The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • B02

Story System MIAE by PRICE Time 19:19:56 Date Stor 0Stor name INL PAGESLast text user PRICEB 2 FL Ke 1 19:19:54 by PRICE by PRICE by PRICE by PRICE CYANMAGENTAYELLOWBLACK CYAN )( YELLOW )( MAGENTA )( BLACK omanticody sse ytur nsint og rimm ys ter BY MICHAEL BARBARO This is what Colleen Wood mother of sailor did on or after Dec. 15, according to her boyfriend: She became enraged over alinger- ing financialdispute, approached the Fort Lauderdale boathouse with two hulking men and stormed off with her belongings. This is what Colleen Wood did on or after Dec. 15, according to her closest family and friends: She packed her bags and quietly fled life as she knew it, stumbled into an abduction or was killed. Wood, 53, has been missing for more than sixmonths.

Investigations by two police departments have resolved little more than that, making all four scenarios possible. There is no body, no suicide note, no phone calls and no evidence of a struggle of any kindany- where. There is no crime and, of course, no suspect. There is, withdrawn from bank accounts from Fort Lauderdale area ATMs and after her disappearance what herfamily says is the strange behavior of John Paul 64, formerrace car driver, ex-convictand boyfriend. After dating for 10 months, Paul persuaded Wood to quit her job at a Lighthouse Point marina, sell her Boca Raton condominium, move ontohis boat and work as his paid assistant.

He accompanied her to family weddings, shared dinners with her friends and spoke of sailing around the world with her on his 55-foot twin- masted yacht, IslandGirl, which he asked her to redecorate, friends said. But when Wood vanished, Paul contacted neither the police nor her family, both said. After police contacted him, he told Fort Lauderdale detectives two accompanied Wood in mid-December onto his boat, docked on the south side of the New River in Fort Lauderdale.He later told son there was just one man. He told his daughter, Tanya Paul, 38, he fought with Wood over an ex- girlfriend before she left. He later told police they quarreled over money.

Police cannotcon- firm any of the accounts. Inconsistency, detectivesin the case are quick to point out, is no crime, but they to talk to said FortLauder- dale Detective Al Stone. Police last spoke with him in late May, but say they have been unable to locate him since. not unheard of for Paul to disappear for lengthy periods. He has sailed across the Atlantic at least once.

But family isfearful. this amount of time, we certainly suspect the said Fort Lauderdale Detective Mark Shotwell. have no reason to believeCol- leen is out there hiding witha margarita in her hand. The simple fact is that we know whether she is dead or SUSPICIONS family is pointing a finger directly at Paul, a wealthy former Wall Street wunderkind who became addicted to car racing after striking it rich in mutual funds in the 1960s. With his son, John Paul as co-driver, Paul scored five consecutive racing victories in 1981 and 1982, the longest streak in the historyof the Camel GT road racing series.

A year later, the Dutch immigrant was charged with shooting Stephen Carson inthe chest, abdomen and leg at a boat landing in Crescent Beach, after Carson agreed to testify about a marijuana smuggling operation Paul allegedly masterminded. Paul fled the countrybefore his trial in 1983 but was captured in Geneva in 1985 on drug-trafficking chargesand negotiated a plea bargain, court records show. He served about half of a 25-year sentencefor both crimes before he was put on probation in 1999. In 1987, Paul was accused of trying to escape from a Florida prison by squirting a mixture of hot sauce and liquid floor cleaner intothe eyes of a corrections officer. has a bottomless purse.

Why is he not looking for said Michael Tandarich, 34, son, who does not believe his mother knew about record. Paul isnot running to assist. He is not standing by to observe. He is running away. I think he is covering something UNUSUAL ACTIVITY Police have fly-specked the weeks before disappearance for an explanation of why she might have run away.

They have instead found a pattern of typical travel withPaul, interspersed withunusual activity on her credit cardsand mail-service account. On Dec. 14, Maureen Canada, who hired Wood as an office manager at her Lighthouse Point marinatwo years ago, said she reached Wood on her cellphone in a Key West bar. Canada said she invited Wood to a Christmas party on Dec. 19 an event Wood attended annually and said she was looking forward to.

