True Crime with Kendall Rae - Found Over 4 Years Later: Attorney Royal ‘Scoop’ Daniel

Episode Date: May 2, 2023

Royal “Scoop” Daniel III was an attorney in Colorado who went missing in 2007 along with over $900,000 of his clients’ money. Initially, people were concerned that Daniel had met with some foul play, but they soon realized that wasn’t the case – he was just a thief and a liar. Donate to NCMEC through my campaign!  https://give.missingkids.org/campaign/kendall-rae/c438796 Shop my charity merch! https://milehighermerch.com/  All profits from this charity merch will be donated to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: https://www.missingkids.org/  This episode is sponsored by: ZocDoc Vessi - promo code: KENDALLRAE Check out Kendall's other podcasts: The Sesh & Mile Higher Follow Kendall! YouTube Twitter Instagram Facebook Mile Higher Zoo REQUESTS: General case suggestion form: https://bit.ly/32kwPly Form for people directly related/ close to the victim: https://bit.ly/3KqMZLj Discord: https://discord.com/invite/an4stY9BCN CONTACT: For Business Inquiries - [e-mail]

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my cat right now. She is tinkering around. Just for those of you who don't know, I do have like 16 animals in my house right now. So but yes, today's case is a Colorado case and it is so weird and interesting. I think you guys are going to find this very strange. It's very different from most true crime cases. It's just an interesting one. We think you guys are gonna find this very strange. It's very different from most true crime cases. It's just an interesting one. We're gonna be talking about a man named Royal Scoop Daniel. So this case takes place in another area of Colorado, another mountain town.

Although not a super small mountain town, it's actually a pretty well-known like ski resort town in Colorado. It's called Breckenridge. I've gone to Breckenridge so many times. We always knew people who had houses in different mountain towns like my family could never afford one but we would just go and like stay in other people's houses. So someone we knew had one in Breckenridge and we were there a lot. It's a beautiful area. It's a great place to go if you ever

want to visit Colorado and it is where our story takes place today. So this is Royal Scoop Daniel and he actually moved to Breckenridge in the early 90s. Scoop was a lawyer and he had his own law firm in town and he was pretty successful and he was also very well known in the town. Like super, super involved in the community that he lived in. He was at all of the fundraising events, all of the parties. People just knew him would stop and say hi to him. There were a lot of fundraising events in this area.

And Scoop went to pretty much all of them. Like people knew that if there was some type of fundraising event, Scoop was gonna be there because he was a very charitable person. He liked to give money to various charities and, you know, good causes. So, like I said, he was a lawyer and actually most of his clients were resilient companies, and they were in various areas of steel production. So, he's living a pretty average life. He's doing pretty boring, lost stuff. He was 61 years old, and, you know, he's pretty settled into his life. He has a ton of friends. He's really involved in this community and he's kind of like settled down, you know what I mean?

He was described to someone that really everyone loved. He worked in this building. It was kind of a strange building because it's a mountain town and a lot of times there's like multiple things jammed in one building and that was the case with this like the bank was in there. There were law offices. There was like the radio station DJ was in there. There were law offices. There was like the radio station DJ was in there. There was just a bunch of random people in this building. And so whenever people would come in for whatever, like if they were going to the bank or something,

they would stop in and see scoop. Like that's how, well known he was. He had tons of friends and was really, really well-liked, honestly. He was known as being compassionate, helping other people in need, really caring about people's, like, personal problems. Like, when he talked to you, he truly valued what you were saying and wanted to know more, you know, he wasn't just bullshitting around with everybody. He felt like a real part of the Breckenridge family in a way. So, we're

going to start our story on April 26th, 2007. Scoop had a normal day that day. He got to the office by 8 a.m. like normal. Every morning in his office, he would make coffee and a bowl of oatmeal and eat that. And he did that just like normal. He had a normal work day, nothing out of the ordinary. And then around 6 p.m. he left work for the day.

And he and his girlfriend actually went to this fundraiser that night. They got there at around 8 p.m. And this fundraiser was actually like Titanic themed. So people were dressed up as people in the Titanic and doing like little reenactments and stuff. And while he was there, people said he spent a lot of time socializing, going around, talking to people

at different tables, greeting people he hadn't seen in a while. He definitely wasn't sticking to himself. He seemed like his normal, happy self, like going around and talking to everyone. So as many of you know, I really struggled with my health for a long time. There were many years where I felt extremely sick, I never knew what was wrong, and I saw endless amounts of doctors, and I kind of lost trust in doctors after so many of them couldn't figure out what was wrong or told me I was just crazy. And then I finally found the right doctor who figured out what I had, diagnosed it, and then gave me a solution,, diagnosed it, and then gave

