Island.  Deputies call it fishy (no pun intended), because San Clemente is known as a place for dropping bombs, not for meetings.

Anyway, the new information lead us to Long Beach for the midday newscast.  It was tough trying to make it there on time, considering we had to travel the 405!  But we did it (great maneauvering by photographer Connie Gott).  It was here where we saw the boat for ourselves and reported that deputies had caught up with Shawkey early this morning - apparently walking around the Aquarium of the Pacific.  They interviewed him as a “person of interest” but have not called him a “suspect.”  In fact, they released him on the condition they stay in contact and know his whereabouts.

It’s an interesting story - I’m intrigued - are you?  It’s covered a lot of ground, too, especially if you consider the whole “business partner” thing started in Phoenix.

Filed under: Uncategorized   |  
Tags: Amormino, Aquarium of the Pacific, Dana Point, Long Beach, missing man, OC, Santa Ana, Shawkey, Vendrick