Joe Cool Mystery Solved

After police issued a warrant for Archer's arrest, people in his hometown of Strawberry, Arkansas — a few miles from Batesville — began to whisper about his disappearance. In 1993, when living in Arizona, he had been convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor, for keeping the then-15-year-old Michaele out after curfew. Later he seemed to clean up his act by enlisting in the Army and serving as a military investigator at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. He married a woman named Michelle in 1998 (weirdly, she had a name similar to the 15-year-old's). A year later, they had their first child, a boy, and in 2000, Michelle gave birth to a second son.

Three years later, Archer went AWOL from the Army and was dishonorably discharged. The family moved to Arkansas, where the marriage dissolved. It was a sordid divorce, according to documents. She confessed to lesbian relationships, claimed Archer had a tryst with a high school boy, and added that he'd had sex with his own niece and fathered a child with her. (During a court hearing, Archer denied sex with his niece but admitted he was listed as the father on the baby's birth certificate.) Then there was the police investigation: Detectives in Arkansas were probing multiple child sex abuse allegations so serious that Archer was prohibited from seeing his own two children unsupervised. Indeed those claims made it seem likely he would lose a fight for custody of the boys.

Around this time, he wed Michaele, the girl from Arizona.

After the theft at Wal-Mart, Archer's family, friends, and new wife didn't know where he had gone. It was as if he had vanished. He eventually surfaced 1,100 miles away, in Hialeah. There he visited the Zarabozo family, whom he had met in the early Nineties in Guantánamo. He was especially close to the youngest son, Guillermo, who was only eight when they bonded at the refugee camp. The pair had kept in touch; the boy had even visited Archer's home in Arkansas. After graduating from Hialeah Senior High School in 2006, the then-18-year-old lived with his mother in a shabby pink condo off Palm Avenue and worked as a security guard.

It's unclear where Archer lived after arriving in Hialeah. Some say he stayed with the Zarabozos, while others contend he resided at the home of another Cuban family in the Miami area. No one is sure how he spent his money or how often he saw Guillermo Zarabozo, but a September 12 meeting was captured on tape. An in-store camera recorded the two men walking into Lou's Police Supply on Palm Avenue and purchasing two gun cartridge clips, court records show.

Eight days later, on Thursday, September 20, Zarabozo bought cell phone airtime and a SIM card under the name Michael Zoiou at a Coral Gables phone store. That evening, the twosome hung out at Monty's, a bar overlooking the Miami Beach Marina. With luxury condos looming above and million-dollar yachts docked just feet from them, Archer and his young friend were a world away from their scruffy lives.

That night the pair checked into a room at a faded Days Inn on West 49th Street in Hialeah.

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On the morning of September 22, Donna Van Laar's phone rang in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was her granddaughter. "Did you get your present?" asked Kelley, giggling. She had recently taken the kids to Disney World and then sent her grandma photos and a bottle of orange blossom perfume for her birthday. Donna thanked Kelley for the gift. "I love you," Kelley said happily, and they hung up.

Here's what Kelley didn't mention to her grandmother: Jake had a charter to Bimini booked for that day. She planned to go along to swim in the ocean and fish on the return. She and Jake dropped two-year-old Taylor and four-month-old Morgan off at Jake's grandfather's home and then headed out to sea.

Kelley wasn't the only one excited about the trip. So was Jake; it was his fledgling business's first Bahamas charter. The clients, later identified as Archer and Zarabozo, would pay the $4,000 fare in cash. They said they planned to meet up with girlfriends in Bimini. The two guys had found the Joe Cool while wandering around the Miami Beach Marina, looking for a ride. At least two charter services refused them. Then they came upon Sammy, the 27-year-old first mate, who was hanging out on the boat alone when they approached.

Sammy was a North Miami native, an expert fisherman, and a laid-back guy. Friends describe him as unbelievably funny and a fan of the movie Scarface. When the two guys inquired about going to Bimini, Sammy asked why they couldn't fly. Archer explained his girlfriend had accidentally packed his passport.