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So it wasn't at all unusual for him to be noticed by people and to be talking to a lot of people and to just be the popular one at the event. Scoop was known as being a bit of a party animal. So Scoop liked to buy everyone drinks, he liked to have a good time and he also liked women. He was always doing something for a woman, having new women for dates. He was just known as being a ladies man, a real like charmer. He would be really flashy with money and almost use it to like manipulate people into liking him. He would buy people drinks. He would really really shell out the dough. And that night at the charity event, he had spent like 500 bucks on various items. So after the fundraiser was over,

Scoop went home just like normal with his girlfriend and they went back to his house, they slept there, woke up the next morning and it was a work day. So he took her back to her place at 5.30 in the morning and then went to work. So he got there, you know, a little after 5.30 and that was early even for him

and he was known for being kind of one of the people who was normally there early. So when other people started coming into the office, they noticed that scoop was nowhere to be found, which is weird because his coffee was there and his bowl of oatmeal that he had every morning was out and eaten. So he clearly had been there that morning.

So pretty understandably the staff was like, okay, he probably just went out and did something like went out and ran errand and he'll be back. But as the day went on, Scoop still didn't show up so they started to get a little concerned especially because they had planned meetings that day and Scoop had missed them which is very very unlike him so people around his office started to think something's really off here. It was very unusual for him to miss meetings,

especially because if he even was running late, he would call and let people know, even if it was like 10 minutes. So it was almost the end of the day and Scoop still had not shown up. So everyone was getting very, very worried at this point. He wasn't returning anyone's phone calls and no one had any idea where he went. By 3 p.pm, this staff was getting really worried about him. They started to think, you know, this is very, very unusual for him. He was very communicated with people and it is a small mountain town. Like, if this was in Denver, it'd be like a little different, but it's a small area. There's not that many places you can go.

This was so unlike him, so out of the ordinary, so they went ahead and made the decision to call the police. So police came to his office, and when they showed up, they realized that his car was still there. This was really strange to them because he was actually known as being someone who always drove even like short distances. He never walked anywhere, so for him to not take his car was very weird.

It didn't take long for people around the town to realize that scoop was missing because it was such a small town And he was you know super well known So him going missing was just so strange to people and people were really worried because like I said He was someone people truly really liked and this was scary for everyone So they searched his apartment and they actually didn't find anything out of the ordinary. Nothing helpful, no clues. All his clothes, all his belongings seemed to be exactly in their correct places. Nothing seemed weird or fishy even. Not only was his apartment perfectly fine, but his office was completely normal and you know the oatmeal was out in the coffee exactly how he would have things. What's really weird is his car keys were left in his office,

but not only that, his dog was also left in his office. Scoop was known for bringing his dog into work, you know, Colorado Mountain Town typical office, you can bring a dog in, and he just left the dog there. So that was very alarming to people. So because of this, please start to think that maybe Scoop was close by, but possibly injured or stuck or in danger in some way.

So they launched a search and rescue operation. They especially searched the areas around his office and his home just to see if anything was out of the ordinary. One thing that was concerning to the police, however, is behind the building. There was like this big river and it was not just, you know, a little creek. It was a river. It was rushing quickly and you know It's coming from the mountains. So it's cold at this time of year the snow in the mountains is melting and all that water Comes you know rushing down so it was flowing pretty intensely at that time People thought maybe there's a chance he like slipped fell in couldn't get out because of the current something like that

So they gathered a really big search and rescue team. Other departments helped out, got involved with the search effort and they divided everyone up into little teams and sent them out looking for him. Friends and volunteers are still looking for a well-known Breckenridge lawyer who's been

missing since Friday. Police say they don't have many clues about his disappearance. Police requested camera footage from his office. It took a little while to get it, but when they did, they saw footage of scoop coming in at 5.30 a.m., like they thought, but what's so strange is there is no footage

of scoop leaving the building, which I do not understand. Police had literally no idea how he could have left the building without being seen. It was almost like he had just vanished. So like I said, one of the local radio stations for this area was in this building and there was a DJ in there. His name was Scott Howard and he had actually called the police because he said that on the morning of April 27th around 7 30 a.m. he walked into the little kitchen at that

the whole building kind of shared and he and Scoop passed by each other when they were there. He was passing by as he was filling up his coffee. The morning he seemed distracted. He seemed a little, you know, he didn't really respond to my good morning. He just kind of passed. He didn't even make eye contact with me. He's usually always going to hire a smile out of him. But this morning he seemed very distracted. He just figured he was kind of grumpy, didn't have his coffee yet. But when he realized

he went missing, he thought maybe something was going on. So they ended up finding out that around 748 pm that night, the night that scoop went missing. He actually made a phone call to the police. The cell tower that the call was made from was a cell tower that was only a few blocks away from his office. So it was clear that scoop was still in the area when he was making the 911 call. If you assume that, you know, he was the one making the call. However, after talking with operators, it was determined that when the call was made, no one actually said anything and the call was just left completely silent. So because of this, people started to think foul play. You know, maybe someone has kidnapped Scoop or hurt him, you know, something has gone wrong. It was also discovered, though,

