Sep 30, 2006 10:13 pm US/Mountain
Friend: Missing Marine Planned Insurance Fraud
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) ―
A Marine accused of staging his disappearance in the Colorado mountains to avoid returning to duty had invented an "amazing plan" to be presumed dead so he could collect insurance money through his brother, 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 a search warrant released Thursday, 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 using insurance money by naming his brother as a beneficiary and having the money funneled down to him.
Camp Pendleton spokesman Marine Capt. Jay Delarosa said all troops are offered Service members' Group Life Insurance when they sign up. He said it was unclear whether Hering had a policy, but it was likely he did.
Hering's father, Lloyd Hering, said 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 about Hering's disappearance. Last week, they announced they obtained video of him purchasing a bus ticket in Denver a day after his reported disappearance.
West said they've taken a computer from the home of 20-year-old Steve Powers, who helped Hering stage the accident. Powers, who was ticketed for false reporting, told authorities he didn't know where Hering was headed, but that Hering planned to be in contact by e-mail or through an online video game.
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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