Clinton library builder's CFO vanishes, leaving questions

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The stress of restructuring the construction company that built the Clinton Presidential Library gave John Glasgow every reason to run away.

A seven-figure salary, a chance to buy part of a firm jointly owned by department-store chain Dillard's Inc. and a life lived in good spirits gave him every reason to stay.

Glasgow has been missing since before sunup Jan. 28; his car was found abandoned the next day at a state park. Family and police say it's impossible to tell whether Glasgow killed himself, was abducted or left to start a new life elsewhere. His family said the easygoing 45-year-old felt overwhelmed and anxious about a company audit, but the company said it found no money missing. The police say there is no evidence of foul play, but no clues to his whereabouts, either.

''He may be under some kind of compulsion . . . some kind of blackmail, that's a scenario you could dream up,'' his brother Roger Glasgow said. ''We're not suggesting any of these scenarios because we just don't know. But it does open up a Pandora's box of possibilities.''

John Glasgow was the chief financial officer of CDI Contractors LLC of Little Rock. The firm, owned by Dillard's and the estate of co-founder Bill Clark, built or remodeled many of Dillard's 300-plus department stores and put up some of Arkansas' signature projects, including Clinton's library and the headquarters of Heifer International. CDI last year had estimated sales last year of $432.9 million. Dillard's Inc. had 2007 sales of $7.81 billion.

With Clark's death last year, Dillard's has the option to buy his shares. The retailer, however, has discussed letting CDI employees buy Clark's shares instead. Glasgow was in charge of the redistribution and himself stood to buy a part of the company.

Glasgow's family and colleagues say the multimillion-dollar deal weighed heavily on him.

Weeks before his disappearance, his wife, Melinda, found him pacing in their kitchen as the end-of-the-year audit period approached. Dillard's, with its option pending, sent ''absolutely relentless'' auditors to review CDI's books, she said.

According to Roger Glasgow, John tapped his own phone line after perceiving a threat over how CDI depreciated its assets. Depreciation, a standard accounting practice, figures how business assets, such as equipment, lose value over time.

Roger Glasgow said one Dillard's official reminded his brother it was the CFO of Enron Corp. who went to jail when that company collapsed in an accounting scandal.

Recordings from the tapped phone line captured no further threats, he said.

Dillard's did not return telephone calls from The Associated Press seeking comment but in a joint statement with CDI told the weekly newspaper Arkansas Business nothing was wrong with the accounting.

''Neither Dillard's nor CDI believe any money was misappropriated by John Glasgow or any other member of CDI's management,'' the statement said.

The clean books fit John Glasgow's personality, his family says: After earning a $500 bonus for completing an anti-smoking program, the executive returned the money after he started to light up again.

William Clark, president and CEO of CDI Contractors and the son of its founder, said there had been ''a meeting that did not go well'' but that no one threatened or harassed Glasgow. He said Glasgow suffered from ''pressure that was self-induced.''

''The people buying in were obviously about ready to take a big financial step and John felt personally responsible to make sure that everything went well with the deal,'' Clark said.

Clark said the redistribution has slowed since Glasgow's disappearance. A former member of Dillard's financial office now oversees CDI's books, but the secretary still answers the telephone by saying ''John Glasgow's office.''

* Find John Glasgow: www.findjohnglasgow.com