DUNKIRK, Md. - A former Dunkirk cemetery owner and operator, accused of cheating plot owners out of nearly $1 million, is now suspected of staging his own death.

Larry Deffenbaugh's brother told police he fell off their fishing boat and drowned on May 10 off the coast of Virginia Beach, but now many in Calvert County, including his former lawyer, are wondering if he faked his own death.

"I wouldn't be surprised...with this guy anything is possible," said Robert Harvey, Deffenbaugh's former lawyer.

Up until 2006, Deffenbaugh owned and operated a cemetery in Dunkirk, Md., before it was discovered that for more than a decade he'd been ripping people off by spending their plot purchase money on himself.

Doug Lodge is the chief financial officer for Southern Memorial Garden's new owners. He says all the victims have been paid back, but says the damage inflicted by Deffenbaugh still lingers.

Last summer, Deffenbaugh was sentenced to five years of supervised probation and was due in court May 12th on a probation violation. He didn't show and that's when it was reported he drowned.

In the meantime, no body has been found and Deffenbaugh, known as an expert sea captain, swimmer and scuba diver, has advertised himself on a Web site looking for a job in the Caribbean as a charter boat captain or resort manger.

"I had been on his boats, personally; I know he is an expert boatsman. I would find it awfully hard to believe that he has vanished," added Lodge.

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