that in addition to his 911 call, Scoop had also made a call to the person that was organizing that fundraiser that he was at the night before. And he left a voicemail with his credit card information so that he could pay for all the purchases he had made at the auction that night. What's strange, though, is that this person got into the office that morning and they tried to run the credit card but the card was declined. And this made her actually think that he was abducted, that maybe he was forced to drain his whole bank account. Two days after the disappearance there was still no sign of scoop and so they decided to

bring in the Colorado Bureau of Investigations. So they started looking into scoops past and they started to realize that there was still no sign of scoop and so they decided to bring in the Colorado Bureau of Investigations So they started looking into scoops past and they started to realize that there was a bit of a wonky Hick sure going on they were kind of shocked to discover that before he lived in Colorado He actually lived in Washington DC and that's not the shocking part obviously the shocking part was that he secretly was married and had eight children The shocking part was that he secretly was married and had eight children. Eight children. Fucking eight. God, that's a lot of kids to hide.

So like no one in the town knew this. They were all shocked to hear this. So it's something that he was clearly trying to hide. Like he was kind of trying to start a new life in Colorado. Would he go try to start a new life somewhere else? So they spoke to his ex-wife and she basically said that he just dipped out like really suddenly and made this, you know, last minute decision

to go to Colorado and she was like, you know, haven't seen him since. So they also contacted his current girlfriend and they found out that the day that he went missing he also gave her a key to his apartment which she thought was really weird because they hadn't even been together that long and it was just kind of like a random time to do it.

And he also gave her running suits, his favorite running suits, and also some of his heavy winter snow boots, because he said he wouldn't be needing them for a while. With all these new clues gathered, the police felt like they had a little better picture of whose scoop was, and they had or possible scenarios of what they thought could have happened. He could have been a

victim of foul play. He had possibly succumbed to some sort of medical condition. He was experiencing some type of mental issue where he was disoriented and didn't know where he was or he just left on purpose. And then I don't know how the secretary failed to mention this like like, right off the bat, but we learned that the Secretary actually was given a check by scoop before he left. He wrote her, her, like, paycheck and left it on her desk. So if you're being kidnapped or something, that's not really something you do, you know, like, hang on, let me write a check before I leave.

It's kind of strange. So once people start hearing more details about this vibe in the public kind of changed. People were starting to get pretty annoyed with him. People were starting to think the worst with scoop that they were being duped in some way. Living in Colorado, I never know what the weather is going to be like, especially around this time of year, where we're coming out of winter still, heading into summer. I just don't know what the weather is gonna be like, especially around this time of year, where we're coming out of winter still, heading into summer, I just don't know what to expect.

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code Kendall Ray for 15% off your entire order. It was becoming clear that, you know, Scoop probably was responsible for his own disappearance. So after they searched a little more into his office and his house, they found some more possible evidence that he could have left on his own disappearance. So after they searched a little more into his office and his house, they found some more possible evidence that he could have left on his own. They looked through a paper shredding machine and they discovered that there were some papers about child support in there. One was even a letter that talked about housegoop

was behind on his child support payments. And because this was sent through a shredder, it really made people think, you know, he had something to hide or he didn't want to face child support for his eight kids. And because of this sketchiness around money, people started to think, okay, he's kind of a fake. Like he was walking around here,

being a big shot, paying for everyone's drinks and buying up the charity events and was known for being kind of a flashy guy, but he couldn't even pay child support. So did he actually have the money that he acted like he had? And then Scoop's girlfriend came forward and revealed that Scoop has had a bit of a financial issue. Apparently he had tried to get additional credit

through the bank before and was denied. So they decided to contact his bank, get all his bank records. And also another tip was called in from one of Scoop's clients who said that a real estate transfer and a 1031 exchange had happened and that the individual had given Scoop about $250,000 to keep it for up to six months before he reinvested it into some real estate. And basically after a while, the person had asked for their money back from Scoop, but he had already spent it, which is, you know, really and professional.

And after doing more investigation, they realized that scoop actually had 20 different bank accounts open, not sketch it all, right? He was constantly like transferring money around, moving it to different bank accounts, just being sketchy. They also found out that he had taken personal loans from people, like literally dozens of people and scoop owed money to all of them. So they started to put the picture together with the child support and everything else that scoop was in pretty bad financial trouble. And after the investigation process went on, they discovered that he had stole from seven different clients.

