Person of Interest in Missing Investor Case Leaves State

A motivational speaker named as a person of interest in the disappearance of his business partner after a boat trip last month has left California to attend a bikers' week in Florida, "to look for the missing man," authorities said Friday.

Sheriff's Department officials said they cannot keep Gary A. Shawkey, 44, of Virginia from leaving Orange County while they continue to hunt for his investment partner, Robert Vendrick, a 71-year-old diabetic from Phoenix. Vendrick has been missing since Feb. 16, a day after he arrived in Southern California to meet with Shawkey and "highly placed government officials" to receive a $1.2 million return on his software programming investment.