A group of lakeside residents gathered at an Ajijic restaurant on May 7 to raise a toast to their friend Rob Cantrell on his 63rd birthday. Sadly absent for the occasion was the birthday boy himself.
Robert Wayne Cantrell II is the subject of a mysterious missing persons case that began unfolding shortly after he landed at the airport in Cancún, Quintana Roo on June 20 of last year. He had made the trip to scout out real estate properties he might be interested in buying, but never showed up for an appointment with the realtor who had picked out several places for him to view.
A resident of Jacksonville, Florida and owner of a second home in Ajijic, Cantrell was on the last leg of a strange journey that began with a trip to California for the June 16 celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Kol Ami synagogue. From there, he was booked to fly back to Mexico, but was waylaid by a series of airline mishaps that ended up taking him off route to Charlotte, North Carolina and then to Austin, Texas, where he boarded his flight to Cancún.
The date of his arrival there was eventually confirmed by U.S. consular officials in the resort town. What happened to him after that remains shrouded in mystery.
Please login or subscribe to view the complete article.