Insurance Agent Missing After Yacht Burns In Florida – InsuranceNewsNet

InsuranceNewsNet — Your Industry. One Source.™

Sign in
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Home
Topics
    • Life Insurance
    • Annuity News
    • Health/Employee Benefits
    • Property and Casualty
    • Advisor News
    • Washington Wire
    • Regulation News
    • Sponsored Content
    • Webinars
    • Monthly Focus
  • INN Exclusives
  • NewsWires
  • Magazine
  • Free Newsletters
Sign in or register to be an INNsider.
  • INN Exclusives
  • NewsWires
  • Magazine
  • Free Newsletters
  • Insider
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Staff
  • Contact
  • Newsletters

Get Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
Get our newsletter
Order Prints
August 15, 2012 No comments
Share
Share
Tweet
Email

Insurance Agent Missing After Yacht Burns In Florida

Terry Dickson, The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville
By Terry Dickson, The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

Aug. 15--BRUNSWICK, Ga. -- A day after his $558,000 custom-built yacht burned in St. Marys, David Trauger was due in Glynn County Superior Court to ask a judge to set aside his divorce and give him back the boat, Trauger's lawyer said.

Crystal Ferrier, who represents the 67-year-old Trauger, said he was prepared to go into court Tuesday and testify that his divorce in which the boat was awarded to his ex-wife Karen Barnes, 55, was a sham.

After the yacht Premium Time burned at 3:20 a.m. while at anchor in the North River off the St. Marys Boat Yard, investigators recovered charred skeletal remains.

Lt. Johnny Guy of the St. Marys Police Department said Wednesday he knows there was at least one burned body aboard the boat unless forensic analysis of the remains show there were more. Guy said his office has no idea yet of the identity of the remains. In addition to Barnes and Trauger, Guy said investigators still haven't located Larry Ford, a friend of Barnes' who was supposed to have been aboard a boat tied up next to the Premium Time.

Investigators and Georgia Department of Natural Resources rangers also searched the woods and neighborhood along the St. Marys River near Interstate 95 after a resident there spotted the Premium Time's dingy partially sunk in a marsh. Its bow and mooring line were also charred, Guy said.

Guy said the searchers didn't find anyone and that sonar equipment could be used Wednesday afternoon to search the river near where the Premium Time burned.

Ferrier said she doesn't know if the remains are Trauger or, if not, his whereabouts.

"He was supposed to be in my office at 2 p.m. Tuesday to prepare for the hearing. Obviously, he didn't show up,'' she said.

Until their divorce this summer, Trauger and Barnes had been married about 2 1/2 years, Ferrier said.

Their divorce was contrived as a way to get the boat into the legal possession of Barnes so that Linda Trauger, whom Trauger divorced after 20 years, couldn't lay claim to the boat as payment for money he owed her.

Had not Trauger willingly signed the boat over to Barnes, there is no possible way under Georgia law a judge would have awarded it to her in a divorce settlement, Ferrier said.

"He had this boat custom built before he ever met Karen. I have the bill of sale. He paid $558,000 for it. And he signs it over to her? No way in hell,'' Ferrier said.

Barnes and Trauger had agreed to remain living together aboard the boat when it was still at Jekyll Island, she said.

"He came back with flowers and wine in hand and all the locks are changed,'' all after she sent him a birthday card and as she was still using their credit card, Ferrier said.

Instead of living up to that agreement, Barnes took off with the boat, she said.

"He's just been devastated and distraught...He would do anything for this woman,'' Ferrier said.

In her own court filings, Barnes asserted that Trauger had been stalking her, had threatened her and that when he found the locks changed he tried to climb into the boat from the top. She called the police and there is a report.

Barnes had also filed a motion for the court to find Trauger in contempt for not paying alimony, but Ferrier said, "He didn't know where she was."

When they were still together, the Premium Time had been docked at Jekyll Harbor Marina, but Barnes had moved it to St. Marys. She claimed in her court filings she had to hide from Trauger.

