In September 2004, Michelle Kramer (living in Chicago, USA) traveled to Mykonos Island (Greece) to celebrate her 30th birthday. She was with her husband, Mark Weinberger. During the trip, Mr. Weinberger suddenly and mysteriously disappeared.

Mr. Weinberger’s mysterious disappearance took Ms. Kramer on a years-long journey to find the truth. During that journey, she discovered many unexpected things.

Who is Mr. Mark Weinberger?
Mr. Mark Weinberger is a famous ear, nose and throat doctor. Mr. Weinberger is 11 years older than Ms. Kramer. In 2000, the two met in Chicago.

“On our first date, I drove into the city, he was holding a bottle of champagne and a candle that smelled like champagne. I just remember being extremely surprised by all of this,” said Ms. Kramer.

The Truth Behind the Disappearance of the Wealthy Doctor
Mr. Mark Weinberger and Mrs. Michelle Kramer. Photo:VANITY FAIR
Mr. Weinberger then quickly captured Mrs. Kramer’s heart. A few months later, during a trip to Rome, Italy, Mr. Weinberger proposed to Mrs. Kramer.

The two were married in 2001 in a series of lavish ceremonies, taking place in Chicago and Italy.

“He liked to do everything in a very grand style,” – Mrs. Kramer recalled.

Life after that was filled with memorable holidays and wealth. They gave each other expensive gifts, bought private planes, yachts, had many drivers, maids, captains and people ready to support them in every job.

Mr. Weinberger could afford this lavish lifestyle because he owned a sinus clinic in Merrillville, Indiana (USA). There, he typically performed 15 to 22 surgeries a week—a staggering number for most surgeons.

When did Mark Weinberger disappear?

In September 2004, three years after their marriage, Mr. Weinberger took his wife on a trip to Greece to celebrate her 30th birthday. They planned to take a yacht around the Greek islands.

“He said, ‘You’re going to have a big birthday surprise. You’ll never know what it is,’” Ms. Kramer said.

But the surprise turned out to be something else Ms. Kramer had hoped for. After enjoying their first night at a restaurant on the island of Mykonos, she woke up the next morning to find her husband gone.

At first, she thought Mr. Weinberger had just gone to buy a birthday present. But hours passed without a trace of him. At that time, Mrs. Kramer was extremely scared and thought her husband had been kidnapped.

When it got dark, the captain of the cruise ship knocked on her door and said: “He said: ‘It’s dark, Mark won’t be back, he’ll never be back'”.

According to the captain, a taxi driver said he had taken Mr. Weinberger to the airport a few hours earlier. Mr. Weinberger left his wife on the boat with her passport and 2,000 euros so she could go home by herself.

Mrs. Kramer returned to Chicago alone, where she discovered some unexpected secrets about her husband’s clinic. At the time of his disappearance, Mr. Weinberger was facing a series of civil lawsuits. Among them, the family of Mrs. Phyllis Barnes was one of the plaintiffs.

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Ms. Michelle Kramer. Photo: OXYGEN
In 2001, Ms. Barnes went to see Mr. Weinberger because she was having trouble breathing and had a hoarse voice. Mr. Weinberger diagnosed her with sinus surgery and performed it on her two weeks later. However, after the surgery, Ms. Barnes’ condition did not improve. When Mr. Weinberger asked about her condition, he assured her that she would recover after a while.

Months later, Ms. Barnes went to see ear, nose and throat specialist Dennis Han. Dr. Han diagnosed Ms. Barnes with stage 4 laryngeal cancer and two tumors on the side of her neck that were visible to the naked eye.

“A first-year medical student could see her cancer clearly. So unless he was blindfolded or just not paying attention, he would not have realized that Ms. Barnes had laryngeal cancer,” Dr. Han said.

The late diagnosis delayed Ms. Barnes’ treatment. Ms. Barnes died in 2004.

“I don’t think she wanted to blame Dr. Weinberger for her cancer. What Dr. Weinberger is responsible for is not detecting it and not treating it in time,” said Ken Allen, a representative of Ms. Barnes’ family.

In addition, there were other patients who were misdiagnosed by Mr. Weinberger, leading to serious complications.

During the investigation, authorities discovered that Mr. Weinberger had billed for surgeries he had not performed. In 2006, he was charged with 22 counts of health care fraud. Authorities also issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Weinberger and revoked his medical license.