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In addition, his wife Dena, 33, has charged her husband with desertion, and last week was named the temporary holder of his property. Merrill Lynch and Swiss American Securities also are suing the missing Lewellyn. In a final family humiliation, Lewellyn's father resigned from his bank, which has now been sold to the Hawkeye Bancorporation, a Des Moines bank holding company.
Old friends and associates were stunned by the charges and reports that he had left behind brokerage debts totaling $22 million. Said Delmar Cram, principal of Humboldt High School, where Lewellyn was once student body president: "It's shocking as heck. Morally, you would have bet your bottom dollar on him." Cram added that Lewellyn was an "ambitious boy with sights set on the stratosphere." The Iowa criminal investigation division and federal agents are not looking quite that far, but they are checking leads in Costa Rica and Hong Kong.