By 1800 BCE, Abraham took his place as the the patriarch of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. In 1612 AD William Shakespeare was arguably the most esteemed writer in the English language. And in 2006, Abraham Shakespeare — a truck driver's assistant who lived with his mother — won $30 million in the Florida lottery...and his good fortune may have cost him his life.
Shakespeare vanished months ago. His mother hopes he is somewhere in the Caribbean, lying on a beach and enjoying the good life away from all the hangers-on who were constantly hitting him up for money. More likely he's buried in the surf.
"There are a lot of odd and bizarre circumstances in this case," Sheriff Grady Judd said. "We fear and are preparing for the worst. We're working this case as if it were a homicide." Investigators have a "person of interest" in the disappearance: a 37-year-old woman who befriended Shakespeare after he won the lottery - Dorice Donegan "DeeDee" Moore has information about Shakespeare.
Shakespeare (43), won the big jackpot after buying a lottery ticket at a convenience store in a town called Frostproof, claiming later that he gave the last $3 in his pocket to a homeless man just before the winning numbers were announced. Shakespeare — who had a criminal record that included arrests and prison time for burglary, battery and not paying child support — took a lump-sum payment of $16.9 million instead of annual installments.
He bought a Nissan Altima, a Rolex from a pawn shop, a $1 million home in a gated community. He talked about starting a foundation for the poor and insisted the money wouldn't change him. "I'm not a material person," he said in 2007. "I don't let material things run me. I'm on a tight budget." And then the money quickly caused him problems.
A former co-worker sued him in 2007, accusing Shakespeare of stealing the winning ticket from him. Six months later, a jury ruled the ticket was Shakespeare's. Then there were the people constantly asking him for a piece of his fortune. Shakespeare's mother said her son was generous, paying for funerals, lending money to friends starting businesses and even giving a million dollars to a guy known only as "Big Man." That last part doesn't sound generous, just stupid.
Not long after he bought the million-dollar home in early 2007, he was approached by Moore, who claimed she was interested in writing a book about Shakespeare's life. She became something of a financial adviser to Shakespeare, who never graduated high school. Property records show that Moore's company, American Medical Professionals, bought Shakespeare's home for $655,000 last January. His mother said the last time she saw him was shortly afterward, around her birthday in February.
Detectives said that Moore began using Shakespeare's cell phone in April 2009 to text the man's relatives and friends to have them believe it was Shakespeare attempting to contact them. Officials also said Moore is believed to have offered to give away a home worth approximately $200,000 in exchange for making a false report to law enforcement regarding an alleged recent sighting of Shakespeare. Moore also allegedly paid one of Shakespeare's relatives $5,000 to hand deliver a birthday card containing cash to Shakespeare's mother suggesting that the card was from her son.
The sheriff said the last time anyone saw Shakespeare was in April — but it wasn't until Nov. 9 that he was reported missing, by a police informant of all people.
And the story gets more bizarre. According to The Ledger of Lakeland, Moore contacted reporters at the newspaper in April, saying Shakespeare was "laying low" because people tried to suck money out of him. But on Dec. 5, a sobbing Moore told The Ledger that she helped Shakespeare disappear, but now wants him to return because detectives were searching her home and car and looking for blood on her belongings. She said she was also upset that detectives went through her belongings and car while looking for clues in Shakespeare's disappearance.
One reason he wanted to leave, she said, was a child support case for a child he allegedly fathered after winning the lottery. "Abraham sold me his mess to get a better life," she told the paper. She even gave the paper a video that she said she took of Abraham. In the video, he says he is tired of people asking him for money. "They don't take no for an answer," he says. "So where you wanna go to?" Moore asks in the video. "It don't matter to me. I'm not a picky person," Shakespeare replies. Moore told the paper that she took the video to "protect herself." Which is the same reason I videotape all the escorts I hire...you never know when one is going to claim you beat them. Sorry your honor, but she had those bruises when she got here....because that's how I like them.
Moore said she filed paperwork to take over five mortgages totaling about $370,000 that had been owed to Shakespeare. She said she sold the loans at a loss to another person. She added that many of the people who borrowed from Shakespeare have refused to pay, and she feels threatened by some of them. Moore's past includes a year of probation after she was charged with falsely reporting that she was carjacked and raped in 2001. Officials said she concocted the scheme so her insurance company would reimburse her for the SUV, which she claimed had been stolen.
