It's no secret that New Orleans primary industry is tourism. People come to New Orleans to party their cares away by treating themselves to hot jazz, good food, and strong drinks. Tourism had always been the one stalwart area in the economy which never failed us -- that is, of course, until Katrina. But recently, signs had started indicating a return to the pre-katrina highs for tourist revenue. Which is why a missing tourist is very bad news.
Early Friday Morning, 54 year old Houstonian Douglas Schantz went missing from Bourbon Street. He was last seen on the corner of Bourbon and Toulouse wearing a blue blazer, after having left Razzoos, a divey Bourbon Street Bar. His credit cards, cell phone, and room key had all gone unused. He was spotted one minute on a crime camera near a cab, and the next minute he was gone. Disappeared.
I suppose that many tourists go missing every year -- I mean, look at the statistics for Cruise Ships. But THIS case is so perplexing because he went missing from BOURBON STREET. Bourbon, for all of its shadiness, is supposed to one of the safest places in the whole city. Each bar is equipped with cameras, security, and there are people out there 24 hours a day. Schantz was staying at the Royal Sonesta, which was about 3 blocks away from Razzoos. How did this happen?
I decided to go down to the French Quarter to see what sort of police investigation was happening, what sort of canvassing operation was in place, etc. Imagine my surprise when I get there (around 3/4pm) and there is nothing. Nada. No signs at the hotel. No passing out of fliers. No detectives interviewing people. Nothing.
I started off my investigation at the Royal Sonesta, which looked to be back to Business As Usual. I spoke to a lady who worked at the PJs inside the hotel, and I asked her what the police presence had been like -- she told me that she had seen one homicide detective there on Saturday. When I questioned her and made sure she had said "1," she made sure to backtrack and qualify her statement by saying, "well that is all I personally saw." I asked whether they had any fliers up for other guests to see the face of the missing man, and the girl spouted off something about "hotel policy." I guess it *WOULD* be in the hotel policy to keep other guests from knowing a prior guest might be dead.
I then made the walk down the street to Razzoos. The walk was not long at all, and the proximity is such that there is NO WAY, even in a total incapacitated state, I would even THINK to get a cab to drive me home. An indication of how close the hotel is? You can see the signature blue awning of the Sonesta from the front door of Razzoos.
I would not describe Razzoos as a high end establishment. A couple of years ago, their bouncers killed a patron while trying to subdue him. So...safe to say that they've had their fair share of problems. The clientele on Sunday afternoon was mostly under 30 years old and really drunk. While I was there talking to people, this fight broke out amongst about 5-10 people, mostly women. Think: ANY fight on the TV Show "A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila." That Schantz and work collegues would go there after having a nice dinner with Tulane administrators is extremely perplexing. Pat O'Briens, I understand. Even "Bourbon Street Blues Company" (which they would have passed on their way to Razzoos from the Royal Sonesta) would have made sense. But Razzoos? I don't think I'd take my friends there if given the choice.
From what the employees told me, Razzoos experienced an average-to-above average Thursday night. The crowd wasn't too bad early in the evening, but after midnight, it became really packed. From 8 until midnight, a live band played; and after midnight, the DJ began spinning top 40s hits.
What was Schantz doing at Razzos? Well - it shouldn't be hard to figure out because the bar is COVERED in cameras. I counted at least 12, covering the patio area, the bar area, and the street area. According to a bartender, a homicide squad came in on Saturday to review the camera footage on Saturday. She seemed to indicate that the footage showed Schantz leaving suddenly - so suddenly that he never even closed out his bar tab. This was not information that I had previously heard, so I asked her to clarify the information about the open tab specifically, and she said, "Yeah we had his credit card here the next morning." After telling me this, she looked like she realized that she said something she shouldn't have said, and tried to backtrack. She started talking rapidly about the newspaper's account about how his cards had been inactive, and how they DIDN'T have his cards, but I think she was just trying to cover her tracks, and that Schantz HAD left his card at Razzoo.
I also spoke to some shot-girls, bouncers, and bathroom attendants who were working that night. They didn't really offer me anything of importance, except for the fact that they had not been interviewed by the NOPD. Now, maybe I don't understand the complexities of a criminal investigation, but I've had quite a bit of experience in dissecting police investigations from a legal perspective. This seems...not okay. One of the bouncers didn't even REALIZE a missing guy had last been seen at his bar until Sunday morning. And he's security!
I left Razzoos and walked down to the corner where the crime cameras had last seen Schantz. Looking around, I spotted a Lucky Dog salesman, and I spoke to him. The Lucky Dog stands stay open til about 4:30am on any given night, so he would have been there when Schantz was leaving.
The Lucky Dog guy offered me a couple of interesting nuggets. He told me that on Thursday night, he remembered a guy walking down the street who was EXTREMELY intoxicated. He couldn't confirm whether it was Schantz, but he told me that he noticed him because he "looked out of place" due to his "clean cut appearance."
He also told me that on Saturday night he sold a hot-dog to a man who was wearing a blue blazer, and looked exactly like Schantz. They were so similar in appearance that the Lucky Dog vendor allegedly asked him, "are you this guy?" showing him the photograph of Schantz. According to the Lucky Dog vendor (so, take this with as many grains of salt as you want), the guy's eyes said "don't say anything dude" while he mumbled something to the effect of "no, no that's not me." This blazered Schantz doppleganger then walked into the hotel right on the corner of Bourbon and Toulouse. He told me that he ran up to some NOPD officers/investigators right after this exchange, and was met with some skepticism. He could not confirm whether he saw any officers go into the Hotel to follow up on the lead.
Another item which adds some complexity to this story is that Saturday morning, the Times Picayune reported that the police found a dead body, the victim of an apparent beating, but released no other information, or follow up about that body. Not even a description. Now, I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I am related to some. They speculated that the dead body they found was that of Schantz, but because the Annual Orthopedic Surgeon convention (which brings in about 30,000 people to the city) had just begun, they preferred having the story spin, "Tourist Missing" rather than "Tourist Found Dead Near Interstate." But that would involve a high level of coordination and collusion from top down. Quite frankly, I just don't think the NOPD is organized enough to do that.
This story can go either one of two ways -- Schantz is either the victim of a truly heinous and tragic crime, or he just wanted to disappear. The fact that the NOPD is sending out their homicide squads would indicate that there is some evidence of foul play. But after talking to the Lucky Dog vendor, I was reminded of the curious case of Hannah Upp from NYC. I followed the Upp case with interest because, in some respects, she reminded me of myself. Young girl, living in NYC, goes missing without a trace. Upp was later found to be floating in the Hudson River, after having suffered from an episode of dissociative fugue syndrome. She was spotted all over the city, showering at gyms, checking her email from the Apple Store, etc. Is it possible that Schantz, at age 54, had a similar episode?
The answer is (most likely): no. New Orleans, for all of our Mardi Gras, and our Who Dat, and our Saints, is a dangerous city. A highly inebriated older man in a blazer is an attractive target. I just don't see this ending well.
Update as of Tuesday Morning. T-P Reporting Schantz likely fell into the river.
Read more
