What Happened to Douglas Schantz?

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

Non Sequiturs from New Orleans

So much has happened since Thursday! I will try to cover some of the more important topics in depth, but here are some brief little teasers.

1) I drove home from ATL, and had a tire blow out in Alabama. Anyone who tells you that rural Alabama is not scary is lying to you. I spent a harrowing 45 minutes in some garage clutching my blackberry like a sword. Luckily, I got home (eventually).

2) Persistence pays off! After tweeting all the saints players/siblings of saints players/people affiliated with the saints - one finally responded! This Friday, I will be interviewing Kyle Turley, former Saint and total badass.

3) Scott Fujita is leaving the Saints to go to the Browns. He got a deal from them that the Saints couldn't/didn't want to match. He was one of my favorite players, if only because he had a masters degree. Scott, you will be greatly missed. I actually am surprised I could get out of bed this morning after hearing the news, to be honest with you.

4) There will be a premiere party tonight at the Prytania for the release of the Saints Super Bowl DVD. I have emails out to contacts EVERYWHERE - including Corry Rush. Let's hope I can get a ticket. If not - I hope the paparrazi at the "red carpet" portion of the event are ready for a little competition. Check back later tonight for my updates.

5) Another tourist has gone missing in New Orleans. Yesterday I went to the French Quarter and spoke to some people about it. I'll write a more detailed post about this later. Yes, I am capable of being a serious-minded investigative journalist. Read more

Live from Central Perk

Dear Readers - I am live from Central Perk...a starbucks located somewhere in Metro Atlanta where I can occasionally blog.

Why do I call it Central Perk? Well, for one, everyone here knows my name! And by "name" I obviously mean, "overworked law student." How cute - they think I am working as I type furiously into my laptop. If only they knew that I was watching videos of Drew and Baylen Brees on loop.

But the other reason I call this place "Central Perk" is that there are so many regulars here that I feel like it's my haunt. First, you have the 180yr old woman who brings her own space heater that she plugs in under her table. Then there is guy who wears leather loafers, no socks, and has floppy hair. He always orders 2 venti macchiatos that he then proceeds to double fist. Finally, you have the various and sundry old-man lawyers who seemingly come to this starbucks to work. They LOVE to talk to law students, passing out their business cards like candy at Halloween. My friend once commented that their willingness to pass out their business card might indicate a less than stellar law practice, but..let's be honest here: wouldn't the fact that their office is a STARBUCKS be the first red flag that things aren't going well?

Everyone at this Starbucks appears to have a purpose for being here -- I appreciate that. One time I came in here and this married couple came to starbucks specifically with the purpose of having a marital fight. Why would you leave your house, drive to starbucks, spend money, only to have a fight which would probably be better had IN YOUR LIVING ROOM? Then again - I guess you could maybe say the same thing about coming to a starbucks to blog. Read more

Awesome.

So I just saw this gem on NYMag.com. Apparently Republic in New Orleans is getting national exposure because of their dress code policy.


I'm not going to lie - this is awesome. But do people from New Orleans really wear this sort of stuff? I associate Ed Hardy, etc with a NYC Bridge and Tunnel/NJ crowd. Would our version of Bridge and Tunnel would be people from the West Bank? Where do the Christian Audigier types hang out in NOLA? Harrahs? If we're going to nitpick club-hopping clothes, I think the more egregious NOLA wardrobe faux pas has to be guys who wear polos tucked into khaki pants out at bars. I mean, r e a l l y. Do people WANT to look like they are working at a best buy? Read more

I'm so New Orleans - like 1825 Tulane

Next Installment of "Ridiculous Things People Google That Lead To My Blog." No use in wasting time. Let's go.

"what does lil wayne mean by 1825 tulane"
Okay - so I don't like to talk about the individual I now refer to as Benedict Weezy, but my allegiance is, first a foremost, to my readers. Second would probably be to the people who stumble upon my blog through convoluted google searching. So, guy who didn't even mean to open up this website, this answer is for you.

Back in the day there was this furniture called Rosenberg's. The address to the aforementioned furniture store was 1825 Tulane. But Lil Wayne is not referring the store itself -- he is referring the commercials which made the store SO well known in the city.

When I was growing up, these commercials elicited one emotion from me: total and utter jealousy. Who was this girl that got to be the most famous person in New Orleans? Why didn't my parents love me and let me audition for commercials? Actually - I take that back. I think one time my mom took me to try-out for a Popeyes Fried Chicken commercial. AS IF that was going to help my popularity out any. Last thing I needed was to appear in a commercial where I would be stuffing my face with fried chicken. That's just writing the script out for the bullies. But the Rosenberg's girl who wasn't actually seen on the commercial? And just got to sing and be cute sounding? THE DREAM.

I somehow got off track again. Anyway - these commercials were SO popular. To this day if you say the word "Rosenberg" in a sing-song voice, someone will respond with "1825 Tu-lane." But it's something only a person from New Orleans would know. So, reader -- that is what Benedict Weezy means when he says, "I'm so New Orleans - like 1825 Tulane."

"wings of ;love theme song for tv show"
I'm only including this one because the typo in the search query leads me to believe that this person was FURIOUSLY typing out this string because they had to know the answer IMMEDIATELY. Is this song seriously relevant? Are people listening to this song independent of "The Bachelor: Wings of Love?"

"K. Gates"
K. GATES HAS ARRIVED. PEOPLE ARE GOOGLING HIM. Yes reader, K. Gates is actually a very good friend of mine. He occasionally appears on my gchat list. We're pretty close. I even interviewed him. So...kind of a big deal.

