Camden Sylvia and Michael Sullivan

Authored by PrincessLdyBg91

For Camden Sylvia and Michael Sullivan, Who Disappeared in 1997, Still Some  Hope - The New York Times

Thirty-six-year-old Camden Sylvia and her fifty-four-year-old boyfriend, Michael Sullivan were last seen on November 7, 1997 in Manhattan, New York. The couple went jogging that night and were in the vicinity of Pearl Street and Hanover Square at the time.

Camden's mother went over to Camden and Michael's loft after she failed to find them afterwards. She discovered Michael's wallet, keys, his and Camden's passports and a rental video were on the kitchen table. Two pairs of running shoes a set of house keys and a bag that Camden carried when she took her work home were missing from the loft.

At the time, Camden and Michael were having issues with their landlord, Robert "Bob" Rodriguez. The police believe that Robert was having financial problems and wanted to increase the rent for all of the tenants in his property; Camden and Michael only paid $300 a month for their rent-controlled apartment.

Robert apparently threatened to turn off the heat in the building if the tentants didn't agree to a rent increase. On the day Michael and Camden went missing, Camden presented Robert with a petition signed by the tenants which stated that they would withhold their rent payments if Robert followed with his threat to turn off the heat.

Robert disappeared for two weeks after Camden and Michael went missing for no reason, but he returned to Manhattan by the end of November of 1997. He hired a lawyer and refused to cooperate with the police about their disappearances.

Later in 1997, Robert was charged with unrelated larceny, tax fraud and credit card fraud charges. He pled guilty to the charges and was sentenced to six years in prison. David King (an associate of Robert's) went missing in 1991 around the time he had an argument with Robert. David has not been found and it is believed he met with foul play.

Robert was scheduled to be released in 2002, but the New York State Parole Board reversed their decision because he was being evasive about the whereabouts of a gun cache that disappeared from his property in the late '90s and returned to prison for an addition two years.

In the years since, Robert has been released from prison. It is not known if he is connected to the disappearances of Camden, Michael and David King. Camden and Michael's cases are classified as endangered missing people.