At the heart of the mystery is the missing hotel manager, Patrice Miot Jacquet. A dual Haitian-U.S. citizen and former U.S. Navy serviceman, he’s a one-time resident of Fort Lauderdale.

First, a cop went missing. Then, a cache of rifles issued by the Haitian national police vanished. Then, the gregarious hotel manager charged with safeguarding the weapons was ambushed while ...