People want to know: Who is Scott Peterson?

His cell phone rings incessantly. TV camera crews capture his every move. Curious people drive, slowly, by his home every few minutes.

For Scott Peterson, privacy is a thing of the past. He has become perhaps the most recognizable man in Modesto.

"I feel badly for him," said Brian Argain, a friend of Scott and Laci Peterson's. "I can't even imagine being in Scott's shoes. Everybody has a theory on what happened to Laci, but nobody really knows. It's all very sad."

Laci, Scott's wife, was reported missing on Christmas Eve. The story has been a nightly fixture on many national TV news programs. Internet forums and talk shows brim with wild speculation about what happened to the pregnant woman.

Early on, family and friends described the couple's relationship as perfect. Most pledged unwavering support. Then cracks began to appear.

Laci's side of the family that her husband had an affair and during the summer took out a $250,000 life insurance policy on his 27-year-old wife, according to family members.

The family felt betrayed, and they distanced themselves from Scott. Many of Laci's friends also left his side. Others remain loyal to a man whom they consider a good friend.

"We're all looking for the truth," Argain said. "I'm going to support Scott no matter what the rumors are. It doesn't affect my friendship with him. Just because he may have had an affair doesn't mean he has anything to do with her disappearance."

Still, his recent behavior has many people -- including some who know him -- asking the same question:

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He was born Oct. 24, 1971, at Sharp Hospital in San Diego. His mother, Jacqueline, described him as a healthy, happy baby. The youngest of Lee and Jacqueline Peterson's seven children, Scott enjoyed no shortage of attention growing up.

As Lee raised his five sons, he instilled in them his passions for golfing, fishing and hunting. Scott quickly took to hunting and fishing as a young boy; golf was another story.

"When he was about 6 or 7 years old, we'd all go golfing together," Jacqueline said in an interview last week. "He would put his fishing pole in his bag because the course we often went to was on the San Diego River. By the second hole, he'd stop golfing and start fishing. We'd pass by him every so often, and he usually fished until we were done golfing."

The family, especially the Peterson boys, often took fishing trips to the mountains. Scott eventually convinced his father to buy a fishing boat.

As Scott got older, his parents enticed him to go golfing with them by letting him drive the cart. Over time, he began to excel at the sport.

He made the golf team at University of San Diego High School, playing alongside Phil Mickelson, who is now a touring professional.

"Lee told him once if he ever played a round of scratch golf, he'd buy him a Ferrari," Jacqueline said. "Lee never thought it would happen, but Scott was doing that before he got out of high school. We did get him a car, but it was a used Peugeot sedan. We thought it would be safer."

Scott had no living grandparents. So, while he was in high school, he befriended an elderly woman who had no grandchildren and visited her on Sundays after church, Jacqueline said.

"The school he went to encouraged community service," she said. "One day, he told us he was bringing his grandmother to Grandparents Day at the school. I asked where he got a grandmother. He told me he'd had one for a while.

"I went and met her the following Sunday. She just kept saying what a great kid he was, and how nice it was that he visited an old lady and brightened her day."

While Scott was in high school, his parents received two letters from people whose cars had broken down on the road, Jacqueline said. Scott had stopped to help them get going.

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Scott graduated from high school in 1990. He briefly attended Arizona State University on a partial golf scholarship, but he moved back with his parents, who had bought a house in Morro Bay.

He moved out about six months later, telling them that he was too old to be living at home. He began working three jobs to put himself through

Pacific Cafe, Scott met Laci Rocha, an upbeat young woman with a beautiful smile. Laci's neighbor worked at the cafe, and Laci ended up there from time to time, sometimes having brief conversations with Scott over a counter as she ordered coffee.

One day, Laci wrote her phone number on a piece of paper, handing it to her neighbor to give to Scott. Thinking his friend was playing a mean trick on him, Scott crumpled the paper and threw it in the garbage. After being convinced it was no joke, he retrieved the number from the trash and called her soon.

Everyone who knew them then said they quickly fell in love. When Sharon Rocha came to Morro Bay to meet Scott, the mother and daughter each were greeted by a dozen roses at their dinner table at Pacific Cafe.

A few weeks later, Scott brought Laci to San Diego to meet his brothers and sisters, and they noticed how their brother could not stop smiling.

"The moment he was with Laci, they just beamed at each other," Jacqueline said. "No one else ever made my son smile like that. They did everything right."

After graduation, the couple opened a popular eatery called The Shack, a place near the Cal Poly campus where students came for hamburgers and sandwiches. The restaurant, a converted bakery, featured barrels of peanuts and numerous televisions showing sports.

The business quickly became a success. The couple sold The Shack two years later after deciding to move to Modesto to start a family and be closer to Laci's parents.

They rented a home for a while before buying a fixer-upper on Covena Avenue in the La Loma neighborhood. Scott is a salesman for a specialty fertilizer company.

After several years of trying, Laci became pregnant last summer. She was so excited when she found out that she began calling family and friends at 7 a.m. after taking a pregnancy test.

As the holiday season progressed, the Petersons held several parties at their home. Guests walking in noticed that the house no longer resembled the place that the Petersons had purchased.

