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Bear Mountain Bridge Disappearance Baffles Cops

Some Think Convicted Swindler Samuel Israel III Faked His Own Death To Avoid A long Sentence In The Joint

HARRIMAN, N.Y. (CBS) ― The otherwise unremarkable 2006 Maroon GMC Envoy is parked at the State Police barracks just south of where it was abandoned.

New York State Police Chief Investigator Bruce Cuccia pointed out writing on the hood, etched in the dust and pollen: a message possibly meant to mislead. "Suicide is Painless," it reads. It's the title to the theme from "M*A*S*H, the popular TV show and Robert Altman movie, but given the fact that the SUV was found mid-span on the Bear Mountain Bridge it also seems like a message.

The SUV is registered to 48-year-old Samuel Israel III, a third generation financial trader and convicted swindler. He was due to surrender to federal authorities to begin a 20-year prison term Tuesday afternoon.

The former CEO of Bayou Management told his girlfriend he was driving himself to prison in Massachusetts but never showed up.

Israel has been cooperating with federal prosecutors since his conviction, but was given a heavy sentence by Federal Judge Colleen McMahon anyway.

The now collapsed Bayou Hedge fund cost investors an estimated $400 million over the seven years it operated. Former client Ross Intelisano told CBS 2 HD Tuesday night that most of Israel's victims don't believe he killed himself.

"We have no idea how much money he stashed away," Intelisano said. "Until a body is produced I don't think anyone's going to believe he committed suicide."

When we saw Israel's vehicle Tuesday you could still see a note bad with his name on it bearing the Bayou logo.

Is it a suicide? Officially the state police say, "Right now we can't determine that."

The next moment, of course, they'll point out that the U.S. Marshal's official is now the lead agency in the disappearance of Israel. They will also admit the Marshalls office seldom investigates suicides.

State police confirm that a surveillance camera on the Rockland County side of the bridge caught a distant image of the SUV with another vehicle pulling alongside. It's unclear if it just stopped or if anyone got in. That, and the absence of a body or any witnesses to a jump, have investigators skeptical.

The Bear Mountain Bridge spans the Hudson roughly 20 miles north of New York City, connecting Westchester and Rockland counties. Of dozens of suicides in the past decades only one body has ever vanished without a trace and that was believed to have been weighed down with a backpack full of rocks.

If no body is recovered, police say, the case of Samuel Israel III is going to remain a missing persons case.

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