Offshoreonly.com - Mike Nixon Alive and in custody

This is from the Galveston County Daily News:
Roby

'King of the Lake' arrested

By Ted Streuli
The Daily News

Published January 10, 2004

KEMAH — The King of the Lake didn’t go down with his boat. Flamboyant League City businessman Larry Michael “Mike” Nixon, 54, was arrested Friday afternoon in Parker County. He was being held on a warrant alleging fraud.

Known by many as the “King of the Lake” for his posh boats and extravagant lifestyle, Nixon had been missing since Aug. 27, when his 40-foot speedboat, the Living Extra Fast, collided with a barge near Redfish Island in Galveston Bay.

Coast Guard crews spent more than a day searching for Nixon with two helicopters, three boats and an aircraft.

Kemah and Seabrook fire departments assisted in the search, but Nixon’s fate remained a mystery until Parker County deputies and federal agents knocked on his door.

In early September, a grand jury in West Virginia indicted Nixon on a fraud charge. That warrant led to Nixon’s arrest at a house in the 9000 block of Ellis Road near Weatherford by Parker County Sheriff’s deputies about 3 p.m.

Parker County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lowell Moss said deputies recovered illegal drugs from the residence. He said he could not yet disclose the amount or type of drugs recovered.

On Friday afternoon, Nixon was being questioned by Parker County authorities and the FBI but was not expected to be arraigned until today. Moss said the Sheriff’s Office would seek felony charges for possession of a controlled substance against Nixon.

Dallas FBI spokeswoman Laurie Bailey confirmed that federal agents were questioning Nixon at the Parker County jail Friday evening.

Rumors that Nixon had faked his death spread throughout the Clear Lake area immediately after the Aug. 27 boating accident.

Known as a hard-partying regular at waterside nightclubs, Nixon was often seen docking his other boat — a 50-plus foot yacht he called the Living Extra Large — with a bevy of bikini-clad women and a blaring stereo. He became engaged to Tina Stafford, a Clear Lake dental hygienist in her 20s, just weeks before he disappeared.

Professionally, Nixon owned Delta Crane Company, which leased large equipment to contractors. And bad business might have been the impetus for his sudden disappearance.

In a published report in October, a Minnwest Bank official in Minnesota said Nixon had defaulted on a $4 million loan shortly before his disappearance.

The West Virginia fraud charge was connected to a 1994 incident in which one man has already been convicted in a scheme to lease a crane he didn’t own. But it was Houston private investigator Clark Dickenscheidt who was instrumental in finding Nixon.

An insurance company that held $14 million in life insurance policies on Nixon hired Dickenscheidt’s company, CDI Investigations. Dickenscheidt found that other companies held another $6 million of policies and said there were numerous beneficiaries.

The investigator said that so far, no claims had been made on the policies. “He was a playboy at the end,” said Dickenscheidt. “I think deep down he was very insecure and heavily depressed.”

Dickenscheidt said the accidental death of Nixon’s 13-year-old son about 15 years ago seemed to trigger a decline. “It led to a complete downturn in his life,” Dickenscheidt said.

Dickenscheidt’s investigation led to the property in Parker County. “I had a lead up to Weatherford in October, but didn’t consider it a real hot lead at the time and it got back-burnered,” Dickenscheidt said.

But braggadocio led the investigation back to Parker County. “He was talking up there, from what I understand, and somebody informed on him,” Dickenscheidt said. “We put two and two together and came up with the address where he was apprehended. The address connected to people who were close to Nixon.”

Dickenscheidt said Minnwest and other banks have provided documentation on loans made with cranes pledged as collateral.

Kemah Police Marine Division Sgt. Sam Hodges opened a criminal investigation shortly after the August accident.

Since then, he’s pursued the case with an undercover Department of Public Safety detective, posing sometimes as a bank loan officer.

“We contacted the FBI yesterday and gave them a possible location,” Hodges said. “There’s a lot more to do on this case. We’ve spent a lot of time on it and it’s not over yet.”