AMBER EYES JOHNNY IN PARTNER’S DISAPPEARANCE
SHE’S INVESTIGATING FATE OF CO-OWNER OF EX’S HOT SPOT - SOURCES
OUT-for-blood Amber Heard has hired a team of crack private investigators, sources said — with hopes of linking ex-hubby Johnny Depp to his former partner’s disappearance!
The cunning maneuver is the “Aquaman” beauty’s latest volley in
her crusade to crush the actor in their ongoing legal war. “Amber’s P.I. team is compiling a dossier, which they expect will completely destroy Johnny,” dished an insider. “The investigators are contacting anyone who can testify to Johnny’s drinking, drug use and the way he’s treated other women.”
Her snoops are probing the disappearance of Johnny’s former business partner, Anthony Fox, according to the source.
The two men co-owned the Hollywood nightclub The Viper Room, and in 2000 Anthony filed a lawsuit against Johnny alleging he had defrauded him of millions in club profits. Anthony had tried to obtain legal documents that Johnny and his lawyers tried to hide, sources claimed.
Shortly before the two were due to testify in court, Anthony vanished without a trace on Dec. 19, 2001. Police in Ventura, Calif., continue to investigate.
Det. Sgt. Matt Cain of the department’s major crimes division told The National ENQUIRER: “I’m not at liberty to talk … There is still an active case.”
In 2004, Johnny reportedly settled the lawsuit, turning over his share of the club to Anthony’s daughter, Constance.
According to court papers, Anthony was presumed dead in 2006 and his estate was awarded to his daughter. Despite that, a source close to Anthony claimed he believes Anthony is still alive, but in hiding, and blasted him as a “con artist.”
In fact, according to the source, Anthony had tried to skip out on his ex-wife and would likely do the same to Johnny in a bid to frame him! When contacted by The ENQUIRER, Constance refused to comment on the possibility that her father is still alive. Although Amber, who did not respond to our request for comment, is desperate to link Johnny to Anthony’s disappearance, it won’t be easy, according to a source familiar with the case. “There’s a saying in police work, ‘No body, no crime,’ so if Amber’s going to try and tie Johnny to this, she has quite a task on her hands,” said the insider.
Still, Amber’s investigators are diving deep into Johnny’s past and have “approached 100 people.”
Their findings will likely be part of Amber’s defense in a Virginia court where Johnny smacked the 33-year-old actress with a $50 million defamation suit after she wrote an op-ed piece claiming to be a victim of “physical and psychological abuse” without specifically naming Johnny. The star, 56, has insisted he did not abuse Amber and that she was the violent one in the relationship.
A whistle-blower said: “Johnny likes to drink and when he does, he gets out of control. This isn’t something that only started happening when he was with Amber.”
But a source close to the actor warned: “Johnny established an iron circle of trust and loyalty around him long ago. If Amber thinks she can find turncoats who will go on the stand to talk trash about him and are credible people — he invites her to go ahead.”