Cop Arrested in Case of Vanishing Lotto Winner

Jan. 25, 2009 — -- A Lakeland, Fla., police officer was arrested today in connection with the disappearance last year of a man who won $30 million in the state lottery.

Officer Troy McKay Young was arrested on suspicion of selling information to a person of interest in the disappearance of lottery winner Abraham Shakespeare, 43, who won $30 million in the lottery in 2006. Shakespeare was last seen in April but was not reported missing until November, according to the Polk County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, who suspect foul play. Shakespeare took home $11 million after taxes.

Authorities say Young, 42, sold information from law enforcement databases to Dee Dee Moore, 37, whom the sheriff's office has called a "person of intense interest" in the case. Young is charged with misuse of confidential information and taking unlawful compensation, a second-degree felony.

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Young met Moore in August 2009 through a mutual acquaintance, according to a sheriff's office statement. Moore told detectives she wanted to write a story about Shakespeare and wanted Young to verify information she had, police said.

Moore befriended Shakespeare in early 2009, when his millions were dwindling. She has not been charged with anything in connection with the case but police say she is the focus of their investigation.

Detectives investigating Shakespeare's disappearance found that no one had seen him since early April, yet he was not reported missing until seven months later, on Nov. 9.

"It certainly seemed strange to us," Polk County Sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Wood said of the seven-month lapse.

Wood said police have been involved with Shakespeare in the past, arresting him five times since 1989. Most of the offenses are non-violent: traffic violations for driving with a suspended license in 2008 and 2007 and withholding child support in 2006.

He was also arrested in 1991 and held for another agency and picked up in 1989 for loitering, prowling and carrying a concealed weapon.

Moore claims that she helped Shakespeare vanish to get away from people asking him for loans. Police have searched Moore's home and car and questioned her extensively, she told the Florida newspaper The Ledger.

Moore could not be reached for comment by ABCNews.com, but she told the Ledger that Moore wanted to escape.

Moore told the paper that Shakespeare had "planned on running" and that he had "planned on not coming back." She said the lottery winner was "tired of fighting child-supoprt battles in court" and was sick of people "badgering him for money."

Shakespeare left enough money to provide for his mother, Moore told the paper, and set up a power of attorney so he would never have to return to deal with any legal issues.

Florida Woman Claims She Helped Shakespeare Disappear

Moore told the paper that she bought Shakespeare's property from him before he disappeared and says she has tried without any success to collect on money owed to him, primary about $350,000 in mortgages.

Moore told The Ledger that she wished Shakespeare would come back to clear up police suspicions about her because since he disappeared she has been treated "like a suspect."

Shakespeare's mother, Elizabeth Walker, did not immediately respond to messages left by ABCNews.com.

Police spokeswoman Wood said that if Shakespeare is purposely in hiding, he has the right to do so, but they are asking for him to contact police so they can confirm his whereabouts and well-being. Police, she said, have promised not to reveal his location if he contacts them.

"He certainly had the money, he had the means to make himself unavailable," Wood said.

Anyone with information about Shakespeare's whereabouts is asked to call Heartland Crime Stoppers at 800-226-TIPS. There is a $5,000 cash reward for information leading to Shakespeare's location.