Sheriff's officials won't comment on Moore's involvement in Shakespeare's life, but I think when you're being investigated as a murder suspect, that's comment enough.
Shakespeare vanished months ago. His mother hopes he is somewhere in the Caribbean, lying on a beach and enjoying the good life away from all the hangers-on who were constantly hitting him up for money. More likely he's buried in the surf."There are a lot of odd and bizarre circumstances in this case," Sheriff Grady Judd said. "We fear and are preparing for the worst. We're working this case as if it were a homicide." Investigators have a "person of interest" in the disappearance: a 37-year-old woman who befriended Shakespeare after he won the lottery - Dorice Donegan "DeeDee" Moore has information about Shakespeare.
Shakespeare (43), won the big jackpot after buying a lottery ticket at a convenience store in a town called Frostproof, claiming later that he gave the last $3 in his pocket to a homeless man just before the winning numbers were announced. Shakespeare — who had a criminal record that included arrests and prison time for burglary, battery and not paying child support — took a lump-sum payment of $16.9 million instead of annual installments.
He bought a Nissan Altima, a Rolex from a pawn shop, a $1 million home in a gated community. He talked about starting a foundation for the poor and insisted the money wouldn't change him. "I'm not a material person," he said in 2007. "I don't let material things run me. I'm on a tight budget." And then the money quickly caused him problems.
A former co-worker sued him in 2007, accusing Shakespeare of stealing the winning ticket from him. Six months later, a jury ruled the ticket was Shakespeare's. Then there were the people constantly asking him for a piece of his fortune. Shakespeare's mother said her son was generous, paying for funerals, lending money to friends starting businesses and even giving a million dollars to a guy known only as "Big Man." That last part doesn't sound generous, just stupid.
Not long after he bought the million-dollar home in early 2007, he was approached by Moore, who claimed she was interested in writing a book about Shakespeare's life. She became something of a financial adviser to Shakespeare, who never graduated high school. Property records show that Moore's company, American Medical Professionals, bought Shakespeare's home for $655,000 last January. His mother said the last time she saw him was shortly afterward, around her birthday in February.
Detectives said that Moore began using Shakespeare's cell phone in April 2009 to text the man's relatives and friends to have them believe it was Shakespeare attempting to contact them. Officials also said Moore is believed to have offered to give away a home worth approximately $200,000 in exchange for making a false report to law enforcement regarding an alleged recent sighting of Shakespeare. Moore also allegedly paid one of Shakespeare's relatives $5,000 to hand deliver a birthday card containing cash to Shakespeare's mother suggesting that the card was from her son.
The sheriff said the last time anyone saw Shakespeare was in April — but it wasn't until Nov. 9 that he was reported missing, by a police informant of all people.
And the story gets more bizarre. According to The Ledger of Lakeland, Moore contacted reporters at the newspaper in April, saying Shakespeare was "laying low" because people tried to suck money out of him. But on Dec. 5, a sobbing Moore told The Ledger that she helped Shakespeare disappear, but now wants him to return because detectives were searching her home and car and looking for blood on her belongings. She said she was also upset that detectives went through her belongings and car while looking for clues in Shakespeare's disappearance.
One reason he wanted to leave, she said, was a child support case for a child he allegedly fathered after winning the lottery. "Abraham sold me his mess to get a better life," she told the paper. She even gave the paper a video that she said she took of Abraham. In the video, he says he is tired of people asking him for money. "They don't take no for an answer," he says. "So where you wanna go to?" Moore asks in the video. "It don't matter to me. I'm not a picky person," Shakespeare replies. Moore told the paper that she took the video to "protect herself." Which is the same reason I videotape all the escorts I hire...you never know when one is going to claim you beat them. Sorry your honor, but she had those bruises when she got here....because that's how I like them.
Moore said she filed paperwork to take over five mortgages totaling about $370,000 that had been owed to Shakespeare. She said she sold the loans at a loss to another person. She added that many of the people who borrowed from Shakespeare have refused to pay, and she feels threatened by some of them. Moore's past includes a year of probation after she was charged with falsely reporting that she was carjacked and raped in 2001. Officials said she concocted the scheme so her insurance company would reimburse her for the SUV, which she claimed had been stolen.
Sheriff's officials won't comment on Moore's involvement in Shakespeare's life, but I think when you're being investigated as a murder suspect, that's comment enough.
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