MISSING MAN'S CASE STIRS LITTLE CONCERN.

Byline: MARIEL GARZA

Imagine that one day someone in your life - your best friend, girlfriend, mother or neighbor - suddenly, and without explanation, stops answering the phone. That's strange, you think. But certainly nothing to get alarmed about.

After a few days of silence, the worry starts to kick in. You knock on their door - no answer. You call their friends, who know nothing. Your friend or relative is simply gone.

For every clear-cut missing-persons case like that of Natalee Holloway, who vanished in Aruba last spring after a drunken night out, there are hundreds of others who simply drop out of sight with little fanfare. And because the person isn't pregnant or a celebrity or a small child, you will probably never hear about them.

One of those is Sherman Oaks native Robert Spellman, 28, who on April 13 stopped his daily visits to his mom, stopped returning phone calls to his friends and sisters, and abandoned his beloved dogs.

I wouldn't have heard of the case had it not been for the tenacity of one of Robert's older sisters, Tracy Spellman of Tarzana. Missing adults, particularly men, aren't considered big news unless their disappearance coincides with some horrific crime, alien sighting or supernatural phenomenon. Not when, in 2004 alone, 37,809 adults were reported missing in California, according to the Department of Justice.

But Tracy kept plugging away, sending regular e-mails to every news outlet she could think of. I monitored the dispatches, fascinated by their determination - and increasingly - their desperation.

One day in early August the e-mails stopped, their disappearance as mysterious as Robert's. Had he turned up?

No, Tracy told me when I called. The new mom (she had had her second son just three weeks before her brother went missing) took a break from the e-mail blasts and amateur sleuthing. She had become discouraged by the lack of media interest in her brother's case and what she feels is a lackluster investigation by police, who aren't even sure he's missing.

``It's been frustrating,'' she said.

No wonder. She's fighting an uphill battle. Her brother's case doesn't have the elements of a missing-persons situation that typically compels the nation's attention - someone young and weak led astray by a predator. He is strong (``ripped,'' Tracy says) from hours working out at the gym; he had many female admirers, drove an assortment of fast cars and lived well.

Indeed, the strikingly handsome young man was seemingly involved in some shady situations before his disappearance. Robert privately bought and sold high-end cars that police suspect weren't all entirely clean. He had been evicted from the Woodland Hills home he was renting and sued by his landlord, who also happened to be a friend of his business partner.

When he was last sighted, Robert had several thousand dollars in cash he was supposed to use in a car deal.

As they say in the movies, lots of things seem suspicious.

Tracy acknowledges that the facts surrounding Robert seem hinky. But she doesn't accept that as a reason for no one to care about his disappearance or, God forbid, the end of his life. ``Nobody,'' she said, voice cracking, ``deserves to get murdered.''

I wish Tracy and her family well with their quest to find Robert. They may need it. Many of the thousands of people reported never turn up, leaving their families in perpetual limbo.

Anyone with information about the case can help by calling the family's hotline, [phone].

Staff Writer Josh Kleinbaum contributed to this report.

Mariel Garza, [phone]

mariel.garza(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Robert Spellman

Last seen in April