It was the last time family and friends spoke to Wood. Phone records indicate a final incoming cellphone call on that date, Stone said. Wood never made it to the party. The next day, on Dec. 20, police said, someone picked up mail from Wood and jointly held mail servicein Green Cove Springs, a town of 5,500 about 30 miles south of Jacksonville.

Police cannot determine who did the pickup and no one at the company will comment on the case. Around this point, suspicious credit card expenditures began large, frequent cash advances on at least five cards, Shotwell said. Three dayslater, on Dec. 23, Paul checked Island Girl out of the New River slip, police said, launching a New trip he planned with Wood in her absence. ByDec.

28, cellphone provider suspended her service, citing lack of payment, police said. Tandarich said that on Jan. 8 he tried to call cellphone. The last timehe spoke with his mother was early December; but he was accustomed to her life on the seas and was not alarmedby the lack of contact. But in early February, the family was panicked.Todd Tandarich, 31, who lives in California, contacted the U.S.

Coast Guard and requested it look for the boat. Police in Green Cove Springs, where Wood held her a two-month missing person investigation Feb. 5, said Gail Russel, chief of police there. CREDIT CARD ACTIVITY Police there did obtain credit card records, Russell said. Byearly February, withdrawals on the cards totaled $38,000, a fact Fort Lauderdale policewould learn after they took over the case on April 16, two months after Wood was firstreported missing.

In changed the name of his boat from Island Girl to Diamond Girl because, his daughter Tanya said, wanted to avoid the bad associated with Wood. By all accounts, Wood fell hard for Paul. After they meton a blind date in November 1999, Paul embarked on an intense, no-expense-spared courtship, friends said. Fresh flowers. A diamond bracelet.

A tripto Europe. And then a bold proposition: a five-year journey around the world in his boat, with his money, from South Florida to the Panama Canal to the South of France. better sit Wood wrote Beverly Hostelter, her best childhood friendfrom Ohio, when she decribed Paul and the trip in a letter dated Aug. 23, 2000. have really kicked this around in my head and talked to the kids and decided it is the chance of a Hostelter was worried but Wood was on her own living the life she had always wanted and she kept her reservations to herself.

The pair had grown up in Springfield, a sol- idly working-class town outside Akron, in the 1950s. Those who knewPaul describe the Harvard MBA- turned-race car champion as alternately sophisticatedand volatile. Wood wrote to Hostelter that I like about best is that I can throw him into a crowd of strangers and he Paul Gentilozzi, a former International Motor Sports Association endurance driver who competed against the father-and-son Paul team inthe 1980s, said John Paul Sr. was a much-admired mentor. In1984, while the three prepared for a Pennsylvania race, Pauloffered the younger andunderstaffed Gentilozzi his racing crew to help fix his burned-out engine.

was a fierce competitor, but he was Gentilozzi said. DIFFERENT SIDE Philip Bauso, who docked his boat next to 55 yacht behind an apartment house at 45 Isle in Fort Lauderdale, knew a different side of Paul: and volcanic. Bauso said that about 11 months ago, Paul threatened to kill him for parking in the spot Paul claimed for his largegreen Mercedes-Benz sedan. was drunk out of his mind. I came out of the boat and calm Bauso said.

backed down because I confronted him. What if someone was Wood also accepted temper, said her sons. Michael Tandarich said his mother devised a system a glass jar Paul had to fill withmoney when he swore or yelled ather to encourage him to manage his anger. As his birthday passed June 18, Michael said he all but concluded his mother is dead. just leave yourbest friends of 50 years, your children, your he said.

least not my 2B The Herald SUNDAY, JUNE 24, 2001 FLA Hire Ground 990618 Miami-Dade: 305-350-2222 Broward: 524-2535 Turn to Employment ads in HERALD CLASSIFIED ASSOCIATED PRESS, 1982 BOYFRIEND: John Paul Sr. LIFE ON THE SEA: After dating for 10 months, John Paul Sr. persuaded Colleen Wood to quit her job, sell her condominium, move onto his 55-foot yacht, Island Girl, above, and work as his paid assistant. CANDACE STAFF WORRIED: think he is covering something said Colleen son Michael Tandarich of her boyfriend, John Paul Sr. VANISHED: Police are baffled by the disappearance of Colleen Wood, 53.

Ana M. Haar President and C.E.O. The IAC Group EverywhereYouTurn: Successful Alumni.