RunninHotRacing163.1

thnx Lapse real cool vid , keep us updated if you hear/read anything have'nt read a book in years but this post was real interesting .. Poor guy think he came back to help the kidz and seen something he did'nt like ..but what do i know

Xchoke03

Wow !!

Semper Fi

I have been wondering about this case since it occured. Basically- it seems that there are three scenarios presented (1) Jimmy T fell off the back of the boat taking a leak (2) The wife was having an affair and was trying to collect the insurance money (3) The two 23 yr olds that were in the other 2 boats were involved in drugs and Jimmy T got shot when he returned to see why they stopped.

It is very puzzling. Something still "bothers" me about this whole thing..........Jimmy T (from his reputation- I never met him) seemed like a stand up guy, he crossed the waters from Florida to the Bahamas many times. He was a very experienced boater. One of the 2 young men was in a 22' boat--that's Crazy!!! What is puzling me is why would Jimmy T cruise so far ahead of the 2 younger men? If it was me out there, (as the responsible adult) I would have had them run along side me or a little in front of me to make sure everyone was cleary in eye view and safe the entire trip.

LapseofReason

But the pace he would have to run with the 22 foot boat would have been murder, for lack of a better word. The 35 Donzi would just have to run a little harder to stay with the 38, but that guy in the 22 had no biz. out there. or he should have left 30-45 minutes ahead on a set course so they catch him at the half way point.

Semper Fi

I agree that the guy in the 22' boat had no business being on that water with that dingy!!

Jupiter Sunsation

Guys a 22 foot boat is not too bad to cross in on the right day. My neighbor did it in a 17 whaler with 5 gallon cans on the deck for extra fuel. A kid I went to HS with did it in a 13 Whaler at age 15 ( running parallel to his dad's big sportfish).

They even had a poker run type event last year for jet skis. 20 or 30 skis went in a pack with boat support.

It is only a 45-60 mile run over depending what island/ port you are travelling too/ from. Breakdown and fuel are two big concerns for smaller single engine boats.

LapseofReason

I rather do it on a jet ski than a little boat.

BROWNIE

What exactly is a guitar snotgun?

Jupiter Sunsation

This story never ends.............

Missing man's friend vanishes himself

By JOHN LANTIGUA and PAUL QUINLAN

Palm Beach Post Staff Writers

Friday, June 13, 2008

That a person in the South Florida real estate business might suddenly close up shop and blow town would not be unusual given the woeful crisis in the industry.

But when Roger Gamblin, owner of Flagler Title, and his wife, Peggy, suddenly disappeared about two weeks ago, their absence touched off some serious worry - and some very ripe rumors.

Lost at Sea
Jim Trindade, a developer from Atlantis, disappeared Jan. 12, 2006.

That's because Gamblin was best friends with Jim Trindade, the popular boater and fisherman who mysteriously disappeared at sea on Jan. 12, 2006. The two had been close for at least 30 years, sharing a passion for the sea, among other things. After Trindade's disappearance, Gamblin directed and funded an extensive search effort for his friend.

Trindade has never been found, but federal agents believe they know what happened to him. They are convinced that Trindade stumbled on a drug transaction at sea, between the Bahamas and Palm Beach County, was killed and then dumped in the ocean.

They also believe Gamblin's son, Chris, who was traveling in a boat near Trindade's that day on their way back from the Bahamas, may have been involved. The investigation is ongoing.

Roger Gamblin, 59, has always insisted on his son's innocence.

"Roger dropping out of sight now suddenly has certainly created a lot of intrigue given his connection to the Jim Trindade case," says Gary Adkison of Fort Lauderdale, a world-class expert on sharks and a friend of both families. "We don't know for sure where he is. It's still a mystery to us."

Federal investigators say they have been flooded with calls from media about Gamblin, but are not looking for him because he is not a suspect in the Trindade case. One agent said he believed Gamblin making himself scarce involved recent business reversals at Flagler Title and not the murder investigation.

Adkison, who stayed in regular contact with Gamblin, said he last heard from him about three weeks ago.

"At first I didn't worry because he often travels for his work," Adkison said Friday. "But about a week ago I got a call from someone telling me there was all kinds of confusion at Flagler Title. I got worried, turned right around on the highway, drove to Roger's house and found the place deserted."

Adkison said the house, on Westwood Circle East in West Palm Beach, usually has at least three or four vehicles parked out front. None were there.

He said he later talked to an employee of Gamblin's at the title company who told him that Gamblin had recently "held a fire sale at CarMax" and suddenly sold several cars just before leaving town.

Adkison said Gamblin and his wife had planned to take a cruise and that might explain their absence, but it didn't explain the sudden sale of assets.

But events at Flagler Title in recent days may illuminate just why Gamblin left town.

Flagler Title is purportedly one of the largest writers of title insurance for commercial properties in the United States. The company has at least eight locations. At the administrative offices on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, the doors were locked at midday Friday and employees said the company had shut down. A property tax collector's lien had been posted on the door for $1,305.51 in unpaid property taxes.

Shelley Gerst, 59, a real-estate agent struggling with the bear market and reeling from the sudden death of her husband two months ago, was at the office Friday. She said she had dropped off a buyer's $11,000 deposit check there Tuesday, where it was to be held in escrow. They gave her a commission check for $12,000.

