Ex-wife accused Rockefeller of being fraud, sources say
Clark Rockefeller's former wife, Sandra Boss, accused him of lying about being a member of the famed Rockefeller family and asked for sole custody of their daughter because she believed he was a fraud, according to two sources familiar with the case.
Rockefeller, the sources said, was a stay-at-home father who said his parents had been killed in a car crash. The judge ordered both parents to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, the sources said.
The sources said that Boss, a senior partner in London at McKinsey & Co., makes about $1.4 million a year, while Rockefeller had no apparent income or job.
Police say Rockefeller was upset that he had lost custody of his daughter, Reigh Storrow Mills Boss, to Boss after they were divorced in December and he was granted only supervised visits.
When asked by Boss's lawyers for proof of his identify, Rockefeller could not provide it, according to the sources.
For a brief moment yesterday it appeared that authorities were closing in on Rockefeller after police in the Caribbean said they had confirmed sightings of the Beacon Hill man and his 7-year-old daughter, whom he allegedly kidnapped Sunday.
But Boston police dismissed the report that the father and daughter were on the Turks and Caicos Islands and the search continued as federal and local officials followed up on unverified tips that said the pair had been seen in other locations such as Smyrna, Del., and Port Jefferson, N.Y.
It is unlikely that Rockefeller will be able to pull off a feat that seems nearly impossible in era of instant communication and satellite technology - to disappear permanently, officials say.
"They'll find him," said retired Detective Lieutenant Kevin Horton, who ran the state's violent fugitive unit 23 years. "Travel with a child makes it really difficult, so eventually he'll get caught."
Yesterday, police in the Turks and Caicos Islands said they were sure that they were on the verge of capturing Rockefeller after they reported sightings by employees at a convenience store and a tire shop of a man and a young girl whose hair had been cut to make her look like a boy.
But Boston police said the report was not credible.
"It turns out that it was in fact a father and a little boy," said Elaine Driscoll, spokeswoman for the Boston Police Department.
But Detective Sergeant Calvin Chase of the Turks and Caicos Islands Police Department said the sightings were true.
"I can only tell you that my agency has proof," not allegations, he said in a phone interview.
Boston police have not traveled outside the area for any of the tips that have poured in, Driscoll said.
"We're still working cooperatively with various local authorities and pursuing numerous leads," she said.
Yesterday, police released new information about the father and daughter in the hopes that it would generate more leads.
Rockefeller, 48, who has been described as a stocky man with thinning blond hair, may have dyed his hair orange or red. But he has a permanent white patch of hair on the back of his head that authorities said is hard to conceal.
Those who know him have described him as speaking with an accent that sounds like Boston Brahmin, European, or Scottish. He speaks some Russian, likes sailing, physics, and art, and frequents libraries, police said.
Police said Rockefeller has claimed to be home-schooled and may tell others that his daughter has been home-schooled.
The child, police said, is talkative, bright, speaks with a British accent and has a large vocabulary. She also has a distinctive walk, hopping every five to six paces. Her favorite color is pink and she loves the book and the movie adaptation of the "Little Princess."
Police also believe Rockefeller recently purchased "significant amounts" of American Gold Eagle coins and may be trying to exchange them for currency. Police are also looking for any anyone who might have seen the pair at 5 Marlborough St. in the Back Bay, where Rockefeller and Reigh were whisked away Sunday at about 12:30 p.m. in a black sport utility vehicle.
They are also looking for anyone who might have seen them around Garden and Cambridge streets, where they dropped off by the driver, or at the Lewis Wharf in Boston and Grand Central Terminal in New York.
On Thursday, Boss released a video, pleading with her former husband to return their daughter.
The emotional appeal may not cause Rockefeller to come forward, but the publicity around the video, posted on YouTube, could scare him into giving up, said Terry Gudaitis, director of cyber intelligence at Cyveillance and a former CIA behavioral specialist.
"I think the publicity itself is sometimes a catalyst for someone to say, 'I can't run anymore because this thing is all over the Internet,' " she said. "It may push an individual to say 'I'm trapped now.' . . . They're too exposed. They're too tired."
Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com. 