And because of this, he went from a missing person to a wanted person. The finding is that there is evidence that started to surface, that started to lead us to believe that Mr. Daniel was involved in criminal activity. We found sufficient evidence to show that there was probable cause to believe that he was involved in the criminal act of felony theft. We're insulting with recorders police departments

and as of moron, okay, search for us. And finally, you arrest warrant. As she said, we do not know where he is at this time. You only have probable cause to believe that you did commit crime. It is also setting complex and ongoing case. And the police automatically filed charges against him even though they didn't know where he was. One was for felony theft

and the other was for commercial bribery. And when the word got out to people in the town, people were really mad and upset. That's someone that they trusted, someone they thought was part of the community something that they really liked, had lied to them, had duped them all. So pretty much all of the public and the police were all turned on scoop. You know, there was still a few of his family and friends that thought, you know,

there must be more to the story and he's gonna explain it one day. And then one of his old clients ended up coming forward and saying that they were with him and they somehow got to talking about disappearances and like going missing and they were discussing how it would be like pretty much impossible to go missing in America these days, but he said that if he ever did go missing, he would have been in Brazil. So this was an interesting bit of information to police that he was even discussing going missing. So after a while, the case ended up going cold. Four years went by and then there was finally a break in the case in 2011 Wednesday, December 7th, 2011 to be exact. A man tried to come across the US, Mexico border in San Diego and

and when this person presented their passport to the US, they looked him up and they realized that it was scoop Daniel trying to come on home. If you like me to come on us. They realized that this man had a warrant for his arrest and immediately detained him. And he went to a local jail and this is where he told them, you know, his excuse for leaving. And basically, he was stressed out with work. Really didn't know when I left the office to walk downstairs. excuse for leaving and basically he was stressed out with work. 911 and then I said to myself that that was silly because 911

probably wouldn't be able to help me. So I just tossed the cell phone into the dumpster. So whether you believe scoop or not is kind of up to you, I don't know if this was you know something he did plan a wild in advance. It seems like since he was talking about going missing a lot that he probably did plan this in advance. But I don't know, some people think that he really did just make this crazy irrational decision because he was in a really dark place mentally and was having these bad thoughts. But I don't know, do you guys think he staged the 911 call? Did he just lie about almost taking his own life or did all those things actually happen. How far in advance do you think he was planning this? So it turns out that all this time he had been living in Mexico and was a writer for a website. He said that he lived a really modest and simple life, much more

modest than the one he was living back in Breckenridge, and he claims that he had no idea that this case like blew up and that tons of people were searching for him and his friends and family were worried sick about it Wait, look for me, but... It's not this. Get it off, it's not my character. But it's like, dude, how did you not know? You thought you just left and everyone was like, oh, whatever, like, we forgot about him. Like, what?

He didn't have contact with any friends or family or that girlfriend. The entire time he was there, he ghosted everyone and thought no one cared. Eventually, I guess he fell guilty. And he came to the conclusion that he probably there, he ghosted everyone and thought no one cared. Eventually, I guess he fell guilty and he came to the conclusion that he probably should just come on home. So in regards to all of the money

that he had taken from people and swindled from people and lost, he said that all that money was not spent on his personal life, that it all went in to trying to save his business, which I guess was pretty much upside down. Scoop ended up not having a trial and instead pleaded guilty to too felony

theft charges in exchange for 11 charges to be dropped. He actually went through a pre-sentence investigation to determine how long they should sentence him and they found out that when he was missing, Scoop had actually somehow applied for social security benefits from the US and actually received them from the federal government in Mexico. In this case, the judge did order a gag order, which means that a lot of the information never made it out to the public.

So there is like quite a bit that we probably don't know. But Scoop sentencing was on April 19, 2012, and he was sentenced to 12 years in prison. The maximum that he could have gotten was 16 years So I don't know I feel like 12 years for this is fair enough You guys will have to let me know because I'm sure some of you will disagree the court records show that scoop was charged with eight felony counts A theft of over $15,000 and also five counts of commercial bribery But these additional charges were actually dropped in the plea deal. His attorneys tried to argue that, you know, he needed to start getting to work to make money to pay off everything that he owed so he couldn't go to jail, but the judge decided that it was just too

much money to have to pay. He was going to need to pay people back nearly $500,000 and it was just too much to do and too long of time that he would have to do it. So instead, he was sent to jail and people were actually mad. A lot of people that knew him and that got conned by him or lost money from him. We're pretty mad. And they thought that the sentence wasn't even long enough. They thought that he should have been charged with all of those original charges

and nothing should have been dropped in the plea deal. But I don't know, you guys will have to let me know your opinions on that. That is gonna be it for me today, guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode. And make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple podcasts. It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show,

you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked or you can just search Kendall Ray. I will be back with another episode soon, but until then, stay safe out there. Have a sensational summer with H.E.V. brand products born and raised to be Texas favorites. Guaranteed. Spice up your backyard barbec HB Prime 1 beef fiesta jalapeno burgers with fresh pico de gallo and hunks of gooey cheddar cheese. And for fun in the Texas sun, play it safe with HB sunscreen in delightful

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