'Missing swimmer' to surrender Wednesday; son leaves jail

Raymond Roth, who was reported missing off Jones Beach last month before being found alive and in South Carolina, is expected to leave a mental hospital Wednesday and turn himself in to authorities, his lawyer said Monday.

Brian Davis of Garden City has said his client had been held at the facility involuntarily, until he was able to surrender. Davis said his client had initially checked himself into the hospital.

Roth's disappearance from Jones Beach on July 28 sparked speculation that he had drowned until a few days later, on Aug. 1, when the unemployed telecommunications manager got a speeding ticket in Santee, S.C.

Police believe he initially fled to Orlando, Fla., where he has a timeshare. His son, Jonathan Roth, admitted to helping fake his father's death in a plot to collect on a $50,000 life insurance policy, according to a criminal complaint filed against Jonathan Roth.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Roth posted bail at about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday and was released from the Nassau County jail, corrections staff said. He had been in custody since his arrest last week.

Jonathan Roth has pleaded not guilty to second-degree insurance fraud, fourth-degree conspiracy, falsely reporting an incident and making a false written declaration.

At first, Jonathan Roth told state park police that he saw his father walk into the ocean near Field 6 at Jones Beach until he was chest deep, police said.

Prosecutors said he then watched as authorities launched a search involving multiple agencies, equipment and personnel, including a helicopter, 40 lifeguards, five fire department dive teams, marine patrols and the Coast Guard.

Raymond Roth's wife, Evana Roth, 45, has said she was the victim of domestic abuse and that she suspected that her husband's disappearance was part of a scam to collect insurance money.

Saying she feared for her life, Evana Roth, a receptionist at a doctor's office, obtained an order of protection from Family Court in Nassau County barring her husband from contacting her.

Appearing at a news conference in her attorney's office in Carle Place, she said that Raymond Roth had been distraught over losing his job, adding that he may have thought he had "no way out."