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Wayne Newton's yacht mysteriously sinks (+photo)

Wayne Newton's yacht sank in 20 minutes while docked at a Lake Mead marina. Authorities are trying to figure out why Wayne Newton's yacht sank.

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AP Photo/National Park Service
Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton's yacht, a 1996 65-foot Skipperliner, after it sank at Temple Bar Marina at Lake Mead, Ariz. National Park Service spokeswoman Christie Vanover said Monday Oct. 21, 2013 that the 65-foot vessel sank stern-first in 45 feet of water at the marina on the Arizona side of the Colorado River reservoir.
  • By Staff Associated Press

| Las Vegas

Authorities are investigating the sinking of a yacht owned by Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton at a marina.

National Park Service spokeswoman Christie Vanover said Monday that the 65-foot (20-meter) vessel sank stern-first in 45 feet (13.7 meters) of water while it was in a slip at the Temple Bar marina. That's on the Arizona side of the Colorado River reservoir, about 80 miles (128 kilometers) east of Las Vegas.

Vanover says no one was on the boat, and no injuries are reported.

Newton's sister-in-law, Tricia McCrone, confirms that the 1996 Skipperliner named Rendezvous belongs to Newton.

She also told the Las Vegas Sun that the yacht was in pristine condition and filled with artwork and family photos chosen by Newton’s wife, Kathleen.

McCrone says Newton and his wife were vacationing in Bora Bora when the boat sank Friday.

A photo provided by the Park Service shows the boat's bow sticking straight up from the water.

The Las Vegas-based entertainer has been beset by financial setbacks in recent years.

The Las Vegas Review Journal reports that in June, Newton had to move out of Casa de Shenandoah, his home since 1968, after a long and ugly legal fight over plans to turn the 38-acre estate at the corner of Sunset and Pecos roads into a tourist attraction. The estate was put up for sale with a $70 million price tag in September.

In recent years, he’s been slapped with lawsuits accusing him of failing to pay his bills for everything from a Cadillac to $32,384 worth of hay for his stable of horses.

A dispute over unpaid parking fees at a Michigan airport eventually led to Newton’s private jet being disassembled, transported and reassembled at his Las Vegas estate.

In 1992, Newton filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after accumulating an estimated $20 million in debts, including the cost of a lengthy libel lawsuit he brought against NBC for reports in the early 1980s linking him to organized crime.

In August 2005, the IRS came after him, alleging that he and his wife owed more than $1.8 million in taxes and penalties.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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