"Scott remodeled the entire house, doing woodwork, tile, plumbing, a little bit of everything," said Guy Miligi, a friend of the Petersons'. "I know he put a lot of hours into making that baby room just right. He was real excited about having his first child. He talked about that all the time."

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On Dec. 23, Laci and her mother spoke by telephone. The call ended about 8:30 p.m. Scott told police he last saw his wife the next morning as he left for a fishing trip out of the Berkeley Marina, and was unable to find her when he returned home that evening.

Early on, police obtained a search warrant for the couple's home and vehicles and his warehouse. Police said they gathered evidence during those searches, but have not elaborated.

When they released pictures of Scott's truck and boat several weeks ago, police said they had been unable to corroborate his story. Police have said he is cooperating with investigators "to some degree."

Scott has not been named a suspect in his wife's disappearance; Police Chief Roy Wasden said Wednesday that detectives have not been able to eliminate Scott from the investigation.

Initially, Scott refused nearly every media request for interviews, saying that he preferred to keep the focus on his wife and not himself. He broke his silence roughly at about the same time that reports surfaced about the affair and life insurance policy.

Since he began talking with the media last week, Scott mostly has given one- and two-sentence comments, mostly about his plans to keep searching for his wife and child. He has ended most interviews quickly and abruptly.

He has not issued a direct denial of allegations of the affair. During a brief interview Friday with a Bay Area TV station, Scott called The Bee's report "a bunch of lies."

That same day, the Rocha family issued a statement asking Scott to tell police everything he knows, imploring him to prove that he has nothing to hide.

That weekend, as national media trucks inundated the area around the Modesto Police Department, Scott headed to Southern California to help with a one-day event to raise awareness of his wife's disappearance

MY THEORY ...she knew...she just couldn't take it anymore. she was pregnant and she needed him. he was out spending money like it was going out of style. she wanted a lid kept on the finances "for connor". he was not stepping up to being a dad either in the fidelity dept. or in the financial dept. her life was crumbling around her. she confessed none of this to anyone. the pressures must have been ENORMOUS added to the hormones in her system. it must have been one UGLY fight.

THIS IS WORSE THAN OJ.

Every day a new HeadLine, a new girlfriend, a fact confirmed, LE only has to wait another day to learn more details. This is unbelieveable!

The bankruptcy question should be easy to verify--if true, how do they have the late model cars, how was he able to buy the Country Club membership? Something is off about this. For as young as they are, to file for bankruptcy and run up 100,000 additionally so soon, especially after selling The Shack, which by several accounts was a successful enterprise, is unusual. Again, operating with a grain of salt since for now source is the NE.

How long has Scott been working for his present company? Is he a one man operation for them? Unfortunately, the old adage, follow the money is usually spot on, and with this guy paying him a visit to show support--shades of Soprano (just sorta joking here).

Every day a new HeadLine, a new girlfriend, a fact confirmed, LE only has to wait another day to learn more details. This is unbelieveable!

ever heard the song "Harper Valley PTA"? It fits! i'm telling you this could get BIG!

They were over 100,000 in debt.

A new pickup and car could be $50,000 plus the membership is $20,000. And what about the house? Does the debt exclude the mortgage? What does he owe on the business or did he use the proceeds from the business in SLO to buy the business?

Btw...lacipeterson.com...."What's happening" is corroborating that it was the Modesto police chief who stated that some family members had not been cleared....

If the words are to be taken literally, .. It might be that police know one of Scotts family members has information that they have not revealed, For instance, a call to a family member might have been made on the 24th or thereabouts. And that same member perhaps is not forthcoming..

Ridenour saying it that way may be a veiled warning to those in Scotts circle, letting them know that more than one jail cell is available .. for murderers and those that help them, before, during, or after the commission of a crime.

OK, I just DL a map of Central CA. and did some photoshop on it. I added embolded names for Lake Tulloch and the San Luis Res.
I also added two colors of line routes, yellow for Modesto thru to Hwy 5 then 580 to Berkly (which has been my favorite pick for a body drop)
Then lt. blue for a route from Modesto going down towards Fresno using the "back roads." This incidently goes right by San Luis Res. AND those outlying areas I mentioned before.
To be able to post it I need some help with an e-mail space any ideas/takers?
Also some PI work, questioned my neighbor who has fished around this valley his entire life (he's 56-62 yrs old) he says 1) He would NEVER even think of fishing in the marina with a boat that small. 2) There is GOOD fishing for Sturgeon at the Delta, the San Jouqien River, and even the Aquaduct. 3) He wonders if SP had the correct type line and lures for his "fishing expedition."

Thanks for #130.

4. Laci's father Dennis Rocha was the only family member to suspect Scott from the beginning. Telling a friend "I know in my heart he had something to do with my daughter's disappearence." Laci's dad never trusted Scott and thought he was a skirt chaser.

Yup. That explains why we saw him only once at the first news conference. Smart man. He knew. Wonder if he ever had a talk with Laci.

Tonite when Greta spoke with Lee Peterson she asked have you asked Scott about these photos and the GF and he started to say he has not spoken to scott, was so busy with sick wife and such but then he quickly changed that and said he speaks to scott twice a day but no, has not asked scott.

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