Rockefeller Allegedly Bought Gold Before He Fled

Clark Rockefeller bought $300,000 in gold coins last month, store owner says.

ByABC News
August 1, 2008, 3:37 PM

Aug. 1, 2008— -- Clark Rockefeller bought $300,000 in gold coins that can be used anywhere in the world weeks before he allegedly kidnapped his seven-year-old daughter and left the country, the owner of a precious metals shop told ABCNews.com.

Ken Murphy, 42, the owner of Boston Bullion, said Rockefeller bought 300 American Eagle gold coins last month. The coins are worth $1000 each, Murphy said.

He said Rockefeller, who went by the name Clark Rock when he came into the office, one of many aliases Rockefeller has allegedly used, said he had recently won a patent lawsuit and was investing the proceeds in gold.

"You can use them anywhere," Murphy said of the gold coins. "They can be convertible into cash anywhere."

Murphy said Rockefeller carried the gold coins, which weighed almost 19 pounds, out of the store in a briefcase. Murphy said ther money was wired to him from a bank account under the name Clark Rock.

Earlier this week a Boston police official with knowledge of the case said Rockefeller told one acquaintance that he used "$300,000 in gold bars" to buy a boat. Police believe Rockefeller may have fled the country on a recently-bought yacht named "Serenity."

Acting on a tip from a police source, ABC News located Murphy on Friday.

The revelation about the gold coins comes as police on the island of Turks and Caicos said Rockefeller and his daughter, Reigh, were spotted buying supplies on the island. Police say Rockefeller abducted the girl during a supervised visit in Boston on Sunday.

But the sightings were investigated and determined to be false, said Boston Police Department Spokesman Eddy Chrispin. "We've determined it was not him," he said.

Det. Sgt Calvin Chase of the Turks and Caicos police told ABCNews.com that Rockefeller and his daughter ? who was supposedly dressed like a boy and had her hair cut short ? were spotted Thursday at a Napa Auto parts store and a local 7-11 convenience store.

In a brief but heart-wrenching statement on Thursday, Rockefeller's ex-wife, Sandra Boss, appealed to Rockefeller to return Reigh, in her first public statement since the girl allegedly was abducted.

The statement came just hours after the U.S. Attorney's Office issued a federal kidnapping warrant for Rockefeller.

Authorities believe Rockefeller kidnapped his daughter during a supervised visit on Sunday. A black SUV pulled up and Rockefeller allegedly lifted the child into the car, eluding a social worker who was overseeing the visitation with his daughter and tried to stop the vehicle. The child lost her doll and backpack in the commotion.

If you have any information about this case, click here to contact the Boston Police Department.

From there, police say, Rockefeller and Reigh were dropped by an unwitting livery driver -- who since has cooperated with police -- at a Boston hospital where 30-year-old Aileen Ang, an acquaintance of Rockefeller's he met at a Boston sailing club, picked the father and daughter up and drove them to New York City.

Since then reported sightings of the man and the girl have been called in to police from around the country.