Theories abound about fate of missing screenwriter

By Amanda Covarrubias
Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Screenwriter Gary DeVore, who co-wrote the Gregory Hines-Billy Crystal action film ''Running Scared,'' has not been seen since vanishing in the Mojave Desert a year ago Sunday while driving home from New Mexico.Some friends say the 55-year-old DeVore, who was returning from a script meeting with actress Marsha Mason, was depressed over his sagging career and tax troubles, and simply walked away from it all. His wife of 1 1/2 years believes her husband was injured in an abduction and suffers from amnesia. And his publicist thinks DeVore engineered his own disappearance -- with help from the CIA -- in an attempt to become the main character in his script for ''The Big Steal,'' a remake of the 1949 Robert Mitchum movie. ''I'm living this nightmare that can't go away,'' says wife Wendy Oates DeVore. ''I would love to give up because this is a very painful existence. But I can't.'' Mrs. DeVore was the last person to speak with her husband. He called her from the road near Barstow, Calif., shortly after midnight June 28 to say he was about three hours away from their beachfront home in Carpinteria, Calif. He had spent four days near Santa Fe, N.M., working on the ''The Big Steal'' script at Miss Mason's home. The actress, an old friend, was helping him with the script. But DeVore vanished without a trace, and so did his new, white Ford Explorer crammed with cameras, a laptop computer and horse-riding equipment. Miss Mason did not return calls seeking comment but previously has said that DeVore seemed normal and happy when he left for the return trip to California. While police say they have no clue as to what happened, Sgt. Mike Burridge of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department said investigators will continue to follow tips and leads.

In the weeks following her husband's disappearance, Mrs. DeVore hired private detectives, organized air and ground searches and even sought the advice of psychics in an effort to find him. She also posted a $100,000 reward but rescinded it this year out of fear bounty hunters might kill him to collect the cash. Despite these failed attempts, she believes her husband is still alive.''I want to think that whatever happened to him, he was left for dead and survived,'' she said. ''He could be one of those rare amnesia victims and we could find him. There is a chance he will return. There is something in me that allows me to believe he did not do this intentionally.'' Some friends say DeVore, whose screenwriting credits include the Christopher Walken film ''The Dogs of War,'' had been depressed about his sagging career, which consisted mostly of doctoring other people's scripts. He complained he had writer's block. And he was upset about a tax battle with one of his three ex-wives, Maria Cole, widow of Nat King Cole. His financial troubles had forced him to declare bankruptcy in the early 1990s. He had confided to friends that ''The Big Steal'' was his last chance to redeem himself.

''He was very bummed out about where his life was,'' said friend and former manager Frank Wuliger. ''I think he walked away from it. He just couldn't face the life he had.'' Another friend, producer Barry Cahn, doesn't buy that theory. He noted that DeVore was driving a sport utility vehicle, frequently targeted by car theft rings for smuggling into Mexico. ''I think he met with foul play,'' Cahn said. ''It was either something to do with the car he was driving or the kind of person he was. He might have stopped to help somebody.'' DeVore's publicist, Michael Sands, is convinced DeVore engineered his own disappearance, with help from a friend in the Central Intelligence Agency, in a scheme to become the leading role in ''The Big Steal'' script as sort of a midlife adventure.

DeVore's version of the movie was to take place during the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama, where his hero would race across the country trying to catch Army intelligence officers who had robbed a Panamanian bank and made off with a secret CIA slush fund. ''I want to believe he's out of the country, probably Panama, writing the whole thing,'' Sands said. ''It's the perfect setup in a perfect movie. Who wouldn't buy it?''