Sen. Bob Menendez's Wife Nadine Was Reported Missing by Other Lover While on Secret 2018 Vacation With Lawmaker
April 30 2024, Published 4:00 p.m. ET
New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez's current wife, Nadine, was once reported missing by her other lover while she was on a secret vacation with the lawmaker.
Nadine's on-again, off-again lover, lawyer Douglas Anton, said he reported her missing to police, out of fear for her safety, after a series of odd occurrences in the spring of 2018, RadarOnline.com has learned.
At the time, Nadine had just begun dating the senator. She reportedly left the lights on at her home in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, along with the TV blaring. A "weird" typewritten note was also posted to her front door for Anton, according to the Post.
Unbeknownst to even her children, Nadine then traveled to the Dominican Republic with Menendez.
Anton claimed that one Thursday, Nadine had stopped by his Hackensack, New Jersey, law office and the two agreed to meet later that evening at her home.
"I texted her, but instead of blue, the text went green," Anton recalled, noting that he became increasingly concerned when he went to her home and discovered the note on her door.
The note allegedly read, "My love, I’m going away to see my girlfriend last minute as I need some time to de-stress. Be back Monday. Love you."
Anton added that he also found it "weird" that the note was typed, not handwritten. While the lawyer admitted he wasn't outraged that Nadine seemingly canceled their plans because he had also started seeing someone else at the time, "and the idea of a Nadine-free weekend was rather appealing."
While Nadine "going away" did not initially bother Anton, he was concerned when she failed to return home that Monday. So, Anton called her adult children, friends and sister, "who also had no idea where she was, that she left, and were very concerned."
Nadine's sister told the lawyer to contact police.
"It wasn’t like her to do this, and days went by, so I went to the cops," Anton said.
"I did a missing persons report, and they had to come to the house to check to make sure that someone didn’t kill her and put her in a closet," Anton explained. At her home, police discovered the lights and TV had been left on, but Nadine was not at home.
"On the flight back from the DR, she could not get on the plane and had to call for a government check," the lawyer noted. "That’s when he [Menendez] first found out we were still ‘seeing’ each other on and off during the week when he was in DC. She later said he freaked out and was p-----."
Nadine and her future husband had jetted off to Punta Cana, D.R., which is nearby Casa de Campo, an exclusive resort frequented by Menendez while visiting his former benefactor, Salomon Melgen.
Menendez had been previously indicted for corruption alongside Melgen in 2015; however, both men were acquitted after the trial ended in a hung jury.
While on the plane headed back to the U.S., Nadine called police to report that she was safe and asked them to tell Anton to stay away from her. She finally returned home a week after she initially saw Anton and made plans to meet at her home that evening.
"She finally landed and blew up my phone, came right to my house to explain, crying and to apologize," Anton said.
The lawyer claimed he asked her, "Why did you do that?" to which she explained, "It was more about Bob wanting to be incognito."
According to NorthJersey.com, police returned to Nadine's home for a follow-up visit, where they reportedly found her with Egyptian-American businessman Wael Hana, a co-defendant of Nadine and Menendez in their corruption case.
As RadarOnline.com reported, Menendez and Nadine have been accused of conspiring with Hana and others to act as secret agents of the Egyptian and Qatari governments. Menendez and Nadine are accused of accepting bribes, including gold bars and luxury cars, but strongly deny all accusations.