Ferrier said she is mystified by the entire episode especially after hearing scuttlebutt Monday of a murder-suicide and that police had found bullets and bodies aboard the Premium Time.

None of it sound like her client, who did well in the insurance business in Pennsylvania before diminishing his role and moving aboard his boat, she said.

"Mr. Trauger is not a dumb man. He did make mistakes. One was signing this thing,'' she said of the divorce settlement.

Terry Dickson: (912) 264-0405

___

(c)2012 The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Fla.)

Visit The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Fla.) at www.jacksonville.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services

Wordcount:  712

Advisor News

  • What Rising Prices Could Mean For Your Clients’ Retirement Plans
  • 38% Of Investors Pulled Money From Stock Market In The Past Year
  • Financial Focus: Retirement Money Management
  • Americans Spread Their Money Across More Firms, Survey Finds
  • Now Is A Good Time To Buy This Inflation Savings Bond
More Advisor News

Annuity News

  • LibertyMark Freedom Fixed Indexed Annuities Launch
  • Nationwide Adds BNP Paribas Global H-Factor Index To FIA
  • Transamerica Launches Structured Index Advantage Annuity
  • Recommending FIAs: Start With The Client’s Objective
  • NC Man Wins First $5 Million Prize In Scratch-Off Game
Sponsor
More Annuity News

Health/Employee Benefits News

  • AHIP’s Policy Roadmap Aimed At Increasing Health Care Access, Affordability
  • Don’t Fall For Joe Namath’s Ads
  • Health Insurance Can Now Help Some Californians Find Housing
  • $2.7B Settlement In CalPERS Long-Term Care Insurance Lawsuit Is Canceled
  • Virginia Poised To Review Eligibility Of 2 Million In Medicaid ‘Safe Haven’
More Health/Employee Benefits News

Life Insurance

  • The 5 Secrets To Retaining Financial Sales Professionals
  • Life Insurance Activity Continues Dip In April But Still Stronger Than 2021, MIB Reports
  • Transamerica Adds Execs To Annuity And Life Insurance Team
  • Northwestern Mutual Invests $5M In Black-Led Financial Institutions
  • Protective Life Closes On AUL Acquisition
More Life Insurance

- Presented By -

How to Write For InsuranceNewsNet

Find out how you can submit content for publishing on our website.
View Guidelines

FEATURED OFFERS

Get Linked INN to your industry Connect with INN on LinkedIn to be first on all the news and insights that matter to your industry.

Press ReleasesAll press releases

  • OneAmerica Commits $1 Million Toward Financial Literacy
  • Transamerica Structured Index Advantage Annuity Offers Investors More Certainty with Upside Growth and Downside Protection
  • Senior Market Sales Creates First-of-Its-Kind Lead Acquisition Platform
  • Growing financial services firm Kuvare opens Des Moines office in East Village, continuing expansion in Iowa
  • BetterLife Selects iPipeline® to Digitally Transform Its Business & Better Serve Future Generations
Add your Press Release >

Topics

  • Life Insurance
  • Annuity News
  • Health/Employee Benefits
  • Property and Casualty
  • Advisor News
  • Washington Wire
  • Regulation News
  • Sponsored Content
  • Webinars
  • Monthly Focus

Top Sections

  • Life Insurance
  • Annuity News
  • Health/Employee Benefits News
  • Property and Casualty News
  • AdvisorNews
  • Washington Wire
  • Insurance Webinars

Our Company

  • About
  • Editorial Staff
  • Magazine
  • Write for INN
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Sign up for our FREE e-Newsletter!

Get breaking news, exclusive stories, and money- making insights straight into your inbox.

select Newsletter Options
Facebook Linkedin Twitter
© 2022 InsuranceNewsNet.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • AdvisorNews

Sign in with your INNsider Account

Not registered? Become an INNsider.