thedrifter
10-01-06, 08:35 AM
Girlfriend: Missing Marine once planned to disappear to collect insurance money
(10/01/06 - BOULDER, CO) - A Marine who went missing in the Colorado mountains had a plan to avoid returning to duty and had hoped to be presumed dead so he could collect insurance money from his brother, the beneficiary, his girlfriend said.
Lance Cpl. Lance Hering, 21, has been missing since Aug. 30, when he and a friend fabricated a story about Hering falling while they were hiking in Eldorado Canyon State Park near Boulder, sheriff's officials have said. Hering was missing when the friend came back with help.
Hering was on leave from Iraq when he disappeared. He was due back at Camp Pendleton, Calif., on Sept. 18.
According to court documents released Thursday and reported on Friday in the Daily Camera of Boulder, Hering's girlfriend, Kaley Sutton, told authorities he had talked about disappearing. She said he had come up with a "great idea, an amazing plan" about a year ago and had planned to tell only her and his brother, Air Force Lt. Brendan Hering, about it.
Sutton said Lance Hering intended to fake his death and assume a new identity in another country. He planned to use insurance money by naming his brother as a beneficiary and having the money funneled to him, Sutton said.
Marines Capt. Jay Delarosa, a Camp Pendleton spokesman, said all troops are offered life insurance when they enlist. He said it was likley that Hering had a policy.
Hering's father, Lloyd Hering, said that Brendan Hering knew nothing of the plot and that the stress from his younger son's time in Iraq -- not the notion of the insurance money -- led to his disappearance.
"This is a very young man who just finished seven months of stuff nobody should have to go through," he said. "We believe he deserves our respect and help."
Boulder County Sheriff's Cmdr. Phil West said authorities were still investigating leads. Last week, they announced they had obtained video of him buying a bus ticket in Denver a day after his reported disappearance.
West said investigators have taken a computer from the home of 20-year-old Steve Powers, who is suspected of helping Hering stage the accident. Powers, who was ticketed for false reporting, told authorities that he didn't know where Hering was headed but that he had planned to be in contact by Internet.
Ellie
(10/01/06 - BOULDER, CO) - A Marine who went missing in the Colorado mountains had a plan to avoid returning to duty and had hoped to be presumed dead so he could collect insurance money from his brother, the beneficiary, his girlfriend said.
Lance Cpl. Lance Hering, 21, has been missing since Aug. 30, when he and a friend fabricated a story about Hering falling while they were hiking in Eldorado Canyon State Park near Boulder, sheriff's officials have said. Hering was missing when the friend came back with help.
Hering was on leave from Iraq when he disappeared. He was due back at Camp Pendleton, Calif., on Sept. 18.
According to court documents released Thursday and reported on Friday in the Daily Camera of Boulder, Hering's girlfriend, Kaley Sutton, told authorities he had talked about disappearing. She said he had come up with a "great idea, an amazing plan" about a year ago and had planned to tell only her and his brother, Air Force Lt. Brendan Hering, about it.
Sutton said Lance Hering intended to fake his death and assume a new identity in another country. He planned to use insurance money by naming his brother as a beneficiary and having the money funneled to him, Sutton said.
Marines Capt. Jay Delarosa, a Camp Pendleton spokesman, said all troops are offered life insurance when they enlist. He said it was likley that Hering had a policy.
Hering's father, Lloyd Hering, said that Brendan Hering knew nothing of the plot and that the stress from his younger son's time in Iraq -- not the notion of the insurance money -- led to his disappearance.
"This is a very young man who just finished seven months of stuff nobody should have to go through," he said. "We believe he deserves our respect and help."
Boulder County Sheriff's Cmdr. Phil West said authorities were still investigating leads. Last week, they announced they had obtained video of him buying a bus ticket in Denver a day after his reported disappearance.
West said investigators have taken a computer from the home of 20-year-old Steve Powers, who is suspected of helping Hering stage the accident. Powers, who was ticketed for false reporting, told authorities that he didn't know where Hering was headed but that he had planned to be in contact by Internet.
Ellie