Foul Play Feared in Disappearance of Doctor : Missing: Robert Axelrod failed to return from a short boating trip near Newport Beach. The Coast Guard has suspended its search.

Relatives and colleagues of a Newhall doctor who never returned from a weekend boating trip said Wednesday they fear foul play in his disappearance.

Robert Axelrod, 43, was reported missing early Sunday when he did not return from a short trip near Newport Beach aboard his 30-foot powerboat.

The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search for Axelrod and his boat, the Aimee, on Tuesday night after covering about 4,700 square miles and finding only an overturned inflatable dinghy from the boat near Catalina Island.

No other sign of the Aimee was found, leading family members and friends to suspect that it was hijacked and Axelrod was kidnaped or murdered.

“I strongly suspect foul play,” said Robert Morrison, a private investigator hired by the family this week.

But Coast Guard Lt. John Davis said it is not unheard of for boats to disappear without a trace, even in calm seas such as those that prevailed Sunday.

And Newport Beach Police Detective Sgt. Steve Van Horn said his department is investigating Axelrod’s disappearance as a standard missing-persons case.

“There could be foul play,” he said. “He could be dead or he could be held captive or there could have been a problem and his boat sank or he could have just wanted to get away from all the hustle and bustle. “We are still pursuing it.”

At a news conference Wednesday at Mission Hills’ Holy Cross Medical Center, where Axelrod is the former head of the surgery department, his wife, Julie, and colleagues dismissed the notion that he would vanish voluntarily.

Family friend Marc Jacoby said Axelrod was not having marital or financial problems and had driven to Newport Beach to inspect the boat prior to a February scuba diving trip near Catalina.

“He had dinner plans” Sunday, Jacoby said.