Who Is Clark Rockefeller?

After returning seven-year-old Reigh Boss safely to her mother, Sandra Boss, police are working to establish Rockefeller’s motives, his failed plans, and his identity.

The Australian reported that “the couple divorced in part over ‘identity issues,’” perhaps an understatement for a reported con man with several aliases.

Rockefeller was refused bail at a preliminary hearing in Boston today. In a stunning development, Rockefeller’s fingerprints have been matched to a driver’s license application in another state; the name, presumably an alias, on that application has been linked to a long-ago murder in California. Rockefeller’s attorney denies both any connection to the murder, and the proposition that Rockefeller could be guilty of kidnapping with respect to his own daughter.

As the Boston Herald notes, Rockefeller had been the primary caregiver since Reigh’s birth. Yet in their divorce settlement, he gave Boss custody of Reigh in exchange for their $1.5 million estate. Authorities suspect he took the settlement to avoid surrendering his birth certificate. Following the decision in December, Boss took Reigh with her to London.

Evidently, Rockefeller had second thoughts, and allegedly kidnapped Reigh during a supervised visit at his Boston home on July 27. Police, following Rockefeller’s hints to the getaway drivers, initially believed he planned to escape on a yacht.

Two months ago, Bruce Boswell, a Baltimore resident, met with Rockefeller and sold him a catamaran—not the “yacht” Rockefeller had described. The sale was completed after hours at an Obsidian Realty office he falsely claimed to own. According to the Baltimore Sun, Rockefeller “punched in an alarm code, entered the office and wrote up a bill of sale.”

Rockefeller told Boswell about his plans to buy and renovate a historic theater in West Baltimore, spoke as though he operated in posh circles in New York, and “said negative things about women.”

Police caught Rockefeller Saturday following a tip from Obsidian employees. Thomas Lee, Boston Police Superintendent said, “The way he operates, I’m sure he would have started a new life in high-society circles, and probably become an upstanding Baltimore citizen.”

The Boston Globe, citing law enforcement forces, reported today that Rockefeller's fingerprints, taken upon his arrest, have been linked to an out-of-state license application under a different name—presumably another alias. That name, in turn, is on a list of people wanted in a homicide case in California that is believed to have occurred more than a decade ago. Los Angeles detectives are traveling to Boston to interview Rockefeller in connection with the case.

Rockefeller's attorney, Steven Hrones, told reporters today that Rockefeller cannot be guilty of kidnapping his own daughter, and that Rockefeller had no connection to the California murder.

According to British paper the Daily Mail, “A detective said: ‘He has no work history, no educational history, not even a social security number.’” A friend of Rockefeller’s said that, following the custody agreement and his wife’s changing her phone number, “He was incredibly bitter.” The friend also shared what he’d been told or guessed about Rockefeller’s background, including that he was “born and raised in New York and lost both parents in a car crash.”

Rockefeller introduced himself to the Baltimore man who eventually sold him a small catamaran as Chip Maclauglin, but asked that the boat be registered under the name Chip Smith. Boswell said, “He said he didn’t like the name MacLaughlin.” Employees at Obsidian Reality are cooperating with investigators. Rockefeller had initially claimed that he owned the company. Harry MacLaughlin owns the corporation that oversees Obsidian, Harbor Reality.

The New York Post reported that Rockefeller had furnished a three-bedroom house in Mount Vernon, a posh neighborhood in Baltimore, with newly bought mattresses, a fridge, and a picnic table. The home was rented “several months ago” and equipped with “all the necessities of a long-term residence.”

The Australian writes of Sandra Boss: “It remains unclear how a brilliant businesswoman, with high society connections on both sides of the Atlantic, had come to be duped by such an improbable figure as Mr. Rockefeller.”

The Boston Globe, citing law enforcement forces, reported today that Rockefeller's fingerprints, taken upon his arrest, have been linked to an out-of-state license application under a different name, presumably another alias.  That name, in turn, is on a list of people wanted in a homicide case in California that is believed to have occurred more than a decade ago.   Los Angeles detectives are traveling to Boston to interview Rockefeller in connection with the case.