BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. -- Authorities are still looking for missing Breckenridge attorney Royal "Scoop" Daniel, but not to rescue him. They want to arrest him.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation and Breckenridge police announced Wednesday afternoon that a warrant has been issued for Daniel's arrest. He is suspected of felony theft in connection with missing money from real estate accounts that he controlled.

"We found sufficient evidence to show that there was probable cause to believe that he was involved in the criminal act of felony theft," said Breckenridge Police Chief Rick Holman.

Authorities believe he may have stolen more than $500,000 from seven of his clients.

"Everybody is uniformly shocked," said JB Katz, Daniel's former law partner. "I have been physically sick by the thought of all this."

Authorities have no idea where Daniel is hiding out. His passport is missing and in a renewal application in 2006 he had noted that the reason for his renewal was "travel in late April 2007," the CBI said.

Friends say that he most likely fled to Brazil.

"There would be no reason to go anywhere else," said Katz. "First of all limited to no extradition with Brazil and he loves it and he is fluent."

Breckenridge authorities are working with other agencies to try to trace Daniel's passport to see if and where it was used.

If he is caught, his bond will be $150,000.

Daniel was last seen April 27 when he went to work. No one has heard from him since.

Investigators said Wednesday that they interviewed his girlfriend, Jennifer Rathbun, who said that on Friday morning, before he went in to work he gave her his favorite running suit, Sorrel boots, and told her that he would not be needing them for a while. He also gave her the key to his home, which she thought was odd because he always left his door unlocked, the CBI said.

CBI investigators took several documents and computers from his office and his home but they were not able to find the laptop computer that he usually carries to and from work.

His Kawasaki motorcycle has not been found either, the CBI said.

Daniel Suspected Of Transferring Money From Client Accounts

According to U.S. Bank, on the morning before he disappeared, multiple online banking transactions were made, in which approximately $3,500 was moved among several of his accounts.

The arrest affidavit also shows that Daniel had been transferring clients' money without their knowledge among 10 bank accounts he controlled, which is illegal for attorneys.

Daniel's secretary, Sarah Bailey, told investigators that she believes that Daniel illegally moved money into and out of his Colorado Lawyer Trust Account Foundation (COLTAF) client trust accounts, and 1031 escrow accounts. She also said that Daniel moved money into and out of his business operational accounts and into his personal accounts to pay office operating expenses and to pay personal debt.

"We believe Mr. Daniel took clients' funds," said John Gleason, a lawyer for the state Supreme Court’s attorney regulation office. "We are not sure how much. My concern is that it is a lot -- as much as $1 million. We certainly don't want him practicing law in Colorado or anywhere else."

Rathbun, who was Daniel's girlfriend of five months, was also his personal banker at U.S. Bank. She told authorities that Daniel "is in extreme credit card debt" and that she tried to help him get a line of credit at the bank, but he was rejected because of his high debt and current tax liens.

She told a sheriff's deputy that Daniel had made "questionable web transfers" of funds.

A client of Daniel's told detectives that Daniel admitted to him he was about $300,000 in debt.

Gregory had said that a year ago, Daniel helped him with a 10.3 1 Real Estate Exchange and that Daniel held over $250,000 in trust as part of the transaction.

When Gregory was ready for the money, Daniel could not produce the money, gave Gregory "the run around" and finally told Gregory that he had used Gregory's money to repay other people's 1031 monies that he had used.

According to the arrest warrant, Bailey said when she arrived at work that Friday morning, she found her paycheck on her desk in an envelope addressed to her. She said that this was unusual because in her two years of working with him, Daniel never put her paycheck on her desk and normally gives her her paycheck minutes before 5 p.m.

She also said that since she reported the missing persons case, she reviewed the paper copies of bank account records from 2002 through 2005 but could not find any paper copies of bank records from 2006 or 2007 in the office.

Bailey told detectives that on the very top of the paper recycling bin in the office she found one recent notice to Daniel that he was behind in his child support payments and a 2005 letter from the Colorado Supreme Court advising Daniel that he was not being disciplined related to a complaint that had been filed against him.

Bailey said she did not place the letters in the recycling bin and she believes that Daniel must have been cleaning out files in the early morning hours of April 27.

"We are also urging any other people who may have had legal dealings with Mr. Daniel to please come forward and talk to the Breckenridge Police Department," said District Attorney Mark Hurlbert.

Town In Shock

Police said the popular, prominent 61-year-old made some calls and then vanished. A security camera captured him entering his office where he practices real estate and international law. But the camera didn't show him leaving. There was a 911 hang-up call traced to his cell phone that morning but no one answered when a dispatcher called back.

He was reported missing when he didn't show up for several appointments that day.

A friend of Daniel said that he once said that if he disappeared, he'd go to Brazil. Nancy Lovell had told the Summit Daily News that he made the remark about Brazil to her six or seven years ago. She said Daniel made frequent business trips to Brazil.

Friends say he always spoke fondly of that country and was fluent in Portuguese, Brazil's primary language.

When he was reported missing, a massive search was launched with dozens of friends volunteering to look for him. Local businesses posted flyers with his picture on their front doors.

Emotions range from hurt to sadness to anger that a trusted friend could steal from clients and then take off.

"That disgusts me. I just can't believe it," said real estate agent Shawn McCourt.

Search warrant No. 17 was executed Tuesday in Breckenridge as investigators followed up on clues, even traveling out of state to get information.