Missing millionaire and property developer Herman Rockefeller allegedly spotted at a general store in a regional Victorian town.
Homicide detectives have visited a general store in a regional Victorian town after the proprietors said they served missing property developer Herman Rockefeller twice on Monday, January 25.
Rockefeller disappeared after leaving Melbourne Airport on the evening of January 21 and police are baffled as to his whereabouts.
His bank account and credit cards have not been touched and his car, a late model Toyota Prius, was found abandoned near the western Victorian town of Ballan.
But John and Jan Spiteri, who operate the Gordon General Store about 10 kilometres west of where Rockefeller’s car was found, claim the missing business man came into their store twice on January 25; once to buy a hot pie and a sausage roll and a second time to buy milk.
“We still don’t know 100% if it’s him, but we’re pretty sure,” Jan Spiteri said yesterday.
“He looked a little bit unshaven.”
It has been confirmed that homicide detectives has visited the store, although it is unknown if any clues to Rockefeller’s whereabouts have been found.
A search of grassland near where his car was found also failed to uncover anything.
The millionaire’s wife Vicky, who made a public appeal for information earlier this week, told reporters she did not know of any business conflicts Rockefeller may have been involved with.
Rockefeller (no relation to the wealthy American family of the same name) has a relatively low profile in his home town of Melbourne, but has extensive experience in property and finance.
The Harvard graduate was formerly a director of Carlton & United Breweries and chief financial officer at the Pratt family’s paper and packaging business, Visy Industries.
Rockefeller was perhaps better known in New Zealand, where he worked as a director of casino group Sky City, was COF at investment company Brierley Investments and co-founder of Genesis Research and Development Corporation.
In 2006, he and his brother Robert pushed into the Tasmanian property sector, buying a $13.5 million property portfolio sold off by the University of Tasmania.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