"archie, olivia, cooper, peyton and eli manning"
Wow. Talk about a thorough search strng. I think any one of these names would have been sufficient...but I guess some people aren't very practiced googlers? So, random reader -- what do you want to know about these people? They are a family. Some live in New Orleans. Some live in New York. Others live in Indianapolis. They are all pretty tall. A couple of them play football. I mean..? I think I covered it? Read more

On The Wings of Love

Tonight was the finale of the perplexingly popular television program "The Bachelor." This season was titled, "On the Wings of Love" because the debonair man of the hour was a pilot -- get it? Wings of Love? Like Wings on an airplane? ABC is so witty. I had been meaning to blog about this show ALL SEASON LONG but never got around to it, so I figured that tonight's season finale was probably as good a time as any. I will never be able to condense all the drama of the season into 1 post, so I think I shall just give some general thoughts.


How to even BEGIN discussing Jake. Throughout the entire season Jake oscillated between being almost serial killer-esque with his fake smiles and laughs, to crying uncontrollably. Don't get me wrong...I love a man who can cry in public, or on tv. But there is a HUGE difference between Drew Brees with tears in his eyes after playing the game of his career in the Superbowl while holding his cute little baby (What up, Baylen Brees!); and a guy who cries while appearing on a reality tv show where THIS is the theme song:

Let me tell you something right now...if I ever got on a plane and he was my captain I'd get RIGHT BACK OFF. His performance on this show does not inspire ANY confidence in the men who fly our friendly skies. Let's hope that Jake's newest gig on Dancing With The Stars is an indication that Delta saw his performance on "The Bachelor" and decided they'd be better off without him.


Jake's soon-to-be lady bride, Vienna! First of all, do you think Vienna has ever traveled to her namesake city? Methinks the furthest she ever traveled (before the Bachelor) was Daytona, Florida. What's her personal history, you ask? These are some of the things Vienna has done in her short 23 year lifetime: eloped with a man at age 19; stole $5000 from said husband's checking account while he was on a tour of service in Iraq; used that money to get breast implants; worked at hooters. Just the sort of girl you take home to meet mom! Jake thinks they have "incredible physical chemistry." I guess he would think that because she spent most of her time on the show attempting to climb on top of him, sit on his lap, wrestle with him, slap him with sulfur mud and so on. Men are such simpletons. Jake's the sort of guy who would go to a strip club and think he and the girl giving him a lap dance have "incredible chemistry."


This is Ali. Everyone was rooting for her, and thought she should win. After watching the first episode, I picked her out as my favorite, and thought her to be the most normal. She quit the show suddenly because she had to go back to her job. She is my age, lives in San Fran, and works for Facebook. But I think that we're all giving Ali too easy a pass. There is one thing that really bothers me about her: SHE SIGNED UP TO DO THIS RIDICULOUS SHOW. I don't think I have a single friend who would actually sign up/audition/try out for ANY reality dating show. Furthermore, Ali is going back for seconds, and will be the NEW BACHELORETTE. Ali is obviously a few screws loose. But I will obviously watch her show.


Random things I observed during the course of the show:
1. How many blankets do you suppose any given season of the Bachelor goes through? Seriously - next time it comes on, please keep a blanket count. I think they must have about 10,000 blankets strategically placed around the house, the garden, the pool area just in case the Bachelor and his lady might walk past there and want to have a seat under the stars. I mean, I watch "The Bachelor" with a blanket too...but my blanket is called a "Snuggie" and I am sitting underneath it with a bowl of SmartPop. Cue Beyonce's "Single Ladies."

2. Jake is 32. All of the women were <25yrs old, except for one girl who was his age and was eliminated almost immediately. I don't even need to make a social commentary on this because the show speaks for itself. Vienna is 23. Sigh. Men will never learn, and the older women get, the more likely the will end up married to their doorman.

3. I would love to see a Bachelor set in a less idyllic location. I feel like anyone can find love in St. Lucia, Wine Country, and a mansion in California. Let's set a Bachelor in NYC. We can call it "The Bachelor: Rat Race to the Ring." Let's give Jake a studio apartment, and let's put the girls in a house in Astoria. One-on-one date time? GET YOUR ASS TO THE R TRAIN.

Maybe i'll throw this out to my reader(s) (Mom - please refrain from responding): If you were at a bar and Jake approached you, would you even give him the time of day? Everything about his being bothers me so intensely, that my inclination is to say "no." Read more

Nashville Mobile Update: Strokin'.

This man is doing the worlds worst karaoke version of "strokin" on earth. Meanwhile his lady is dropping it on the dance floor. I guess regardless he will be gettin' some tonight.
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Nashville Mobile Update: Electronica

This man in the electronica band I am watching is wearing a gas mask. I am LOLing so much. They sound like velocoraptors being sent to slaughter. Their name is Kaztacyde. I am dancing like I am at a nsync concert.
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Nashville Mobile Update: Change of Scene

Have now stumbled into the 3rd level of hell. I am in some "electronica" club attached to the karaoke bar where teenagers are playing metal rock without shirts on, people are wearing paint on their faces, and my jcrew ensemble looks wildly out of place. The lead singer is drinking out of a gasoline container. Is there some way to twitpic this because it is so wildly hilarious/ absurd.
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I'm sorry, but...

Is there actually a song with the lyrics "god is great, beer is good, and people are crazy" ????
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