"My check went through," Gerst said. "Theirs bounced."

Company officials have declined to comment on the state of the company, saying only that its solvency is under investigation. Gerst said the answer she got at the Flagler Title office Friday was there was no money to repay her.

"I needed that check to keep my business going," Gerst said, choking up. "I don't know if I'm ever going to see it."

Jupiter Sunsation

Millions missing at title company

By PAUL QUINLAN

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Monday, June 16, 2008

WEST PALM BEACH — Before his disappearance plunged employees and customers of one of Florida's largest independent title companies into chaos last week, Flagler Title founder Roger Gamblin dipped into millions of dollars his company held in escrow for clients, according to testimony Monday.

An auditor for one of the insurance companies backing Flagler Title testified in an emergency hearing that Roger Gamblin had used at least $2.5 million of escrow funds to cover shortfalls and pay property taxes and as a "personal line of credit."

Lost at Sea
Jim Trindade, a developer from Atlantis, disappeared Jan. 12, 2006.

Gamblin also recently refinanced the second mortgage on his home to the tune of $500,000, an investigator told the court.

The last anyone heard from him was a telephone call on May 29.

A judge placed Flagler Title in receivership Monday at the request of its insurance underwriters, who have been left to clean up the mess. The insurers were even forced to post security guards last week at some offices to ward of looting by disgruntled employees.

But even as details of Gamblin's last known whereabouts emerged in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, exactly what happened to the 59-year-old remains unknown. It's the subject of intense speculation fueled by Gamblin's friendship with another missing man: Jim Trindade.

Trindade, an avid fisherman, outdoorsman and friend of Gamblin's for at least 30 years, disappeared Jan. 12, 2006, while boating home from a vacation to the Bahamas. His 38-foot Donzi, a go-fast boat that had been used in filming the recent remake of Miami Vice, was found doing circles in the ocean, its owner missing.

Gamblin immediately launched and paid for an extensive search effort for his friend.

Federal investigators believe Trindade had stumbled on a drug transaction at sea between the Bahamas and Palm Beach County, was killed and then was dumped in the ocean. They also believe Gamblin's son Chris, who was traveling in a boat near Trindade's that day, may have been involved. Gamblin has always insisted his son is innocent.

Fast-foward more than two years. The first sign that Flagler Title was unraveling came on May 22, when the company's vice president, Edward Bierce, abruptly resigned. He has not been seen or heard from since, according to an affidavit the insurance company's investigator filed in court.

That day, Gamblin told his operations manager, Bill Mechesney, he was going to a doctor's appointment in Miami Beach and left the office. He never made it. The doctor filed a missing person's report.

That was the last time anyone saw Gamblin, according to the investigator.

One week later, Mechesney received a phone call from Gamblin, who told him that he and his wife, Peggy, were finishing a business trip in New York and were getting ready to take a cruise. He didn't say where. He asked Mechesney to put together two letters of recommendation for his sons, both of whom had worked for Flagler Title.

Mechesney later learned Gamblin instead had chartered a private jet to fly from West Palm Beach to Houston on May 25, the affidavit said.

Family members say they haven't heard from the couple, according to the investigator's report.

Peggy Gamblin's sister, Nancy Weiss, said she has not heard from Peggy, even though the two had kept in near-daily contact, investigators reported. Peggy Gamblin didn't call when Weiss recently celebrated her birthday.

Gamblin's sons, Erik and Chris, deny knowing where their father is, according to the report, and the cars usually parked at Gamblin's West Palm Beach home are gone.

Those were the facts that attorneys for three title insurance companies that backed Flagler Title presented to Circuit Judge Tom Barkdull, who granted the insurance companies' request to appoint Fort Lauderdale attorney Larry Saicheck as receiver.

Saicheck will effectively take over at Flagler Title to inventory and secure assets and files, determine which obligations can be met and decide whether to steer the company into bankruptcy.

Prospects for customers who had placed millions of dollars in Flagler Title's hands are uncertain.

"For what it's worth, I expect this to end pretty quickly," attorney Jeffrey Schneider of Ticor Title Insurance told the judge.

Flagler Title employees learned in a conference call last week that the company had run out of money and that their mid-June paycheck would not arrive, a former employee said Monday.

"There were some very disgruntled people on that call," said the employee, who asked to remain anonymous.

Reports of furniture and electronic equipment being taken from one of the offices prompted the insurance underwriters to post security guards at some Flagler Title locations to ward off looters, said Aaron Wong, attorney for Lawyers Title Insurance.

"It's a big mess," Wong said.

Although the lawyers involved in the case are not drawing a connection between Gamblin's and Trindade's disappearances, they remain baffled as to why the head of a successful title company would suddenly vanish.

Founded in 1976, Flagler Title calls itself Palm Beach County's oldest locally owned title company, maintaining at least seven offices across the region, from Port St. Lucie to Boynton Beach.

Wong said the company handled between 30 and 40 closings per month even in today's dour real estate market.

"He had a good business going," said Wong. "The $64,000 question is what would cause that person to walk away?"