(The Root) — In a strange turn of events, it appears that no one knows exactly where George Zimmerman is, and therefore he can't be served divorce papers, a lawyer representing his estranged wife, Shellie, tells TMZ. Until Zimmerman is served with papers, the lawyer says, the divorce cannot move forward.
Sources close to George's family tell us they're in contact with him — and he's safe — but they don't know exactly where he is. We're told George plans to lay low for the foreseeable future.
Zimmerman's disappearance follows a spate of bad publicity in the aftermath of his acquittal this summer in last year's shooting death of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Until now, Zimmerman had been showing up everywhere, it seems, and it wasn't always in a good light.
Most recently, he was involved in a domestic dispute in Lake Mary, Fla., with his wife and father-in-law. Mark O'Mara, the lead defense attorney in his Zimmerman's second-degree-murder trial, said that he would not represent him in any legal proceedings involving his estranged wife.
And following that episode, the town's police chief, Steve Bracknell, agreed in a series of emails that Zimmerman was a "ticking time bomb" and another "Sandy Hook" waiting to happen.
In July, Zimmerman was stopped for speeding in Texas. He told officers that he was armed and was then told to place the weapon in his glove compartment.
And earlier this summer, Zimmerman was met by a vociferous public outcry after he was photographed with a big "Kool-Aid grin" at Kel-Tec factories, which manufactures the gun he used to kill Trayvon. The move led O'Mara to distance himself from Zimmerman, releasing a statement through a spokesman.
"We certainly would not have advised him to go to the factory that made the gun that he used to shoot Trayvon Martin through the heart," Shawn Vincent, a spokesman for attorney Mark O'Mara, told Yahoo News. "That was not part of our public relations plan."
In a recent piece at BlackAmericaWeb, Don Lemon wrote a strong rebuke of Zimmerman's actions and suggested that he borrow a page from Casey Anthony and disappear from the spotlight. Perhaps Zimmerman listened.