Wife: E-mails show NY man faked own drowning

Evana Roth, wife of Raymond Roth (top left) speaks at a news conference on Aug. 3, 2012. / WCBS

(AP/CBS) CARLE PLACE, N.Y. - The wife of a New York man who was reported missing at a beach and then turned up hundreds of miles away says she found emails in which he discussed a plan to fake his own death.

Evana Roth said Friday she had no idea her husband Raymond was alive. At a new conference Friday she provided copies of e-mail he had sent his son Jonathan referring to the plot.

One instructs Jonathan to call his father Sunday in Florida to update him on developments in New York.

"It's anger, it's sadness, it's the public that went out to save a man who was not there and vacationing in Florida," Evana said, according to CBS New York.

Jonathan Roth reported his father missing Saturday at Jones Beach, setting off an extensive Coast Guard search that totaled tens of thousands of dollars.

On Thursday, Raymond Roth got a speeding ticket in South Carolina. Evana and her lawyer said that her husband also withdrew $10,000 from his wife's bank account.

"He emptied out my accounts Friday, Saturday morning, even up to the time we supposedly think this poor man is drowning in the water," Evana said.

Sources told CBS New York Roth had recently fallen on hard times, losing his job after allegedly threatening co-workers. He also put his house up for sale last week.

Police say Roth has said he plans to return to New York, but he hasn't surfaced. His son's whereabouts also are unknown.

State Park Police Capt. Bruce Marx told CBS New York there was no legal requirement for the officer to keep Roth in South Carolina.

"It's not a crime to be a missing person," Marx said.

Faking ones own death, however, is illegal and police are investigating if that is what had happened.