Missing Police Cadet's Boyfriend Is Arrested in New York

David R. Perry, the boyfriend of missing St. Petersburg cadet Kelly Rothwell, was arrested Thursday night by New York State Police on a charge unrelated to her disappearance, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

Perry, a retired New York State Corrections officer, was arraigned on fraudulent practices, insurance fraud in the second degree and grand larceny in the second degree, according to the Clerk's Office at Union Court in Broome County.

He was booked into the Broome County Jail and remanded without bail, pending his appearance in court on the charges.

Perry is retired from the N.Y. Department of Corrections after suffering an injury on the job. He has been receiving a pension from the State of New York and collecting Social Security Disability compensation.

The arrest does not involve detectives from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, nor are they involved in New York's investigation, the Sheriff's Office said Friday.

Perry moved back to New York the same weekend that Rothwell disappeared. The 35-year-old St. Petersburg police cadet was last seen on March 12 heading to the Indian Rocks Beach condominium she shared with Perry. She had told a friend she was on her way to break up with him.

Perry has refused to be interviewed by the Pinellas Sheriff's detectives investigating the case.

Perry met Rothwell in Florida and began dating her three years ago. Prior to her disappearance, Rothwell had confided to friends that Perry had become increasingly possessive and controlling, and that she planned to leave him.